How Pet Liability Insurance for Renters Works
- Expertise: Auto insurance, home insurance and renters insurance
- Education: Sonoma State University (BA in English)
Aaron Besson has worked at LendingTree for more than seven years and has been a staff writer for the last five years. He specializes in producing research-backed content about auto, home and renters insurance. Aaron enjoys the deep dig into insurance data to get the right answers to hard questions. His work has been cited by CBS, iHeart Radio, the Sacramento Bee and Yahoo.
Pet liability coverage handles injuries and property damage that your pet causes. It’s part of a standard renters insurance policy, but there are some exclusions.
What is pet liability insurance for renters?
Pet liability insurance is a coverage type included in most renters insurance policies. If a pet covered by your renters insurance injures someone or causes property damage, the pet liability portion of your policy covers others’ medical bills and repairs or replaces their damaged property up to your chosen renters insurance limits. As an example, if your dog bites someone, your pet liability coverage will cover the cost to treat the other person’s wounds.
It’s important to stress that pet liability coverage only covers injuries and property damage your pet causes to other people. If your pet injures you, you’ll need health insurance to cover the costs.
If a court case results from the bite or other injury, pet liability insurance may also cover your legal fees and court-mandated payouts.
What does pet liability insurance cover?
Pet liability coverage protects against:
- Injury: If your covered pet injures another person or pet, the pet liability portion of your renters insurance will handle the bills that arise from hospital or veterinarian visits up to your policy limit. It may also cover related legal fees.
- Property damage: Your pet liability coverage will handle the cost to repair or replace property your pet damages or destroys, too. For example, if your dog damages a neighbor’s yard, your renters insurance will cover the cost to repair the damage up to your policy limit.
Renters insurance liability coverage limits usually start at $100,000. But while this may seem like a decent amount, a long legal battle or hospital stay can hit that limit quickly. Once your policy limit is reached, you’ll need to pay any excess costs out of your own pocket.
To avoid this financial hardship, consider increasing your liability limit or investing in an umbrella policy. An umbrella policy provides liability coverage beyond your set renters insurance limit.
Pet liability exclusions
Renters insurance policies tend to come with exclusions involving pets. Some common exclusions include:
Select dog breeds
Some renters insurance companies exclude breeds of dog they think are high risk. Other companies only offer limited coverage for them. These breeds include:
- Pit bulls
- Rottweilers
- Wolf-dog hybrids
- Doberman pinschers
- Presa canarios
- Chow chows
- Mastiffs
- American bulldogs
- Cane corsos
Dogs with a bite history
Individual dogs with a history of biting may also be excluded from your renters insurance policy.
Exotic pets
These other animals are sometimes excluded from pet liability coverage, too:
- Birds
- Ferrets
- Fish
- Lizards
- Rabbits
- Snakes
If your pet is excluded from your renters insurance policy, shop around and compare renters insurance quotes from several companies to find one that can help you.
Do I need pet liability insurance?
Renters insurance isn’t required by state law — however, landlords often need you to carry a policy as part of a rental agreement. Pet liability coverage is often included in renters insurance, so you shouldn’t have to buy it separately.
Even if your landlord doesn’t require renters insurance, it’s usually a great investment for a low cost.
According to the Insurance Information Institute, in 2023 there were 19,062 dog-related insurance claims made, each paying out an average of $58,545. Renters insurance usually costs between $15 and $20 a month, which is cheap compared to the hundreds or thousands of dollars a dog bite can cost you out of pocket.
How do I get renters insurance with pet liability coverage?
To get a renters insurance policy with pet liability coverage, see if the companies you’re considering have a banned dog list, estimate your personal property’s worth and review customer service and other ratings before you compare quotes.
Check for banned dogs
Most renters insurance policies include some amount of pet liability coverage, but that doesn’t mean all renters policies cover pet liability in the same way.
Some renters insurance companies exclude certain dog breeds from their pet liability coverage via a banned animal list. Before buying a renters policy, see if the companies you’re considering use a banned animal or dog list. If they do, review it.
These insurers don’t have a banned dog list include:
- Auto-Owners
- Chubb
- State Farm
- USAA
Add up your belongings
One key to avoid over- or under-paying for renters insurance is to accurately estimate what your belongings are worth for your policy’s personal property coverage.
To do this, make a home inventory list. Include a description, any serial numbers and a replacement cost for each of your belongings. This may take some time to compile, but it’s easy to update afterward, and may speed up the claims process down the line.
Review ratings
To get the best renters insurance policy for you, you’ll want to compare quotes from companies that offer not only the best cost and coverage, but customer satisfaction as well. Most renters insurance companies offer comparable policy offerings, leaving the premium and customer care as primary factors to consider.
- J.D. Power publishes an annual home insurance study that includes overall customer satisfaction ratings for the top renters insurance companies.
- The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) tracks the number of complaints an insurer gets compared to other insurers of similar size.
- AM Best tracks the financial strength of different insurance companies.
All of these are excellent sources you can use to find out how a company treats its policyholders.
Get and compare quotes
Once you find the best renters insurance company for your needs, most insurers have a website you can use to sign up for coverage. Your policy usually becomes active immediately, or you can set a particular date for coverage to start.
If you have any questions, contact a company agent. They’ll be able to help, and even walk you through getting a renters insurance policy.