How to File a Renters Insurance Claim

To file a renters insurance claim, report the loss to your insurer as soon as you can, file a police report if anything was stolen, photograph the damage before you clean up, and send a list of each damaged or stolen item with receipts or other proof. If the insurer asks for a signed, sworn proof of loss, the standard renters policy form gives you 60 days from the request to send it. State law then sets the insurer's deadlines: in California, for example, it must accept or deny the claim within 40 days of receiving your proof of claim and pay within 30 days of accepting it.

Is the loss worth a claim?

The insurer pays only the part of a covered loss above your deductible, and how the policy values your things changes the payment.

Example: a thief takes a laptop, a bike, and headphones that would cost $2,200 to replace new, and your deductible is $500.

• A replacement cost policy, which pays what new items cost, pays $1,700 ($2,200 minus $500).
• If depreciation for age and wear puts the items' actual cash value at $1,100, an actual cash value policy pays $600 ($1,100 minus $500).

The Texas Department of Insurance says filing claims can raise your premium or cost you a claim-free discount, and notes that you may decide not to file when the loss is about the same as or less than your deductible. In Texas, calling your insurer or agent to ask about your coverage or the claims process does not count as a claim. Also confirm that your policy covers the cause of the loss; see what renters insurance covers.

Steps from first notice to payment

These steps follow the "Duties After Loss" section of the standard renters form from Insurance Services Office (ISO HO 00 04), which your own policy may follow or change. Under that form, the insurer can deny coverage when a missed duty hurts its handling of the claim.

1. Protect your belongings from more damage. Move things away from water or other hazards, and keep receipts for what you spend. The form pays the reasonable cost of necessary steps to keep property damaged by a covered cause from further damage.
2. Call the police if anything was stolen, and write down the report number. Notifying police is a listed duty for theft losses.
3. Notify the insurer promptly by phone, app, or website. Write down the claim number and the adjuster's name, phone number, and email.
4. Photograph and film the damage before cleanup. Keep damaged items until the adjuster has seen them or says you can discard them, because the insurer can ask to see the damaged property.
5. List everything lost or damaged, with the quantity, description, value, and amount of loss for each item, and attach receipts. Start from your home inventory. For items without receipts, use card statements, online order histories, and photos that show the item in your home.
6. Keep receipts for extra living costs if covered damage makes your unit unfit to live in. Loss of use coverage pays the increase in living expenses, such as a hotel, for the shortest time needed to repair the damage or to settle elsewhere; see additional living expenses coverage.
7. Send the sworn proof of loss within 60 days of the insurer's request. It covers the time and cause of the loss, any other insurance, your item list, and your living expense receipts.
8. Check the payment. The form makes payment due 60 days after the insurer receives your proof of loss and you agree on the amount, an appraisal award is filed, or a court enters a final judgment. If you have replacement cost coverage, ask whether part of the payment is held back until you replace the items and how long you have to do it.

What to do after a break-in or theft

If someone may still be inside, leave and call 911. Then:

• Document the scene. Photograph the entry point and each room before you put things back, then list what is missing.
• File the police report. Give the officer serial numbers from your inventory, and get the report number for the insurer and your landlord.
• Call each card issuer. Under federal law, your liability for unauthorized credit card charges is capped at $50. For a debit card, your loss is capped at $50 if you report within 2 business days of learning of the theft and at $500 if you report later but within 60 days after your statement is sent; after that, you could lose all the money taken. The standard form also pays up to $500, with no deductible, for unauthorized use of your cards. If IDs or checks were taken, see identity theft coverage.
• Ask the landlord in writing to fix the door, lock, or window, and include the police report number. Your renters policy covers your belongings, not the landlord's building, although the standard form does cover improvements you paid for, such as a lock you installed, up to 10% of your personal property limit.

State law sets how fast the landlord must act. In Texas, if you tell the landlord about an unauthorized entry or attempted entry when you ask for a lock or other security device to be repaired or rekeyed, a reasonable time to do it is presumed to be no more than 72 hours (Texas Property Code section 92.161). A Texas landlord can bill you for the repair only if an underlined lease clause allows it and you, a family member, an occupant, or a guest caused the damage. Damage during your tenancy is presumed to be yours, so a police report helps you show that a burglar caused it. Rekeying you request in Texas, for example after your keys were stolen, is at your expense. In California, landlords must keep a working dead bolt on each main swinging entry door and working locks on windows designed to open, and must fix a reported problem within a reasonable time (Civil Code section 1941.3).

The standard form covers your belongings anywhere in the world, so a laptop stolen from your car or a hotel room is a renters claim, subject to your deductible. Its theft coverage includes items missing from a known place when they have likely been stolen. It caps theft of jewelry, watches, and furs at $1,500 per loss unless the items are listed on a rider, an add-on that insures named items; see coverage for jewelry and other valuables.

Working with the adjuster

Respond to the adjuster quickly, point out all the damage at the inspection, and keep notes of each call, as the Texas Department of Insurance advises. Expect the insurer to ask for records it can copy. It can also require you to answer questions under oath, apart from other insured members of your household. Ask for the estimate in writing, item by item, with the depreciation shown, so you can check each figure.

Report losses accurately. If anyone insured under the policy intentionally hides or misstates an important fact, commits fraud, or makes false statements about the insurance, before or after a loss, the standard form provides no coverage to anyone on the policy.

How long the insurer has to pay

State claim-handling laws set their own deadlines, which can be shorter than the policy's 60 days. Three examples:

A Texas insurer that pays a valid claim late owes interest and attorney's fees under the same law. In other states, ask the state insurance department for its deadlines.

If the insurer underpays or denies the claim

1. Get the reason in writing. Texas and California require insurers to put a denial and its reasons in writing, and a California denial letter must tell you that you can have the matter reviewed by the state Department of Insurance.
2. Tell the insurer where you disagree and send proof, such as receipts, statements, photos, and prices for comparable new items, as the Texas Department of Insurance recommends.
3. Demand appraisal if you disagree about the amount. Under the standard form, either side can demand it. Each side picks an appraiser within 20 days of a written request, the two appraisers choose a third person, the umpire, and any two of the three set the amount. You pay your appraiser and half of the umpire and other costs.
4. File a complaint with your state insurance department. In Texas, the Department of Insurance Help Line is 800-252-3439.
5. Get help for a large loss. A public adjuster, whom you hire for a fee, can negotiate for you, and a lawyer can advise on mediation or a lawsuit.
6. Watch the lawsuit deadline. The standard form requires any suit to start within 2 years after the date of loss and only after you have met the policy's terms. Check the "Suit Against Us" section of your own policy for its deadline.