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Many people wish to rent a home or apartment in a beautiful state, and Memphis and Nashville are popular options in Tennessee. You've done the work to ensure that the rental property is ready for a tenant to move into, and you've also purchased landlord's insurance.
While your possessions and structures are covered, your landlord's insurance won't offer coverage to the tenant's belongings. Therefore, they will need the best renters insurance coverage they can get.
Should you require it? Does the state mandate renters insurance? You will learn everything about this topic today, including the best renters insurance companies available. This will ensure you understand everything and can explain it to your tenants, as well.
What Is Tennessee Renters Insurance Coverage?
Renters insurance is insurance that protects tenants from various covered losses. It usually offers coverage for personal property, additional living expenses, and liability. In fact, it's broad enough to deal with many situations.
Purchasing renters insurance in Tennessee is a great thing, but most people won't do it unless it's required. You can do this, which you'll learn about later. Now, it's time to learn about the prices, top providers, and all the rest. This will help you show the benefits to your tenants if they question your motives.
Average Cost of Renters Insurance in Tennessee Per Year
The Insurance Information Institute claims that the average price of renters insurance is $189 per year or $15.75 per month. In fact, Tennessee is the eighth most expensive state for renters insurance.
However, certain factors can affect the tenant's renters insurance rates. These include:
- Location - Where the tenant lives impacts their monthly premiums. If the area is known for windstorms, flooding, or earthquakes, a reputable insurance provider will likely charge more for the policy.
- Coverage Type - There are two types of coverage plans. Actual cash value will reimburse tenants for the covered item's value with depreciation factored in. Replacement cost value pays the market value of the item.
- Amount of Coverage - The total coverage amount the tenant chooses will affect the policy costs they pay. They should create an inventory list of all their items and choose a coverage limit that meets their needs.
How Much Does Tennessee Renters Insurance Cost (Based on Popular Cities)?
Many people wonder about the renters insurance cost in specific cities. ValuePenguin claims these numbers:
- Nashville - $236/year
- Memphis - $260/year
- Knoxville - $241/year
- Hendersonville - $224/year
- Cleveland - $229/year
- Chattanooga - $237/year
- Bartlett - $241/year
Is Renters Insurance Required in Tennessee?
Tenants and landlords often wonder: Does Tennessee require renters insurance? No state laws mandate it, but landlords can make it a necessity.
If your lease agreement states that tenants require renters insurance in Tennessee, they will have to purchase it before they move into the property. The Tennessee Department of Health has helpful information about renters insurance and other topics.
What Does Renters Insurance Cover in Tennessee?
Tennessee does experience natural disasters and inclement weather frequently. Things like wildfires, tornadoes, earthquakes, and floods are possible.
Standard renters insurance coverage won't protect a tenant's personal belongings after these events in most cases. They will need to buy separate coverage.
What does renters insurance cover? Here are the traditional options:
Medical Payments Coverage
Most renters insurance in Tennessee will offer medical payments to others coverage. This covers the medical expenses after someone gets injured on the rental property or in the home.
Personal Liability Coverage
Liability coverage will protect the tenant from damages caused by the policyholders or pets. In most cases, the renters insurance provider offers liability coverage up to the coverage limit if a dog tears up the neighbor's fence.
Personal Property Coverage
Renters insurance in Tennessee will always offer some personal property coverage. It protects the tenant's personal belongings from covered losses after vandalism, water damage, wind, theft, and fire.
Loss of Use Coverage
Loss of use coverage will pay for the additional living expenses if the tenant's home is uninhabitable after a covered event. Common things include lodging, laundry, and meals.
What Does Renters Insurance in Tennessee NOT Cover?
Many times, renters insurance policies will not cover certain things, such as:
- Floods - Tennessee often experiences slow-rise flooding. Sometimes, providers will offer comprehensive coverage in the standard renters insurance policy or will offer flood damage as a special endorsement. If not, the tenant will need to buy a separate policy.
- Wildfires - Wildfires happen frequently in Tennessee. If the property is near a dense forest, they may need separate coverage for wildfires.
- Tornadoes - This is another common problem in Tennessee. Typically, providers will list any tornado damage as storm damage and cover it.
Renters insurance in Tennessee might not cover these things, either:
- If the tenant owns high-cost items, such as jewelry, artwork, and electronics, they might not be covered by the best cheap renters insurance companies. They will have to be scheduled separately, which costs extra.
- The coverage limits in place on the policy will determine how much it pays for damaged personal property. For example, if it will cost $16,000 to replace everything, but the coverage limit is only $10,000, the tenant would have to pay $6,000 out of pocket to fill their house back up with items they once had.
How to Choose the Right Renters Insurance Policy
When looking at renters insurance in Tennessee, tenants should make sure they select a policy and provider that meets all of their needs. You can give them the pointers listed below to help them:
- Cost - Tenants want an affordable price, so cost is a huge concern. However, they shouldn't focus solely on this as a factor because they must ensure they have high enough personal property coverage limits.
- Coverage Options - Basic renters insurance is often enough for most tenants. However, renters might need additional coverage to protect their items. Therefore, companies should offer many add-on coverages, coverage limits, and deductibles to help people find the right amount of coverage.
- Discounts - Tenants can save money when they use discounts. You'll learn more about this below.
- Technology - Most renters today like the convenience of doing things online. Therefore, companies with easy-to-use mobile services and apps are a great idea.
- Customer Satisfaction - Whether they must file claims or get a renters insurance quote, tenants want a smooth experience. Therefore, customer service representatives should be easy to talk to and helpful in all ways.
Available Discounts in Tennessee
Even the cheapest renters insurance companies will offer a few discounts, but each brand is different.
Tenants might be able to lower their renters insurance premiums with these discount options:
- Multi-policy discount
- Protective device discount
- Claims-free discount
- Senior discounts
- Automatic payment enrollment discount
- Early shopper discount
- Online purchase discount
- Diminishing deductible discount
How Does a Tennessee Renters Insurance Policy Protect the Landlord or Property Manager?
Knowing what renters insurance in Tennessee is will be helpful, and it's easy to see the benefits to the tenant. However, will renters insurance coverage help you as the property manager or landlord? Yes! Here's how!
- Lawsuit Protection - Renters insurance will protect you from a lawsuit if the tenant's personal property is damaged or someone gets hurt on the property. In most cases, your liability insurance won't cover this event.
- Lower Insurance Premiums - Tenants without renters insurance will likely file damage claims and lawsuits against you. If your insurance does cover them, your premiums will likely skyrocket. Plus, some providers will cancel your policy if you have too many claims against it.
- Accept Pets without Fear - Some policies will cover property damage if a pet does damage to the unit or other areas of the premises. The liability coverage will also cover the tenant for dog bites.
Top 5 Best Renters Insurance Companies in Tennessee
Learning what the best renters insurance companies are will help you determine if a tenant is using a reputable brand. Here are the top five options:
1. Lemonade Renters Insurance
If tenants prefer cheap renters insurance, Lemonade is a great solution. It offers affordable prices at about $11 per month or roughly $130 per year.
Plus, the Lemonade app is very easy to use. Renters can file claims and buy policies with ease. Though it comes with medical payments and personal property coverage automatically, tenants can customize their policies by raising their coverage for more high-value items and getting water backup protection.
Likewise, tenants can upgrade to get replacement cost coverage. Though this will raise the renters insurance premium, it will pay to replace any damaged things with new ones, regardless of depreciation. They can also save money if they bundle their renters and auto insurance policy together.
2. Allstate Renters Insurance
Allstate provides comprehensive protection for a tenant's belongings. The standard policy will cover valuables like artwork without extra endorsements. Plus, there is live chat support for more convenience.
However, tenants should note that they won't get cheap renters insurance rates here. The price is a little higher, but the amount of coverage is much better. For example, there is, as standard, $150,000 for personal property protection. Likewise, tenants get coverage the moment they sign up, and they can file claims online, through an insurance agent, or over the phone.
Still, valuables coverage is limited to $2,500 for the policy term, and it's unclear what's a covered loss.
3. State Farm Renters Insurance
While State Farm might not be a cheap renters insurance provider, it is highly reputable. It offers standard plans with valuables coverage for firearms and jewelry. Most providers only provide this as an endorsement.
With State Farm, tenants can get up to $10,000 for medical payments to others, which boosts the liability protection well. However, there aren't many add-ons, and people must finalize the quote purchase using an agent.
4. Nationwide Renters Insurance
Those who need renters insurance in Tennessee might prefer to use Nationwide. The basic policy costs roughly $17 per month, so that's cheaper than the state average by about 13 percent.
Plus, Nationwide offers many ways for tenants to upgrade coverage. Likewise, it's the only company available that offers flood and earthquake coverage. Since both hazards are common in Tennessee, it's wise to have it.
Overall, Nationwide also offers customization with:
- Water backup coverage
- Valuables coverage
- Replacement cost coverage
- Identity theft coverage
- Extra liability protection
Customer service is decent, though there are mixed reviews. In a sense, it might take longer to process claims than other insurers.
5. Amica Renters Insurance
Tenants who want excellent customer service should choose this renters insurance company. Amica sees fewer complaints than other companies of its size. Plus, it has good customer reviews and provides more value.
The average price tenants will pay for coverage at Amica is $20 per month, which is the state's average, too. However, there are many discounts available, such as:
- Paperless discount
- Multi-policy discount (bundle renters and auto insurance together)
- Loyalty discount
- Claims-free discount
- Automatic payments discount
Generally, a renters insurance policy is pretty standard at Amica. It will meet a tenant's basic needs, but if they need extra coverage, they might require the help of another insurer.
What Is DoorLoop?
Learning about the top renters insurance providers can be helpful as a landlord, and you also discovered why you should require tenants to get a policy. However, you may need property management software to help you keep track of everything.
DoorLoop's all-in-one property management software is ideal for all landlords. Whether they have a mixed-use portfolio or manage commercial or residential properties, it's available. They can:
- Manage their accounting tasks.
- Build a free and customized website for tenants to apply and for landlords to market vacancies through Trulia and Zillow.
- Provide an online tenant portal.
- Manage maintenance requests online. Tenants can send them to you through the portal, reducing the need to call or text.
- Collect rent automatically.
- Manage all rental portfolios.
You're probably excited about all the ways this property management software can help you. Learn more and schedule your demo with DoorLoop today!
Why Work with DoorLoop
It is easy to require tenants to purchase a renters insurance policy with DoorLoop. They are allowed to submit their own, but they can also apply online through the tenant portal or application. It's all powered by Lemonade or SURE.
Help your tenants purchase renters insurance with ease. Learn more about DoorLoop's option now!
Frequently Asked Quesitons
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