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 Virginia law says, what's specific to Richmond - and exactly what to do. In plain English.
Short answer for Richmond
No Virginia section we read requires renters insurance or names a coverage amount, but your landlord may make a policy a condition of the lease, as specified in the rental agreement (Va. Code § 55.1-1206(B)). They must tell you in writing that you may buy your own separate policy. Deposits plus premiums paid before move-in are capped together at two months' periodic rent (§ 55.1-1206(C)). The Richmond code sections we read add no renters insurance rule.
Copy the proof-of-insurance letterWhat is your situation?
My lease requires renters insurance
Virginia lets a landlord require renter's insurance as a condition of tenancy, as specified in the rental agreement (Va. Code § 55.1-1206(B)), and the Virginia sections we read name no coverage amount, so your lease sets the figure. The landlord must tell you in writing that you may buy your own separate policy; if you do, give written proof and keep it in force for the whole term.
Read the Virginia law sectionMy landlord wants to be named on my policy
The sections on this page do not cover naming your landlord on your policy, so your lease wording decides it. What Virginia fixes: you may carry a separate policy from the landlord's, and they must tell you so in writing (Va. Code § 55.1-1206(B)); a term making you excuse, limit or indemnify the landlord's liability arising under law is unenforceable (§ 55.1-1208(A)(5) and (B)). Ask in writing what the clause requires before you sign.
See what to do nextI don't want to buy insurance
No Virginia section we read requires renters insurance, so any demand comes from your lease, which may make a policy a condition of tenancy (Va. Code § 55.1-1206(B)). If a required policy lapses, the landlord may put you on its own coverage and charge the premiums as rent until you show in writing that yours is reinstated. The Richmond code sections we read add no rule of their own.
See your rightsSomething was damaged or stolen
The sections on this page do not cover claims for damaged or stolen belongings, so your policy and lease decide it. What Virginia says: a policy the landlord obtains must cover you as an insured (Va. Code § 55.1-1206(D)), and where the lease required no policy, the same section calls for written notice before signing that the landlord's insurance does not cover your personal property. Keep the lease, your policy and every notice together.
See what to do nextI'm the landlord requiring insurance
You may require renter's insurance as a condition of tenancy, as specified in the rental agreement (Va. Code § 55.1-1206(B)), and must tell the tenant in writing of the right to a separate policy. A policy you obtain must cover the tenant as an insured, and the tenant gets its summary or certificate before signing (§ 55.1-1206(D)). Premiums collected before move-in share the two months' periodic rent cap on deposits (§ 55.1-1206(C)).
Read the Virginia law sectionQuick summary: 5 key points
- No Virginia section we read names a coverage amount, but a lease may require a policy (§ 55.1-1206(B)).
- The landlord must tell you in writing that you may buy your own separate policy (§ 55.1-1206(B)).
- Deposits plus premiums paid before move-in are capped together at two months' periodic rent (§ 55.1-1206(C)).
- A term making you excuse, limit or indemnify the landlord's liability arising under law is unenforceable (§ 55.1-1208(A)(5)).
- Our record of Richmond's code finds no renters insurance rule. The $100,000.00 figure it found is for dangerous dog owners.
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Try your numbers
Is your deposits plus up-front insurance premiums over the limit?
Applies to all security deposits plus insurance premiums the landlord requires to be paid before the tenancy begins, counted together, up to two months' periodic rent; a lease term agreeing to more is unenforceable (§ 55.1-1208(A)(7) and (B)) (Va. Code § 55.1-1206(C)). Arithmetic only, not legal advice.
Copy and send: When you buy your own policy instead of the landlord's, or when you reinstate one that lapsed
Proof of my own renters insurance
Fill in the brackets and keep a copy of what you send.
How Virginia compares
Typical required liability coverage, state by state
$100kNo figureGuide coming soonYou are here
See all 28 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 Richmond renters whose lease requires renters insurance and who want to know what Virginia law says about it. Virginia has a statute written for this clause.
It lets the landlord require a policy and leaves the coverage amount to the lease, but it also gives you a choice of policy and limits on what you pay up front. Before you sign, read the coverage amount, the money due at signing and any sentence about the landlord's liability.
What renters assume
If the lease requires renters insurance, I have to buy the policy the landlord picked.
What is actually true
Under § 55.1-1206(B) the landlord must tell you in writing that you have the right to obtain a separate policy from the landlord's. If you do, give the landlord written proof and keep it in force for the whole term.
28 rows sit in the comparison further down this page. Eleven are drawn at $100,000, and 17 have no bar.
Richmond's row reads No figure; lease sets coverage, and nine of the empty ones read No state requirement: Philadelphia, Boston, Las Vegas, Newark, Detroit, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Indianapolis and Salt Lake City.
Eight carry a no-figure label with a note: Washington, Columbus, Charlotte, Baltimore, Milwaukee, Louisville, Oklahoma City and Richmond. Of the eleven bars, nine carry the label typical, Los Angeles reads $100,000 (statutory) and Portland $100,000 cap.
The figure in our Virginia record, the two months' periodic rent ceiling in § 55.1-1206(C), measures money paid up front rather than coverage. The $100,000.00 in Richmond City Code § 4-241(b)(2)c is a duty on the owner of a dog found to be dangerous. Neither fits an axis drawn in coverage dollars.
Renters Insurance Clause Example - What the Wording Looks Like in Richmond, VA
The sample clause below comes from a Tennessee court case, and the notes explain what Virginia law says about each part. It 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.
The Resident is responsible for the insurance of their personal property in the case of fire or other perils that would be covered by a resident’s renters insurance policy, as Dattel Realty Company’s insurance policies do not cover personal property of the resident. Resident is also responsible for liability that resident may incur as the result of a negligent action by the Resident, both as to individual apartment leased or common areas, including elevators, stairwells, swimming pool, corridors, grounds, parking and paved areas.
Quoted from the published opinion in Dattel Family Ltd. Partnership v. Wintz, 250 S.W.3d 883 (Tenn. Ct. App. 2007). 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
“personal property in the case of fire or other”
Virginia defines the policy this sentence describes. § 55.1-1200 calls renter's insurance “a combination multi-peril policy containing fire, miscellaneous property, and personal liability coverage insuring personal property”, and § 55.1-1206(B) lets a landlord require it as a condition of tenancy “as specified in the rental agreement.” Neither section names a dollar amount, which leaves the paragraph you signed as the place the coverage figure comes from.
See the example
“renters insurance policy, as Dattel Realty Company’s insurance”
Two policies sit side by side here, yours and the landlord's, and Virginia keeps them apart. Under § 55.1-1206(B) the landlord “shall notify a tenant in writing that the tenant has the right to obtain a separate policy from the landlord's policy for renter's insurance.” Where a lease requires no policy at all, § 55.1-1206(D) calls for a written notice before signing that the landlord's insurance coverage does not cover the tenant's personal property, and that a renter's policy does not cover flood damage.
See the example
“responsible for liability that resident may”
Liability is part of the definition, not an extra. Virginia's renter's insurance includes “personal liability coverage” alongside fire and property cover, at whatever amount the rental agreement specifies. The liability figure our record found in Richmond's code, $100,000.00 in City Code § 4-241(b)(2)c, is a duty on the owner of a dog found to be dangerous and mirrors Va. Code § 3.2-6540.01(B)(3). It is not a coverage figure for a renters policy.
See the example
“negligent action by the Resident, both”
This sentence puts the resident's own negligence on the resident. § 55.1-1208(A)(5) names a different term: one in which the tenant agrees to the exculpation or limitation of the landlord's liability arising under law, or to indemnify the landlord for it, and § 55.1-1208(B) makes that term unenforceable. Read whose negligence your lease names before you sign.
See the example
The tenant won, and the landlord's fire insurer recovered nothing. Adopting the Sutton rule for Tennessee, the Court of Appeals held that telling a resident she is responsible for insuring her own personal property - and that the landlord's policies do not cover it - is not an “express agreement to the contrary” making her liable to the landlord's insurer for fire damage to the building. In the court's words: “While the Lease Agreement states explicitly that Wintz is expected to obtain renter's insurance to cover her personal property, it does not state that Wintz is obligated to obtain insurance for the Building.” Absent that express language, a residential tenant is an implied co-insured under the landlord's fire policy, so the carrier had no right of subrogation against her. Summary judgment for the tenant was affirmed. The practical lesson: a sentence about your possessions is a sentence about your possessions, and it does not quietly become a promise to insure the building.
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.
Virginia Law on Renters Insurance Clause
- A Virginia landlord may make renter's insurance a condition of the lease, and the lease sets what the policy must cover.
Read the law's words
Va. Code § 55.1-1206(B) provides that "A landlord may require as a condition of tenancy that a tenant have renter's insurance as specified in the rental agreement." Section 55.1-1200 defines renter's insurance as "insurance coverage specified in the rental agreement that is a combination multi-peril policy containing fire, miscellaneous property, and personal liability coverage insuring personal property located in dwelling units not occupied by the owner." Neither section names a dollar amount of liability coverage. - You may buy your own policy instead of the landlord's.
Read the law's words
Under § 55.1-1206(B) the landlord "shall notify a tenant in writing that the tenant has the right to obtain a separate policy from the landlord's policy for renter's insurance"; a tenant who does so must give the landlord written proof and keep the coverage in force for the whole term. If the required policy lapses, the landlord may put the tenant on its own coverage and charge the premiums as rent until the tenant shows written documentation that the tenant's own coverage is reinstated. - A policy the landlord buys for you has rules of its own.
Read the law's words
Section 55.1-1206(D) says it "shall provide coverage for the tenant as an insured", says the landlord "shall recover from the tenant the actual costs of such insurance coverage" and may recover administrative or other fees, and requires the landlord to give each tenant, before the lease is signed, a summary of the policy prepared by the insurer or a certificate of coverage that states whether the policy contains a waiver of subrogation. If premiums are paid before the tenancy begins, § 55.1-1206(C) caps all security deposits and insurance premiums together at two months' periodic rent, and § 55.1-1208(A)(7) and (B) make a lease term agreeing to more unenforceable. Section 55.1-1206(C) also provides that "the landlord shall be permitted to add a monthly amount as additional rent to recover additional costs of renter's insurance premiums." - If your lease does not require renter's insurance, the landlord owes you a written notice before signing.
Read the law's words
Section 55.1-1206(D) requires it to state that "(i) the landlord is not responsible for the tenant's personal property, (ii) the landlord's insurance coverage does not cover the tenant's personal property, and (iii) if the tenant wishes to protect his personal property, he should obtain renter's insurance", and to say that such a policy does not cover flood damage. A landlord's failure to give that notice "shall not affect the validity of the rental agreement."
Sources include Va. Code § 55.1-1206; Va. Code § 55.1-1200; Va. Code § 55.1-1208(A)(5); Va. Code § 55.1-1208(A)(7); Va. Code § 55.1-1208(B); Va. Code § 55.1-1201; Richmond City Code § 4-241; Va. Code § 3.2-6540.01 - statutes change; verify the current text for your situation.
Read the full state law section
Va. Code § 55.1-1206(B) lets a landlord require renter's insurance "as specified in the rental agreement", and the Virginia sections we read name no coverage amount. § 55.1-1200 defines it as a multi-peril policy with fire, property and personal liability coverage. Four rules:
- Your own policy. If you buy your own, give the landlord written proof and keep it in force all term. If it lapses, the landlord may charge its own coverage as rent until you show in writing that yours is reinstated.
- The landlord's policy (§ 55.1-1206(D)). It must cover you as an insured. The landlord recovers its actual costs and may add administrative or other fees. Before signing you get a summary or certificate stating whether it waives subrogation.
- Money up front. Premiums for the landlord's policy count as rent, not a security deposit. If paid before the tenancy begins, they share the two months' periodic rent cap on deposits in § 55.1-1206(C), and § 55.1-1208(A)(7) and (B) make a term agreeing to more unenforceable.
- No release of the landlord. Under § 55.1-1208(A)(5) and (B), a term making you excuse, limit or indemnify the landlord's liability arising under law is unenforceable.
If your lease requires no policy, the landlord owes you written notice before signing that its insurance does not cover your personal property.
What's Specific to Richmond
Our record of Richmond's City Code finds no section that uses "renter's insurance" or "renters insurance", or any adopted ordinance that does. The liability figure our record did find, in Richmond City Code § 4-241(b)(2)c, requires the owner of a dangerous dog to carry coverage of at least $100,000.00 or a bond.
Va. Code § 55.1-1201(E) says the state Act supersedes other local ordinances on landlord and tenant relations, apart from a mediation commission and property maintenance rules. Richmond has adopted ordinances not yet in the code, so confirm the current code.
Then you know what the lease asks. § 55.1-1206(B) leaves the amount to the rental agreement.
Good. § 55.1-1206(B) requires that written notice.
Then the total is over the § 55.1-1206(C) cap. Ask the landlord in writing to correct it before you sign.
That term is unenforceable under § 55.1-1208(A)(5) and (B). Ask in writing for it to be removed.
Sources
The law this guide relies on, and where to read it. Statutes change, so confirm the current text before you act on it.
- Va. Code § 55.1-1206; Va. Code § 55.1-1200; Va. Code § 55.1-1208(A)(5); Va. Code § 55.1-1208(A)(7); Va. Code § 55.1-1208(B); Va. Code § 55.1-1201; Richmond City Code § 4-241; Va. Code § 3.2-6540.01, read on law.lis.virginia.gov. Read on the Virginia General Assembly's Legislative Information System, whose page for § 55.1-1206 shows a single version with a history line ending 2021, Sp. Sess. I, c. 427, and whose list of Code sections updated effective July 1, 2026 does not include it; the Richmond City Code was read on Municode in the recodification codified through Ordinance No. 2025-207, adopted October 14, 2025.
Red Flags to Watch Out For
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A coverage figure credited to Virginia law
The Virginia sections we read name no liability coverage amount. Ask which section the clause means.
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No written word on a separate policy
§ 55.1-1206(B) requires the landlord to tell you in writing that you may obtain a separate policy.
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Up-front money above two months' rent
Deposits plus premiums paid before the tenancy begins cannot exceed two months' periodic rent under § 55.1-1206(C).
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A release or indemnity for the landlord
§ 55.1-1208(A)(5) and (B) make a term excusing, limiting or indemnifying the landlord's liability arising under law unenforceable.
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A Richmond dog rule borrowed for a lease
The $100,000.00 in § 4-241(b)(2)c binds owners of dangerous dogs. It is not a renters policy figure.
Your Rights as a Richmond Tenant
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Your own policy instead of the landlord's
You may obtain a separate policy, and the landlord must tell you so in writing (§ 55.1-1206(B)).
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Cover as an insured on the landlord's policy
A policy the landlord obtains "shall provide coverage for the tenant as an insured" (§ 55.1-1206(D)).
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A two-month ceiling on up-front money
Security deposits and premiums paid before the tenancy begins are capped together (§ 55.1-1206(C)).
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No release of the landlord's liability
A term making you excuse, limit or indemnify the landlord's liability arising under law is unenforceable (§ 55.1-1208(A)(5)).
What To Do - Step by Step
Find the coverage the lease specifies
Copy out the amount and the kind of policy the clause asks for. The lease sets it under § 55.1-1206(B).
Look for the written notice
Check that the landlord told you in writing you may buy a separate policy.
Decide whose policy to carry
If you buy your own, send written proof. If you take the landlord's, ask for the summary or certificate before signing.
Add up the money due at signing
Total every deposit and any premium collected before the tenancy begins, then compare it with two months' rent.
Mark any sentence about the landlord's liability
Read it apart from the policy requirement, and ask in writing for a release or indemnity sentence to be removed.
Keep the paper trail together
File the lease, your policy, the proof you sent and any notice from the landlord in one place, with dates.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Renters Insurance rules near Virginia
The same clause in the nearest states we cover.