Renters Insurance Clause
in Your Lease
How this page is sourced
Statutes verified against primary state sources
Every statute cited here was read in its published text before this page went live: on the state's own site where that site can be reached, otherwise on a republished copy of the code. Court decisions are quoted from the published opinion and linked to it, so you can read the original yourself.
Primary sourcesNot legal advice
Content verified against primary state statutes before publicationLast updated: October 2026
What it actually means, what Colorado law says, what's specific to Denver - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- No Colorado section we read requires renters insurance or caps the liability limit a landlord can demand.
- A landlord may still require a policy as a lease term, and it binds you once you sign.
- Denver leases typically ask for $100,000 in liability coverage, a figure the landlord chose.
- C.R.S. § 38-12-801 bars lease waivers of your jury trial, good faith and quiet enjoyment rights.
- The same section caps markups on third-party services at 2 percent of cost or $10 per month.
Copy and send: Before you sign the lease, after reading the renters insurance clause
Questions about the insurance clause
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How Colorado compares
Typical required liability coverage, state by state
$100kNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 25 cities as a chart
Figures are the state rule, or the stronger city ordinance where one exists. Verify the current law for your own situation before relying on it.
Understanding the Renters Insurance Clause
This page is for Denver renters whose lease says to buy renters insurance: personal liability plus cover for your own belongings, often with the landlord named as an interested party. In Colorado the requirement comes from the lease you sign, so the details that matter sit in the clause itself.
Check the coverage amount, who picks the carrier, any monthly program fee, and any waiver tucked into the same paragraph. Ask for changes in writing before you sign.
What renters assume
The coverage amount in my lease must be a Colorado legal requirement.
What is actually true
No Colorado section we read sets a minimum or maximum coverage amount. The figure is a lease term your landlord chose, and you can ask to change it before you sign.
Eleven of the 25 states on this chart land on the same $100,000 figure, and mostly for one reason: it's the standard liability limit insurers sell. Two of those figures sit in a statute: Oregon caps what a lease may demand, and California's applies to waterbeds.
Colorado gives you no floor and no ceiling - just whatever your lease says, so read the clause and check Colorado's current statutes before assuming anything is mandatory.
Renters Insurance Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Denver, CO
The sample clause below is real lease language - a court quoted it word for word, and then ruled on it. What the judge decided is at the bottom of this block.
Find the equivalent paragraph in your own lease and read the two side by side. The wording will differ; the moving parts rarely do.
7. Insurance. [The Riggses are] responsible for obtaining fire and extended coverage, including public liability[ ] insurance with [the Harkers] to be listed as an additional insured under the policy. [The Riggses] shall also be responsible for renter's coverage on [the Riggses'] own personal property located on the Leased Premises. [The Riggses] shall indemnify and hold [the Harkers] harmless from all claims of thi9rd [sic] parties for bodily injury, property damage or death arising from [the Riggses'] use or occupancy of the Leased Premises.
Quoted from the published opinion in Hoosier Insurance Co. v. Riggs, 92 N.E.3d 685 (Ind. Ct. App. 2018). Judicial opinions are not subject to copyright; the lease language is reproduced in limited part for commentary under 17 U.S.C. § 107.
What the 4 highlighted phrases mean
“including public liability[ ] insurance”
Liability cover is the part a landlord genuinely wants, because it is the part that pays when somebody is hurt. In Colorado the amount comes out of the bargaining: the Colorado sections we read neither require renters insurance nor cap the liability limit a landlord can demand, and C.R.S. § 38-12-801 lists the prohibited lease clauses without insurance among them. That makes the number typed into this paragraph the whole of the requirement.
See the example
“shall also be responsible for renter's coverage”
The paragraph has already asked for coverage on the structure; this is a second obligation stacked on the first, and it asks separately for the policy renters actually recognise. Two duties, potentially two premiums, one sentence apart. C.R.S. § 38-12-801 lists which lease clauses are prohibited and insurance is not among them, so the question worth asking at signing is the plain one: how many policies is this paragraph asking me to buy.
See the example
“for bodily injury, property damage or death”
An indemnity states its reach in categories, and the categories used here cover almost anything a claim can be. Our Colorado record does not speak to indemnity wording directly, but it is specific about what an insurance clause cannot be used to take away: it cannot be written to waive your jury trial, your good faith or your quiet enjoyment rights. Those three are the drafting limits to check the wording against, and they are the ones a wide indemnity most often trips over on the way past.
“use or occupancy of the Leased Premises”
The trigger - what has to happen before an indemnity applies at all. Here it is simply that you lived there, which is about as much ground as an indemnity can cover. A reach that wide is part of why the Indiana court sent Hoosier back rather than letting the dismissal stand: the trial court has to read the paragraph as a whole and work out who the parties intended to bear the risk. Nothing was decided against the tenants, but the insurer got to keep asking.
See the example
The insurer's claim survived. Nobody was held liable. The Indiana Court of Appeals reversed a Rule 12(B)(6) dismissal and sent the case back. Under Indiana's case-by-case approach this insurance paragraph has to be construed to work out who the parties intended to bear the risk of fire loss, which means the landlord's insurer could be a real party in interest entitled to sue the tenants in subrogation. The rule it leaned on is worth reading twice: “if a lease obligates a tenant to procure insurance covering a particular type of loss, such a provision will provide evidence that the parties reasonably anticipated that the tenant would be liable for that particular loss, which would allow an [ ] insurer who pays the loss to bring a subrogation action against the tenant.” The case was remanded for the trial court to read the lease and weigh the equities. So the clause was enough to keep the subrogation claim alive - it did not decide it, and no renter should read this as a ruling that the tenants owed the money.
How this state's law treats this clause
One court, one lease, one state. That answer is not automatically yours, and your lease may be worded to land differently. Use this to know what to look for and what to ask - your state's tenant hotline or a local tenant attorney can answer it for your document.
Colorado Law on Renters Insurance Clause
- The Colorado sections we read neither require renters insurance nor cap the liability limit a landlord can demand.
- C.R.S. 38-12-801 lists the lease clauses that are prohibited, and insurance is not among them.
- That same section caps markups on third-party services at 2 percent of cost or $10 per month.
- An insurance clause cannot be written to waive your jury trial, good faith or quiet enjoyment rights.
Sources include C.R.S. § 38-12-801 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Our record of Colorado law finds no renters insurance statute. A landlord may require a policy by lease, and once you sign, the clause binds you like any other term. C.R.S. § 38-12-801 lists the lease provisions Colorado prohibits, and insurance is not among them.
Two parts of that section still reach an insurance clause. First, a lease cannot make you waive your right to a jury trial, to good faith dealing or to quiet enjoyment, and an insurance clause cannot be written to do it either.
Second, if your landlord passes a third-party service charge on to you, the markup is capped at 2 percent of cost or $10 per month. If your lease adds a monthly insurance program fee, ask what the program costs the landlord.
Read the current text of C.R.S. § 38-12-801 before you rely on it. Colorado publishes its official statutes through LexisNexis.
What's Specific to Denver
Denver adds nothing on renters insurance. Its residential rental licensing rules cover habitability inspections, not tenant coverage, so the terms come from your lease within the limits of C.R.S. § 38-12-801.
If your lease adds a monthly charge for an insurance or insurance-waiver program, ask in writing what it costs the landlord and whether you may use your own policy instead. A Denver tenant advocate or lawyer can review a clause that worries you.
Good. A written figure, typically $100,000 in Denver, lets you price a policy before you sign.
Good. No Colorado section we read names an approved insurer, so a clause that lets you shop is the clean version.
Red flag. No section we read voids that wording, so ask to strike it before you sign.
Ask what the program costs the landlord. If it is a third-party service, the markup cap of 2 percent or $10 per month applies.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- C.R.S. § 38-12-801, read on codes.findlaw.com. Colorado publishes its official statutes through LexisNexis; there is no free government edition. FindLaw marks its copy of this section current as of January 1, 2025; Colorado publishes its official statutes through LexisNexis, so confirm the current text before relying on it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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Coverage amount left open
A clause requiring insurance "in an amount satisfactory to landlord" is a moving target. Ask for a fixed figure written into the lease.
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Landlord's own negligence pushed onto you
Wording that makes your policy answer for the landlord's own negligence is not voided by any section we read. Ask to strike it at signing.
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Mandatory in-house insurance program
A required program takes away your choice of carrier. Ask what it costs the landlord and whether your own policy will do.
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Lapse treated as instant default
Some leases turn any gap in coverage into a breach with no cure period. Ask for written notice and time to reinstate.
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Waivers tucked into the insurance clause
A waiver of jury trial, good faith or quiet enjoyment is prohibited by C.R.S. § 38-12-801, whatever paragraph it sits in.
Your Rights as a Denver Tenant
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Prohibited waivers stay void
C.R.S. § 38-12-801 bars lease waivers of your jury trial, good faith and quiet enjoyment rights, even inside the insurance section.
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Capped markups on billed services
When your landlord passes through a third-party service charge, the markup is capped at 2 percent of cost or $10 per month.
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The amount is yours to negotiate
No Colorado section we read sets a coverage minimum or maximum, so the figure is a lease term you can negotiate before signing.
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No approved insurer named
No section we read names an approved insurer. Before signing, ask whether you may use a policy you buy yourself.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the clause
Search your lease for "insurance," "liability" and "interested party," then note the coverage amount and the proof deadline.
Price it before you sign
Get quotes for the required limit while you can still negotiate. After signing, the amount binds you.
Ask what any program fee buys
If the lease bundles an insurance program charge, ask in writing what it costs the landlord and whether you may use your own policy.
Strike risky wording in writing
Ask to delete wording that makes your policy cover the landlord's own negligence or waives your rights. Get the edit initialed.
Send proof and keep it
Email the declarations page to your property manager and save the sent message as proof of delivery.
Cite the law if they overreach
If the clause waives jury trial, good faith or quiet enjoyment, cite C.R.S. § 38-12-801 in writing. Check its current text first, or ask a tenant advocate.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Renters Insurance rules near Colorado
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.
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