A lot of our renters insurance clients are young professionals who just moved into an apartment in Minnetonka, Eden Prairie, or Chanhassen — or families between homes who are renting while they figure out their next move. In both cases, the conversation is usually the same: they've been putting off getting a policy, they're not sure what it costs, and they assume their landlord's insurance has them covered if something goes wrong.
Two of those three are easy to fix. Most Minnesota renters pay somewhere between $12 and $20 a month for a solid policy — less than a streaming subscription, less than a tank of gas. This post covers what that buys you, what drives the price, and why the landlord assumption is worth correcting before something happens.
What Does Renters Insurance Cost in Minnesota?
Price depends on three main variables: how much personal property coverage you carry, where you live, and whether you bundle with an auto policy. Here's a rough breakdown for Minnesota renters:
$15K personal property, $100K liability. Fine for someone with minimal belongings and no significant electronics.
$30K personal property, $100K liability, replacement cost. This is where most renters land.
$50K+ personal property, $300K liability. Worth it if you have high-value electronics, instruments, or jewelry.
Bundling renters with your auto policy typically saves $5–10 per month on the renters policy alone. If you're already insuring a car with us, adding renters coverage is often a five-minute conversation.
One thing worth flagging: most renters underinsure themselves on personal property. The base $15,000 limit sounds like a lot until you actually add it up — a couch, a bed frame and mattress, a TV, a laptop, clothes, kitchen gear, tools. At replacement cost, most furnished apartments are sitting on $25,000–$40,000 in belongings without the tenant realizing it. If you've never done a rough inventory, take ten minutes and walk through your place room by room before you set your coverage limit.
The One Thing Most Renters Get Wrong
The most common misconception I run into: renters assume their landlord's insurance covers their stuff. It doesn't — not even close.
Your landlord's policy covers the building and their liability as a property owner. If a pipe bursts in the wall and floods your apartment, their insurer will pay to repair the drywall and the flooring. Your sofa, your laptop, your clothes — those are your problem. The landlord's carrier has no obligation to pay you a dollar.
This catches people off guard after a theft especially. We've had clients whose apartments were burglarized — electronics, jewelry, gear all gone. Their renters policy covered it. If they hadn't had one, every dollar of that loss would have come out of their own pocket. The landlord's carrier wasn't involved and had no reason to be.
One exception worth knowing: if the landlord was negligent — a known plumbing issue they ignored, a fire caused by their deferred maintenance — you may have a liability claim against them. But that's a lawsuit, not an insurance claim, and it takes time and money you may not have when you're living out of a hotel room.
What Renters Insurance Actually Covers
Personal Property
Furniture, electronics, clothing, kitchen gear — covered against theft, fire, smoke, water damage, and other named perils. Replacement cost coverage pays what it costs to replace the item new, not its depreciated value.
Personal Liability
If someone is injured in your apartment or you accidentally damage someone else's property, your liability coverage pays legal costs and settlements up to your policy limit.
Loss of Use
If your apartment is uninhabitable after a covered loss, your policy pays for a hotel or temporary housing while repairs are made. In a Twin Cities winter, this matters more than most people realize.
Off-Premises Theft
Your laptop stolen from your car, your bike taken from the rack outside your building, gear stolen from a locker — personal property coverage typically follows you, subject to your deductible.
What It Doesn't Cover
A few gaps worth knowing about before you need to file a claim:
- Flooding — standard renters policies don't cover flood damage. If you're in a basement unit or ground floor near any kind of waterway, a separate flood policy or endorsement is worth asking about.
- High-value items at full value — most policies have sub-limits on jewelry, firearms, musical instruments, and collectibles. If you own anything in those categories worth more than a few hundred dollars, ask about scheduling it separately.
- Roommate's belongings — your policy covers you, not automatically your roommate. They need their own policy, or you both need to be listed on the same one.
- Business equipment — if you work from home and own significant business gear, a standard renters policy may not cover it fully. Worth a conversation if you have expensive equipment.
Does Your Lease Require It?
Minnesota law doesn't require renters to carry insurance, but a lot of landlords and property management companies do — it's increasingly common to see a renters insurance requirement written into the lease, with proof of coverage required at move-in. If your lease requires it and you let the policy lapse, you're technically in breach of your rental agreement.
Even if your lease doesn't require it, the math is straightforward: a $180/year policy covering $30,000 in belongings costs less than replacing one laptop.
Tom Wertish
President & AgentTom founded Options Insurance in 2014 and works with renters, homeowners, and businesses across the Twin Cities metro. Renters policies are one of the quickest conversations we have — if you want a quote, it takes about five minutes.
Ready to get a quote or learn more about what a renters policy includes? Our renters insurance page has the details.
Renters Insurance in Minnesota →