New Jersey Renters Insurance Guide

Get covered in the Garden State.

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new jersey renters insurance

Looking for the best renters insurance in New Jersey? We’ve got you covered!

The Garden State gets a bad rap sometimes, but we know it’s beautiful.

Perhaps you’re a college student renting an off-campus house in Princeton or New Brunswick, or a proud beach bum living down in Asbury Park. Maybe you’re a hotshot marketing exec in Hoboken (one of the best cities for young professionals, BTW). Whether you chill at the shore or rent a cabin in the mountains, you don’t want to neglect renters insurance coverage. It’ll be a great safety net if anything bad happens—like having your bike stolen during an epic ride from Morristown to Mahwah.

renters insurance nj

And no worries—getting covered in New Jersey isn’t tough. With Lemonade, you can get a renters insurance quote and policy in just 90 seconds, starting at just $5/mo (the lowest rate on the market!). There’s zero paperwork, zero hassle. Best part? Every year, your leftover premium will be donated to a charity you choose.

As an introverted millennial with phone anxiety, being able to switch my @Lemonade_Inc renters insurance via app in two minutes while standing in line at Starbucks quite literally made my day.

Christina Murphy, July 12, 2021

What does Lemonade’s policy cover in NJ?

Do we protect your collection of mint-condition Bouncing Souls vinyl? What about your bike? Or your engagement ring? Other than things you own, what does your policy entail?

Allow us to explain. There are several key components to your renters coverage…

Personal Property

Personal property’ coverage protects your stuff, no matter where you are in the world. So if your living room couch is ruined due to that burst pipe, or your MacBook is snagged while you’re traveling abroad, your policy has your back.

Loss of Use

If you have to leave your home because of covered losses (like a fire or windstorm), your ‘loss of use’ coverage provides reimbursements for a temporary place to crash, and additional living expenses such as food, laundry, hotel parking, and more.

Liability protection

Let’s say you have a dinner party and your pal trips over your toddler’s tricycle. Oof! If someone is injured on your property, or anyone on your policy causes damage to someone else’s property or stuff, your insurer should have you covered.

Medical protection

If your friend needs to go to the hospital because of that slip and fall, your medical payments will kick in. Your insurer covers medical expenses if your guests get injured at your place, or if you accidentally injure anyone outside of your home. But keep in mind that your renters insurance does not cover medical expenses if you or someone living with you are hurt—only non-residents and visitors.

Different people might need different coverage amounts, depending on your lifestyle and situation.

If you have $20,000 worth of personal belongings, you’ll want to get $20k worth of personal property coverage (rather than the $10,000 minimum) to make sure you’re totally covered. Your landlord also might require you to have a certain amount of personal liability coverage. Don’t worry, changing your coverage options is a lot less of a pain than it sounds, thanks to Lemonade’s Live Policy.

What does Lemonade renters insurance in New Jersey protect me against?

Earthquakes are pretty rare in Camden, but who knows what the future holds… What about theft, vandalism, or even…um…volcano eruptions?

Your policy covers you and your stuff for damages (or ‘perils’ in insurance speak), including theft, smoke, falling objects, and water damage from things like a pipe bursting in your Hoboken apartment.

Here’s what’s included under your base policy in Jersey:

  • Fire or lightning
  • Windstorm or hail
  • Explosion
  • Riots
  • Aircraft
  • Vehicles
  • Smoke
  • Vandalism
  • Theft
  • Falling objects
  • Weight of ice, snow, or sleet
  • Accidental discharge or overflow of water or steam
  • Sudden and accidental tearing, cracking, burning, or bulging
  • Freezing
  • Volcanic Eruption

Getting a Lemonade renters insurance quote in New Jersey

Truth is, signing up with many insurance companies can be a drag.

But not with Lemonade! We’ve harnessed artificial intelligence and digital tools to create the most pleasant insurance experience possible. Just head to the Lemonade app, answer a few questions, and AI Maya will crunch some numbers and give you a renters insurance quote instantly. Zero paperwork or phone calls required.

If you ever need to tweak your coverage because your landlord asked you to, or if you realized your stuff is worth way more than you thought, you can do it on the app instantly using Lemonade’s Live Policy feature.

And Lemonade’s claims experience is instant, too. If anything bad happens, simply chat with AI Jim, our claims handling bot, and quickly tell him what happened. 30% of our claims are approved in just 3 seconds.

Best part? All leftover premiums go to a charity you choose at the end of the year through our Giveback program.

How? Rather than making money by denying insurance claims, we take a fixed fee out of your monthly payments, pay reinsurance (and some unavoidable expenses), and use the rest for paying out claims. Then, we donate unclaimed remainders in our annual ‘Giveback‘.

This way, our Lemonaders enjoy amazing coverage, and society gets a little push for the better. It also means that, unlike traditional insurance companies, we’re not in conflict with our customers, so we’re happy to pay claims quickly and with no hassle.

Is renters insurance required in New Jersey?

Okay, so we’ve determined that you should get renters insurance because it’s simply a good idea. But whether or not it’s required depends on your landlord. While there is no federal or state law requiring that you get renters insurance, it is required by law that you comply with your lease.

Most landlords and property managers require you to provide proof of your policy before you sign your lease. Sometimes, they’ll also ask for proof of insurance each time you renew your lease.

Why? Usually, landlords want to make sure you have enough personal liability coverage within your renters policy. They might also check to make sure you have enough personal property coverage for your stuff.

Your landlord might also require you to include them as an interested party, which means we’d let them know if you cancel your policy. That way, the landlord can make sure you don’t cancel your policy… right after you provide proof that you have one. (Nice try!)

What’s the right amount of coverage?

You’ll need to choose coverage amounts for each category, your decision process will be different for each coverage type. For example, you should choose your personal property coverage amount based on how much stuff you have, and how much it would cost to replace them.

On the other hand, when selecting your loss of use coverage, consider all of the expenses you could rack up beyond your normal daily budget (such as a place to stay, food, laundry, your commute, etc) if your home becomes unlivable for an extended period of time. Check out our guide to learn more about how much renters insurance you need.

How can I lower my renters insurance rates in New Jersey?

Everyone wants to save money. There are a few things you can do to lower your premium. First off, you can install some devices in your apartment, like a standard fire alarm and burglar alarm, to lower your risks. Lowered risks equals lowered premiums. Plus it’s just a good idea!

You can also adjust your coverage options to lower your price. For example, the lower your personal property coverage or the higher your deductible, the lower your premium will be.

Just make sure you’re not compromising your renters coverage so much that you’re underinsured. Because in that case what’s the point of a renters policy? Here’s where you can learn more about how much is renters insurance.

Want even more in-depth info on Lemonade and its insurance polcies? Check out this handy FAQ!

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Please note: Lemonade articles and other editorial content are meant for educational purposes only, and should not be relied upon instead of professional legal, insurance or financial advice. The content of these educational articles does not alter the terms, conditions, exclusions, or limitations of policies issued by Lemonade, which differ according to your state of residence. While we regularly review previously published content to ensure it is accurate and up-to-date, there may be instances in which legal conditions or policy details have changed since publication. Any hypothetical examples used in Lemonade editorial content are purely expositional. Hypothetical examples do not alter or bind Lemonade to any application of your insurance policy to the particular facts and circumstances of any actual claim.