Renters Insurance Clause
in Your Lease
What it actually means, what Indiana law says, what's specific to Indianapolis - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Quick Summary - What You Need to Know
- No state requirement appears in our record of Indiana Code Title 32, Article 31, chapters 1, 2.9, 3, 5, 7 and 8, read in the 2026 edition. None of them, as read, requires renters insurance or names a liability coverage amount.
- § 32-31-7-5(4) requires a tenant to "Refrain from defacing, damaging, destroying, impairing, or removing any part of the rental premises." Under § 32-31-7-7(f), a prevailing landlord may recover "Actual damages" and "Attorney's fees and court costs".
- The remedy has a notice step. § 32-31-7-7(b) bars a suit under the chapter until the landlord gives notice of the noncompliance and the tenant has "a reasonable amount of time to remedy" it, a step § 32-31-7-7(d) drops once occupancy has ended.
- The security the chapters name is the deposit: § 32-31-3-13 lets it reimburse actual damages beyond ordinary wear and tear. § 32-31-8-4 and § 32-31-7-4 say a waiver of their chapters is void.
- Our searches of the Indianapolis code returned no renters insurance rule, and Chapter 582 and Chapter 851 do not mention it. Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c) bars a unit from regulating "Leasing terms and conditions" without state authority.
Understanding the Renters Insurance Clause
A renters insurance clause asks two things at once: that you buy a policy, and often that the policy carry risks around the building. Our record of Indiana's landlord-tenant chapters speaks to the damage side, and finds no rule on the policy itself.
Our record of Indiana Code Title 32, Article 31, chapters 1, 2.9, 3, 5, 7 and 8 finds no requirement that a tenant carry renters insurance and no coverage figure. That leaves the insurance paragraph you signed as the document that answers what coverage is required.
What those chapters provide is a duty and a remedy. Ind. Code § 32-31-7-5 requires a tenant not to damage the premises, and § 32-31-7-7 lets a landlord recover actual damages, attorney's fees and court costs after a notice step. Indianapolis's code, in our searches, adds no insurance rule.
These chapters were read on archived copies of the General Assembly's 2026 files. Read the current text on iga.in.gov before you rely on it.
What renters assume
Once you carry renters insurance, the lease can hand the landlord's own upkeep duties to you and your insurer.
What is actually true
§ 32-31-8-5 requires the landlord to deliver the premises "in a safe, clean, and habitable condition" and keep listed systems "in good and safe working condition". § 32-31-8-4 says "A waiver of the application of this chapter by a landlord or tenant, by contract or otherwise, is void." § 32-31-7-4 says the same of the tenant obligations chapter.
Of the 24 rows in the comparison further down this page, eleven are drawn at $100,000 and thirteen have no bar. Indianapolis is one of the thirteen.
Its row reads No state requirement, a label it shares with Philadelphia, Boston, Las Vegas, Newark, Detroit, Minneapolis and Kansas City.
Five more carry a no-figure label with a note: Washington for void liability waivers, Baltimore for void indemnity clauses, Milwaukee for a waiver that voids the lease, Columbus for the lease in control, and Charlotte for the tenant's choice of carrier. Indiana's rules on tenant damage, the duty in § 32-31-7-5 and the remedy in § 32-31-7-7, work through notice and a claim rather than a policy.
An axis drawn in coverage dollars has no place for them, and none for the forty-five day deposit list in § 32-31-3-14.
Plain English Version
If your Indianapolis lease tells you to carry renters insurance, the lease is where that demand and its amount come from: the Indiana chapters our record read set neither. What Indiana does set is your duty not to damage the place, and the landlord's right to recover actual damages, attorney's fees and court costs if you do.
Before suing under that chapter while you still live there, the landlord must give you notice and a reasonable amount of time to fix it. The lease cannot sign away the landlord's own duty to keep the home safe and habitable.
Renters Insurance Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Indianapolis, IN
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.
“Riggses are] responsible for obtaining fire and extended”
This is the sentence an Indiana court has already read. In Hoosier, the Indiana Court of Appeals treated a lease duty to procure insurance as evidence of who the parties expected to bear a loss. Such a provision “will provide evidence that the parties reasonably anticipated that the tenant would be liable for that particular loss”, and that kept the landlord's insurer's subrogation claim alive.
“[the Harkers] to be listed as an additional insured under the”
Naming the landlord on your policy is a lease term our record of Indiana's chapters does not address, which leaves this line as the document that answers it. What the chapters do fix is the landlord's own side: § 32-31-8-5 requires delivery of the premises “in a safe, clean, and habitable condition”, and § 32-31-8-4 says a waiver of that chapter “by contract or otherwise, is void.”
“for renter's coverage on [the Riggses'] own personal”
Coverage on your own belongings is the plainest line in this paragraph, and it protects you rather than the building. Our record of Indiana Code Title 32, Article 31 finds no requirement that a tenant carry it and no coverage figure. The Title 27 chapter our record found whose heading names tenant liability insurance, § 27-7-16-5, is about special events, and our record of it does not reach a residential lease.
“from [the Riggses'] use or occupancy of the Leased”
The indemnity sentence puts third-party claims arising from your use of the home on you. Our record of Indiana's chapters is about the tenant's own duty and the landlord's remedy against the tenant, and does not reach indemnity for a stranger's claim. That leaves the lease you signed as the document that answers how far this sentence goes.
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.
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.
Indiana Law on Renters Insurance Clause
- The tenant's duty and the landlord's remedy come with a notice step. Ind. Code § 32-31-7-5(4) requires a tenant to "Refrain from defacing, damaging, destroying, impairing, or removing any part of the rental premises." Section 32-31-7-7(b) says a landlord may not sue under the chapter unless the landlord "gives the tenant notice of the tenant's noncompliance" and the tenant "has been given a reasonable amount of time to remedy the noncompliance", a step § 32-31-7-7(d) drops once the tenant's occupancy has ended. A prevailing landlord may recover "Actual damages" and "Attorney's fees and court costs" under § 32-31-7-7(f).
- The deposit, not a policy, is the security the chapters we read name. Section 32-31-3-13 lets a security deposit reimburse "actual damages to the rental unit or any ancillary facility that are not the result of ordinary wear and tear", and § 32-31-3-14 requires an itemized list within forty-five days after termination of occupancy setting out "the estimated cost of repair for each damaged item".
- Whatever an insurance paragraph says, these chapters cannot be contracted away. Section 32-31-8-4 provides that "A waiver of the application of this chapter by a landlord or tenant, by contract or otherwise, is void", and § 32-31-7-4 says the same of the tenant obligations chapter. Under § 32-31-8-5 the landlord must deliver the premises "in a safe, clean, and habitable condition" and keep listed systems "in good and safe working condition".
- The Title 27 chapter we found whose heading names tenant liability insurance is about events, not homes. Ind. Code § 27-7-16-5 defines "tenant users liability insurance" as "insurance that provides liability coverage for property damage or bodily injury to a third party caused by a vendor, exhibitor, or performer during a special event." Our record for that chapter is about special events and does not reach a residential lease.
Sources include Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c); Ind. Code § 36-1-2-23; Ind. Code § 32-31-7-5; Ind. Code § 32-31-7-7; Ind. Code § 32-31-3-13; Ind. Code § 32-31-3-14; Ind. Code § 32-31-8-4; Ind. Code § 32-31-7-4; Ind. Code § 27-7-16-5 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Start with the scope. Our record of Indiana Code Title 32, Article 31, chapters 1, 2.9, 3, 5, 7 and 8, read in the General Assembly's 2026 edition, finds no requirement that a tenant carry renters insurance and no liability coverage figure.
Our record leaves the insurance paragraph you signed as the document that answers what coverage is required.
What the chapters provide for tenant-caused damage is a duty. § 32-31-7-5(4) requires a tenant to "Refrain from defacing, damaging, destroying, impairing, or removing any part of the rental premises."
The remedy comes with a notice step. Under § 32-31-7-7(b), a landlord may not sue under the chapter unless the landlord "gives the tenant notice of the tenant's noncompliance" and the tenant "has been given a reasonable amount of time to remedy the noncompliance". § 32-31-7-7(d) drops that step once the tenant's occupancy has ended.
A landlord who prevails may recover "Actual damages" and "Attorney's fees and court costs" under § 32-31-7-7(f). Those are the measures of a damage claim under the chapter.
The security the chapters name is the deposit. § 32-31-3-13 lets a deposit reimburse "actual damages to the rental unit or any ancillary facility that are not the result of ordinary wear and tear". § 32-31-3-14 requires an itemized list within forty-five days after termination of occupancy, setting out "the estimated cost of repair for each damaged item".
The landlord's side cannot be traded away in an insurance paragraph. § 32-31-8-4 provides that "A waiver of the application of this chapter by a landlord or tenant, by contract or otherwise, is void", and § 32-31-7-4 says the same of the tenant obligations chapter.
Under § 32-31-8-5, the landlord must deliver the premises "in a safe, clean, and habitable condition" and keep listed systems "in good and safe working condition".
The Title 27 chapter our record found whose heading names tenant liability insurance is about events, not homes. Ind. Code § 27-7-16-5 defines "tenant users liability insurance" as coverage for damage or injury to a third party "caused by a vendor, exhibitor, or performer during a special event." Our record for that chapter is about special events and does not reach a residential lease.
These chapters were read on the Internet Archive's copies of the General Assembly's files; the chapter 32-31-1 file was captured September 29, 2026. Read the current text on iga.in.gov before you rely on it.
Indiana Tenant Protections
Our record of Indiana Code Title 32, Article 31, chapters 1, 2.9, 3, 5, 7 and 8, read in the 2026 edition, finds no requirement that a tenant carry renters insurance and no liability coverage figure, which leaves any required amount to the lease itself. Ind. Code § 32-31-7-5(4) requires a tenant to refrain from defacing, damaging, destroying, impairing or removing any part of the rental premises.
Under § 32-31-7-7(b), a landlord may not sue under the chapter until it gives the tenant notice of the noncompliance and a reasonable amount of time to remedy it. Section 32-31-7-7(d) drops that step once the tenant's occupancy has ended, and § 32-31-7-7(f) lets a prevailing landlord recover actual damages, attorney's fees and court costs.
Section 32-31-3-13 lets a security deposit reimburse actual damages that are not the result of ordinary wear and tear.
Section 32-31-3-14 requires an itemized list within forty-five days after termination of occupancy. Section 32-31-8-4 voids a waiver of its chapter, by contract or otherwise, and § 32-31-7-4 says the same of the tenant obligations chapter.
Under § 32-31-8-5, the landlord must deliver the premises in a safe, clean and habitable condition. Ind. Code § 27-7-16-5 defines tenant users liability insurance by reference to vendors, exhibitors and performers at a special event, and our record of it does not reach a residential lease.
On the city layer, Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c) bars a unit from regulating leasing terms and conditions without state authority, and our searches of the Indianapolis code found no renters insurance rule.
What's Specific to Indianapolis
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.
Our searches of the Indianapolis code found no renters insurance rule. On Municode, the Revised Code of the Consolidated City and County returned no results for "renters insurance" or for "renter insurance".
A search for insurance tenant returned two sections: an equal opportunity definitions section, § 581-103, and a zoning definitions section, § 740-202, whose snippet concerns flood insurance. Neither result snippet concerns a tenant's insurance.
We also read two city chapters in full. Chapter 582, Protection of Tenants' Rights, and Chapter 851, the Indianapolis Landlord Registration Program, do not mention renters insurance.
The state code speaks to the city's role in its own words. Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c) bars a unit, which § 36-1-2-23 defines as a "county, municipality, or township", from regulating "Leasing terms and conditions" and "The rights of the parties to a lease" unless "the regulation is authorized by an act of the general assembly". It says a violating ordinance "is void and unenforceable."
Subsection (a) says that, subject to IC 36-1-3-8.5, the section "does not apply to privately owned real property for which government funds or benefits have been allocated" to provide reduced rents to low or moderate income tenants. If your rent is reduced under such a program, read that subsection yourself.
If an Indianapolis lease or addendum credits its coverage requirement to the city, ask which section it means. Compare the answer with what that section says and whom it binds.
Where our searches of the city code came up empty, the rules our record carries for an Indianapolis renter are the state's. The duty not to damage the premises is in § 32-31-7-5, the landlord's remedy and its notice step in § 32-31-7-7, and the deposit's role in § 32-31-3-13.
In practice the order runs like this. Copy the coverage amount and any additional insured requirement from the lease, keep the policy's declarations page with it, and answer any written notice of damage in writing.
A dated copy of your reply shows what you did within the reasonable time § 32-31-7-7(b) describes.
The date on the Indianapolis text matters. Municode states the code is "Codified through Ordinance No. 42, 2026, passed June 1, 2026. (Supp. No. 47, Update 2)", and it warns that the code "may not reflect the most current legislation adopted by the Municipality."
Confirm the current code before relying on the absence of a city rule, and read the state chapters as they stand today on iga.in.gov.
Then you know exactly what the lease asks. Our record of the Indiana chapters finds no coverage figure, which leaves the lease as the place that number is fixed.
§ 32-31-7-7(b) calls for notice of the noncompliance and "a reasonable amount of time to remedy" it before a suit under the chapter, a step § 32-31-7-7(d) drops once occupancy has ended.
§ 32-31-8-5 puts safe, clean and habitable premises on the landlord, and § 32-31-8-4 voids a waiver of that chapter "by contract or otherwise".
Our record finds none for a residential lease. § 27-7-16-5 defines "tenant users liability insurance" by reference to a vendor, exhibitor or performer "during a special event".
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Ind. Code § 32-31-1-20(c); Ind. Code § 36-1-2-23; Ind. Code § 32-31-7-5; Ind. Code § 32-31-7-7; Ind. Code § 32-31-3-13; Ind. Code § 32-31-3-14; Ind. Code § 32-31-8-4; Ind. Code § 32-31-7-4; Ind. Code § 27-7-16-5, read on web.archive.org. Read as the Internet Archive's copy, captured September 29, 2026, of the Indiana General Assembly's Indiana Code 2026 file for chapter 32-31-1, which prints each section's history line, and FindLaw's copy of § 32-31-1-20 marked current as of January 1, 2026 matches it; the General Assembly's own site did not load on our build machine, so confirm the current text at iga.in.gov before relying on it.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A coverage figure credited to Indiana law
Our record of the Indiana landlord-tenant chapters finds no coverage figure a lease must use. A clause that attributes its number to state law should name the section it means.
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Your policy standing in for the landlord's repairs
§ 32-31-8-5 requires the landlord to keep the premises safe, clean and habitable, and § 32-31-8-4 voids a waiver of that chapter by contract or otherwise.
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A damage claim with no notice first
While you still live there, § 32-31-7-7(b) requires notice of the noncompliance and a reasonable amount of time to remedy it before the landlord sues under the chapter.
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Special event insurance language in a home lease
§ 27-7-16-5 defines "tenant users liability insurance" for vendors, exhibitors and performers at a special event. Our record of that chapter does not reach a residential lease.
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An Indianapolis rule cited for coverage
Our searches of the Indianapolis code found no renters insurance rule, and Chapter 582 and Chapter 851 do not mention it. Ask which section a lease means.
Your Rights as a Indianapolis Tenant
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Notice before a damage suit
§ 32-31-7-7(b) bars a suit under the chapter until the landlord gives notice of the noncompliance and a reasonable amount of time to remedy it, while you still occupy the unit.
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A safe, clean and habitable home
§ 32-31-8-5 requires the landlord to deliver the premises "in a safe, clean, and habitable condition" and keep listed systems in good and safe working condition.
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Duties that cannot be signed away
§ 32-31-8-4 says a waiver of its chapter, which holds the landlord's duties in § 32-31-8-5, "by contract or otherwise, is void". § 32-31-7-4 says the same of the tenant obligations chapter.
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Deposit deductions itemized
§ 32-31-3-13 limits deposit deductions for damage to actual damages beyond ordinary wear and tear, and § 32-31-3-14 requires an itemized list within forty-five days.
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the amount and its stated source
Copy out the coverage figure and any law the clause credits for it. Our record of the Indiana chapters finds no figure. A clause citing one should name its section.
Mark every sentence about the landlord's duties
Read those apart from the policy requirement. § 32-31-8-5 keeps upkeep on the landlord, and § 32-31-8-4 voids a waiver of that chapter by contract or otherwise.
Buy the policy and keep proof
Keep the declarations page with the lease, and send any proof the lease asks for in a way you can show later.
Answer any notice of damage in writing
While you live there, § 32-31-7-7(b) gives you a reasonable amount of time to remedy a noncompliance after notice. Reply in writing, say what you did, and keep a dated copy.
Watch the deposit list after you leave
§ 32-31-3-14 requires an itemized list with the estimated cost of repair for each damaged item within forty-five days after termination of occupancy.
Read the current text, then object in writing
Check § 32-31-7-7 and § 32-31-8-4 on iga.in.gov. Then send a written objection naming the section you rely on, and a legal aid office is the next call if that goes nowhere.