Best and Cheapest Renters Insurance in Illinois for 2024

What do you need to know about the best renters insurance in Illinois?

Unlike the need for car insurance or homeowners insurance, the need for renters insurance is more ambiguous. A common misunderstanding is that your personal items are covered under your landlord’s policy, but that’s not true. Your landlord’s insurance covers the structure of the building or unit you’re renting in Illinois, but renters insurance covers your personal items and provides liability protection if an accident occurs in your apartment. Your coverage limits are for any item within the space that you are renting and not the space itself if that helps.

So if you want to ensure you’re properly covered while renting, it’s important to find one of the best Illinois renters insurance companies. But where do you start? In the table above, you can sort through all the renters insurance companies ranked on Clearsurance. The rating next to each company — the insurer’s Clearsurance score — is based exclusively on the thousands of ratings provided by customers.

Note: Only those companies with at least 25 renters insurance reviews are eligible to appear in the best Illinois renters insurance rankings.

You'll also want to know what comes in a standard policy, and whether or not you'll end up needing additional coverages. Renters policies can come with all sorts of coverage options, and the price can vary depending on what insurance carrier you're looking into. That's why having lists and resources can offer a helping hand to your search.

Interested in learning more about one of the companies on the list of the best renters insurance companies in Illinois? You can visit the company’s profile page to find more information about the company and read reviews to learn from the experiences of other policyholders.

On this page:

• Best Illinois renters insurance rates
• Average cost of renting in Chicago
• Best renters insurance for Illinois college students
• Illinois property crime statistics

Who offers the best renters insurance rates in Illinois?

The cost of renters insurance is going to be something on the mind of every potential renter, no matter where they're located. Out of the most popular renters insurance companies in Illinois, USAA offers the cheapest Illinois renters insurance rates, on average. USAA is only available to active and former United States military members and their families. For those who don't qualify for USAA, Country Financial is the next cheapest option.

While Illinois renters insurance rates depend on factors specific to you, policy rates also depend on the company you choose. Some companies may offer renters insurance in Illinois for a cheaper rate than others. In the table below, you can see average Illinois renters insurance rates from some of the largest companies in the state.

*USAA is only available to former and active military members and their families.

These average renters insurance rates are based on a policy with $30,000 in personal property coverage (with a $500 deductible), $100,000 in personal liability and $1,000 in medical payments to others. The rates displayed should only be used for comparative purposes as individual rates in Illinois will differ. Rate data is provided by Quadrant Information Services.

How much does rent cost in Chicago?

In Chicago, the average cost of rent is $1,808 per month. The cost to rent a Chicago apartment can vary based on your location within the city as well as the size of your apartment.

Chicago is home to the famous Chicago-style deep-dish pizza and jazz music as well as famous architectural sites, such as The Bean and one of America’s tallest building, the Willis Tower. With a population of more than 2.7 million people, The Windy City is a popular place to live and work. While the average monthly rate of an apartment in Chicago is $1,808, Chicago is made up of many different neighborhoods, all of which have varying costs of rent. River North is one of the pricier areas of Chicago with an average monthly rate of $2,463 whereas average monthly cost of rent in Homan Square is $782.

Another factor that affects the cost of rent in Chicago is the type of apartment. Studio apartments cost an average of $1,254 per month and one-bedroom apartments cost an average of $1,771. On the other hand, three-bedroom apartments in Chicago cost an average of $2,816. Another thing for renters in Chicago to consider is purchasing a renters insurance policy to protect their personal items, which aren’t covered under their landlord’s insurance policy.

See the best renters insurance companies and rates in Chicago.

What are the best renters insurance options for Illinois college students?

Illinois has plentiful higher education opportunities with more than 300 colleges and trade schools, more than 100 of those being four-year colleges and universities. With that many schools, Illinois has a large number of college students that live in dorms or rent apartments. There are a few things for college students renting housing in Illinois to consider in order to protect their personal belongings.

Typically, college students who live in dorms located on the college campus are covered by their parents homeowners insurance policy. That’s usually only the case for students who live on campus, though. College students who rent apartments off campus in Illinois should consider a renters insurance policy because their items won’t be covered under their parents’ policy, and without a renters insurance policy, they won’t have any protection.

College students will most likely have roommates in the apartment they rent. It’s not advised that students share renters insurance policies with roommates. Rather, each student should have their own renters insurance policy to protect their own belongings.

What are the property crime statistics for Illinois?

Theft and vandalism or malicious mischief are among the 16 perils a standard renters insurance policy protects you from. So, how does crime in Illinois compare to other states around the country? The FBI published the following statistics on crime in Illinois for 2016:

• Property crime - 262,306
• Burglary - 47,989
• Larceny theft - 194,407

All three statistics for Illinois, when compared to the national average rate per 100,000 inhabitants, rank below the national average.

How can you save money on your renters insurance in Illinois?

While renters insurance may be more affordable than other types of insurance, no one wants to pay more than they have to. So what are the different ways that you can lower your Illinois renters insurance premium and have some extra spending money?

Here are the top 5 ways to save on your renters insurance:

• Raise your deductible
• Ask about potential discounts
• Bundle your policies
• Determine the value of your personal property
• Pay in full by check

You can talk to an insurance agent about all of these options. Discounts are a great place to start, so that you're not sacrificing any expenses you don't immediately have in order to reduce your cost. Plus, they may be able to go further into detail on what discounts they offer. As with an auto policy, the more safety features you have in your home, the better. Smoke detectors, burglar alarms, or any of the wide range of helpful technology that exists could save you money on your coverage. By having a burglar alarm, you're showing your insurance carrier that you're doing your part to keep your rental property safe. Plus, if you have any valuable items in your home, you're going to want to do that regardless.

How does Clearsurance rate and rank the best renters insurance companies in Illinois?

Consistent with its mission towards greater transparency, Clearsurance does not keep its rating and ranking formulas in a black box. Our algorithm analyzes a range of inputs from our independent community of insurance customers, including:

• Price
• Customer Service
• Claim service
• Likelihood to renew

The algorithm also takes into account the percentage of what customers say the company does well vs. the percentage of what customers say the company could do better.

Finally, there is also a confidence factor based upon the number of reviews a company has by product. If the total number of reviews is less than 100, then a confidence deduction is applied to the star rating. The maximum impact of this deduction occurs when there are less than 25 reviews. Companies with 100 or more reviews, aged two years or less, receive 100% weighting (no deduction), while companies with 50 to 99 customer reviews receive a weighting of 95%, 25 to 49 reviews receive a weighting of 90% and companies with less than 25 reviews a weighting of 85%.

The Clearsurance customer ratings and rankings are derived entirely from customer reviews and ratings.

Is there a renters insurance guide?

As we mentioned above, there are common misconceptions regarding what is and isn’t covered by a renters insurance policy. Before you purchase a policy from one of the best renters insurance companies in Illinois, it’s important to understand what your policy covers. For example, did you know that many renters insurance policies include liability protection in the event a non-resident is injured on the property? Plus, if your apartment becomes uninhabitable from an incident, some policies may cover your expenses as you find temporary housing.

The same can be said about the additional coverage options that apply to natural disasters. If your rental suffers from property damage inflicted by a storm or sees any sort of water damage, your policy may or may not include such extra protection. Asking your insurer whether or not you'll need additional protection will prevent you from being without it in a crisis.

We want to make sure you’re equipped with a proper knowledge of renters insurance, so check out our renters insurance guide. Looking for more educational information about renters insurance? Check out our renters insurance blog for more information and topics related to renters insurance.