Renters Insurance (HO-4)
Covers your belongings and liability in a rented place. Your landlord’s policy covers the building — not your stuff.
HO-4 is the industry's form number for a renters policy. It is built for someone living in a place they do not own, so it leaves out the part a homeowners policy spends most of its money on: the structure. That belongs to the landlord's policy, which covers the building and the landlord's own liability — not a tenant's belongings and not a tenant's liability.
Four things usually sit inside. Personal property pays for belongings, generally on a named-peril basis and often anywhere in the world rather than only inside the apartment. Personal liability responds when a guest is hurt or a tenant damages someone else's property, and it pays for legal defense. Medical payments covers small guest injuries without arguing about fault. Loss of use pays extra living costs when the unit is unlivable after a covered loss.
The gaps mirror a homeowners policy. Flood and earthquake are excluded. Special limits cap jewelry, cash and a few other categories unless they are scheduled. Belongings can be settled at actual cash value or replacement cost, and which one applies is printed on the policy.
Who counts as covered is narrower than people assume. The wording generally protects the named insured and relatives living in the same household. A roommate who is not a relative usually falls outside it, even when both names are on the lease.
Leases often require a policy with a set liability figure and ask for the landlord to be listed as an additional interest. No state requires renters insurance by law; when the requirement exists, it comes from the lease.
In real life
A kitchen fire two floors up fills an apartment with smoke. The landlord's policy handles the building. The tenant's HO-4 handles the tenant's side: $8,300 of ruined clothes, bedding and electronics, paid at $7,800 after a $500 deductible. The building stays closed for three weeks, so loss of use covers the $2,400 hotel bill plus the extra cost of eating out — the part above what groceries would have run.
Common questions
What does renters insurance cover?
A renters policy generally covers four things: your belongings, your personal liability if you injure someone or damage their property, small medical bills for guests hurt in your home, and extra living costs if a covered loss makes the place unlivable. It does not cover the building itself, and flood and earthquake are excluded the same way they are on a homeowners policy.
Does my landlord's insurance cover my stuff?
Generally no. A landlord's policy covers the structure they own and their own liability as the owner. A tenant's furniture, clothes and electronics are not on it, and neither is a tenant's liability if a guest is injured inside the unit. That is the gap an HO-4 renters policy is written to fill, and it is why leases often require one.
Is renters insurance required by law?
No state requires it. What is common is a lease clause requiring it, often with a minimum liability limit such as $100,000 and a request to list the landlord or property manager as an additional interest so they get notice if the policy cancels. Those are contract terms between a tenant and a landlord, not state insurance law.
See how this shows up on YOUR policy
Upload your declarations page and get a free report card — what's covered, what's missing, and what each gap means in plain English.
Scan my policy — freeRelated terms
Definitions describe how these terms are generally used across the U.S. market. Wording, limits and exclusions vary by insurer, policy form and state — the policy you hold is what controls. See the full Insurance Glossary.