Many people in the United States and all over the world rent a home instead of own one. Purchasing a home can be quite costly and for many people, the cost is just too much. Others would rather not have the extra responsibility of owning a home, so they decide to rent a home instead. Regardless of your reasons for renting a home, you as the renter have quite different responsibilities than your landlord does when it comes to insurance needs for the home and contents.

The landlord is responsible for insurance coverage for the structure of the home itself. As a renter, you are not responsible to have insurance coverage for the structure. The landlord needs to have dwelling insurance—insurance that only covers the structure of the home and none of the contents or liabilities that may arise. Dwelling insurance also covers the contents that your landlord owns—such as appliances and some furniture. Some dwelling insurance also comes with liability insurance included, but it’s important to find out whether you the renter or your landlord will be responsible for liabilities that happen inside the dwelling.