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Does Renters Insurance Cover Moving? What You Need To Know
Pete Ortiz
Last updated:
If you need to move, did you know that renters insurance might offset some of your expenses? It all comes down to why you’re moving, but even if your renters insurance policy doesn’t cover your moving costs, you’ll still want to look into everything they will cover.
Typically, renters insurance will not cover voluntary moving expenses. However, renters insurance will likely cover these costs if you need to move out of your apartment or home because it’s no longer livable because of a covered condition. Often, your renters insurance policy will come with all kinds of unique perks you don’t know about, so keep reading and we’ll break down everything you need to know about what your policy will and won’t cover.
Does Renters Insurance Cover Moving?
The exact coverage your renters insurance policy covers depends on the plan you have. Because of this, we recommend reaching out to your renters insurance company before anything happens to see what they will and won’t cover.
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Does Renters Insurance Cover Damage From Moving?
Once again, this depends on your insurance policy. But it’s not uncommon for renters insurance to provide some sort of coverage for damages that occur while moving.
Often, renters insurance will provide more thorough protection if you must move because of a covered condition compared to a voluntary move. Once again, we recommend calling your insurance company to see exactly what they will and won’t cover before you need to use the policy.
This way, there aren’t any surprises, and you can get the necessary protection for your next move.
Other Renters Insurance Protections
While renters insurance might not provide you with the coverage you want while moving, there are several other protections it gives you that you might not be aware of. Below, we’ve highlighted five surprising coverages that you might get with your renters insurance policy.
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Liability Protection
If someone comes over to your house and gets hurt, either by the home or an animal there, renters insurance can give you liability protection. This is a big deal because, otherwise, you could be out thousands of dollars if someone decides to sue you after an injury!
Storage Unit Coverage
Did you know that many renters insurance policies will provide you with some level of protection for assets in a storage unit? A typical policy will give you 10% of your total policy for a storage unit. For instance, if you have $100,000 in coverage for your home, they’ll often include up to $10,000 in coverage for a storage unit.
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Travel Protection
When you go on vacation, that doesn’t mean bad things can’t happen to you. If someone breaks into your hotel room and steals your stuff, pickpockets you, or you lose any of your possessions some other way while you’re on vacation, renters insurance will often help you out.
Car Theft
While renters insurance won’t cover your entire car, if someone breaks into the car and steals things, sometimes renters insurance will cover the cost of the stolen valuables. If your renters insurance policy doesn’t cover this, check with your car insurance policy.
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Food
If you lose power, it’s common to lose everything in your fridge and freezer. Did you know that many renters insurance policies have a set payout to reimburse you for this spoiled food? Check with your policy and you might get a nice reimbursement if something like this happens to you.
Insurance Options While Moving
While you’ll want to look into what your renter’s insurance covers regarding moving protection, if your policy doesn’t cover damages from moving, there are other protections you have at your disposal. But you’ll want to know the difference between full value and released value protection before signing up for any plan.
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Full-Value Protection
Full-value protection is the gold standard of protection when it comes to moving. Full-value protection covers the full value of all your belongings if something happens to them. This means if the movers break your $1,500 television, you get $1,500 to replace it.
This kind of coverage gives you the most comprehensive coverage you can get, although you’ll still want plenty of documentation of all your valuables and the condition your things were in before the movers got there.
Released-Value Protection
Released-value protection is a much lower form of insurance coverage than full-value protection. Released-value protection gives you a fixed reimbursement rate for the weight of the damaged object.
So, if the movers damage 50 pounds worth of stuff, you get a set reimbursement rate regardless of what was damaged. While this type of coverage is adequate for larger objects like couches and hutches, if they damage something lighter like a television or jewelry, you likely won’t get near enough to cover the damage.
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If you have any questions about what your renters insurance will and won’t cover, reach out to an agent from your company and ask them. It’s better to find out exactly what coverages you do and don’t have. That way, you can make an informed decision about what you need, and you might even find you had more coverage than you thought!
Pete has been working in the trades since high school, where he first developed a passion for woodworking. Over the years, he has developed a keen interest in a wide variety of DIY projects around the home. Fascinated by all sort of tools, Pete loves reading and writing about all the latest gadgets and accessories that hit the market. His other interests include astronomy, hiking, and fishing.
As the founder of House Grail, Pete's primary goal is to help consumers make educated decisions about DIY projects at home, in the garage, and in the garden.
