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Illinois Renters Insurance (QUOTES, COST & COVERAGE)

Get Illinois renters insurance quotes, cost & coverage fast. Renters insurance protects your IL belongings and can help replace your damaged or stolen property.

Illinois Renters Insurance

There is a widespread misconception that the landlord has some responsibility for a tenant’s personal property. This is simply not true. This is one of the main reasons you should consider buying Illinois renters insurance.

Tenants live in non-owned habitational spaces. The lack of ownership by the insured is the defining characteristic of this classification as there is no dwelling structure to be insured. The tenant may be related to the owner or have no relationship at all. The tenant may pay rent to the building owner, or the structure may be furnished free of charge, such as a parsonage. There is generally a written or verbal lease which may be short term or long term.

Tenant insurance covers what your landlord’s insurance doesn’t. It covers the replacement of your belongings and it can also provide: additional living expenses if you have to leave your IL apartment due to an a fire or other damage and personal liability should you accidentally damage a another tenants property. It can also cover liability if someone is injured inside your apartment. We will go into more depth on Illinois renters insurance coverage below.

What Does Illinois Renters Insurance Cover?

Renters insurance can help pay for large and unexpected expenses from situations that life can throw at you, from no fault of your own. The three main areas are personal property, liability and additional living expenses.

Personal Property: Personal property coverage, a typical part of IL renters insurance, can help cover the cost of replacing your belongings if it’s stolen, damaged or ruined. Renters insurance may cover losses caused by:

  • Weather: Fire, wind, hail, lightning, freezing, weight of ice, snow, storms or sleet.
  • Other Than Weather: Theft, vandalism, vehicles and others.

For example, if your computer and flat screen TV are stolen, or your furniture or children’s toys are destroyed by fire, personal property coverage can help you pay for the cost of replacing them.

Keep in mind that personal property coverage does not protect all of your belongings. Certain types of stuff like jewelry, furs, guns or a stamp collection, have limits under a regular Illinois renters policy.

Liability: Liability is another coverage typical to most Illinois renters insurance policies. This coverage can protect you from having to pay out of pocket for certain costs if you are found legally liable for injuries to other people or damage to their property. You probably don’t expect an accident to occur at your place, but if, for instance, a guest trips and falls over a cord in your home, or your dog bites the mailman, liability coverage can cover the medical and legal costs – which can be huge.

Additional Living Expenses: If your apartment was destroyed by fire caused from another tenant, where would you live? How would you pay for it? This is where tenants insurance can help. Renters insurance typically includes coverage for additional living expenses- defined as ‘expenses that exceed your normal expenses prior to the loss’. This coverage can pay for additional costs like hotel bills and food.

What IL Renters Insurance Doesn’t Cover

Renters insurance typically does not cover:

  • Intentional damage to property (like arson) or harm to another person (like punching your neighbor in the face because they won’t turn down their music).
  • Business activities or professional services offered in your place (you will need commercial insurance for those situations).

How Much Does Illinois Renters Insurance Cost?

How much does Illinois renters insurance cost? The average price of renters insurance is usually very affordable. The premiums vary depending on the company and their underwriting rules, and it depends on the coverages and deductible selected. Following are some of the main factors that go into the price of a policy:

  • Location – The more dangerous your location is, for both natural and human risks, the higher premiums you will pay as there is a higher probability for claims.
  • Building Size – The larger the building you rent in and the more units in that building, the lower your premium cost will be.
  • Credit – The better credit you have, the lower your rates. Most insurers look at credit and weight it heavily.
  • Deductible – The deductible is your out of pocket cost before your policy kick in. Lower deductible = higher premium, and higher deductible = lower premium.
  • Your Belongings – The more of your things you insure the higher your premium will be.
  • Security Precautions – Having a security system, or a deadbolt lock can lower your premiums.
  • Fire Protection – If the place you’re renting has smoke detectors and overhead sprinklers you will pay less for your renters insurance.

Tenant Risks & Exposures

Personal liability exposure arises from conditions in the tenant’s portion of the premises and actions of the members of the household including students who live away from home as long as they are in school and are under the age of 24 years. The age of any children, the social and civic organizations, and sports that the family participates in can all impact the loss potential. Additionally, the type and breed of any pet(s) should be considered.

Property exposure for the tenant is generally limited to personal property in the rented dwelling unit. The major causes of loss are fire and theft. Fire hazards include electrical wiring, heating, cooling, and cooking equipment. The type of building construction, the location of the building, and the adequacy of locks are important when evaluating exposures.

If there are other tenants in the building, the exposure increases as the other tenant may break into the insured’s unit or start a fire that breaches the insured’s living space. Security of the building is important, as is the security to the insured’s particular unit.

Inland marine exposure includes any antiques, collectibles, electronics, fine arts, firearms, furs, jewelry, silverware, and other types of property subject to sublimits and exclusions within the homeowners policy. As these items are often attractive theft targets, security features such as locks and alarms should be in place and a current appraisal available to substantiate any loss. An inventory and picture record is important to document each item’s existence and to aid in its recovery.

While injuries due to conditions outside the insured unit are normally the responsibility of the landlord, injuries due to conditions within the insured’s unit may become the landlord’s responsibility if, before a loss, the insured wrote the landlord about a hazardous situation and it had not been addressed. The contractual relationship between the property owner and the tenant is very important because it can significantly affect the tenant’s responsibility.

Auto exposures are from household members driving owned, rented, or borrowed vehicles or from loaning their vehicles to others outside the household. All drivers must be identified, licensed, and have acceptable MVRs. The type of vehicle, ownership, the principle driver, garaging location, miles driven, and type of driving must be considered when evaluating the exposure. Age and experience of each driver must be evaluated. Driving courses can assist drivers of any age.

The exposure of household residents temporarily living away from the household exposures such as students away at college is important to explore because of potential vehicle ownership, state compliance, garaging, and usage changes.

IL Renters Insurance Quotes

Illinois Insurance

Request a Illinois Renters Insurance quote in Arlington Heights, Aurora, Bartlett, Belleville, Berwyn, Bloomington, Bolingbrook, Buffalo Grove, Carol Stream, Carpentersville, Champaign, Chicago, Cicero, Crystal Lake, DeKalb, Decatur, Des Plaines, Downers Grove, Elgin, Elmhurst, Evanston, Glenview, Hanover Park, Hoffman Estates, Joliet, Lombard, Moline, Mount Prospect, Naperville, Normal, Oak Lawn, Oak Park, Orland Park, Palatine, Park Ridge, Peoria, Plainfield, Quincy, Rock Island, Rockford, Romeoville, Schaumburg, Skokie, Springfield, Streamwood, Tinley Park, Urbana, Waukegan, Wheaton, Wheeling and all other cities in IL.

Illinois Insurance Rules And Regulations

There are regulations governing insurance in IL that you should be aware of that cover both business and personal insurance. These include the limits associated with certain types of insurance as well as the actual regulations that govern these insurance categories - as well as regulatory agencies. Let's take a close look at the regulations for insurance in Illinois.

Illinois Business Insurance

The first type of insurance that we will discuss is Illinois business insurance. The most common type of business insurance is called General Liability. Liability insurance protects businesses in a number of ways, but the main way that you can think of this type of insurance is as coverage for when someone brings a lawsuit against you for something that happens on your premises. So, for example, if someone were to slip and fall on a freshly-mopped floor within your store, then you might be responsible for their injuries. Liability insurance protects you in instances like these.

However, there are some types of business insurance that are required by law. The first is standard in almost every state, and it is known as Worker's Compensation insurance. In some states, you have to have a certain number of employees before you are required to carry this type of insurance, but in Illinois, if you employ at least one person either full-time or part-time, you have to have Workees comp.

IL Personal Insurance

There are a couple of different types of personal insurance that are regulated by law in Illinois that you need to be concerned with. The first is auto insurance. Any private individual that operates a motor vehicle must carry liability insurance on that vehicle with certain limits reached. The insurance companies are already aware of these limits and the insurance that they offer provides them. The limits are 25 000 USD per person with a total maximum payout of 50 000 USD per accident. In addition, there must be another additional 25 000 USD provided for property damage.

There are also some regulations governing life insurance in Illinois that you should be concerned with. Life insurance is regulated under Title 215 in the State of Illinois Statutes. One regulation is that Illinois residents are given a minimum period of 10 days to evaluate the life insurance. You can cancel at any time during these 10 days and receive a full refund. In addition, insurance companies must provide a guarantee of death and claim payment as well as cash value. Finally, insurance companies must provide a timely payment of claims and keep your medical information private.

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