Erie Renters Insurance Review 2023
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Erie
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Erie
Coverage options
Discounts
NAIC complaints
Erie renters insurance is available through independent agents in 12 states and Washington, D.C. Although the company’s geographical reach is limited, its policies are worth considering if you’re eligible.
Erie offers a variety of ways to customize and save on your policy, and it draws fewer consumer complaints than expected for a company of its size. But Erie’s website lacks features that some other insurance companies have, such as online quotes and claim filing.
Erie renters insurance star rating
Erie renters insurance earned 5 out of 5 stars for overall performance. NerdWallet’s ratings are determined by our editorial team. The renters insurance scoring formula takes into account policy coverage options and discounts, ease of filing a claim, website transparency, the financial strength of the company, complaint data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners and more.
Based on these ratings, Erie is among NerdWallet’s Best Renters Insurance Companies for 2023.
State availability
Erie insurance is available in 12 states and Washington, D.C.
» MORE: The best cheap renters insurance
Erie renters insurance coverage
Landlords sometimes require tenants to purchase a policy with a minimum amount of renters liability insurance, but otherwise, the coverage you choose is generally up to you. Below are the four types of coverage included in most standard renters policies:
Type of coverage | What it does |
|---|---|
Covers your clothing, furniture, electronics and other belongings. | |
Pays for hotel stays, restaurant meals or other expenses if you have to live elsewhere while your home undergoes covered repairs. | |
Pays out if you're responsible for injuries to other people or damage to their property. | |
Medical payments | Covers injuries to other people in your home, regardless of fault. |
For more details, see What Does Renters Insurance Cover?
In addition to the basics listed above, Erie generally also includes coverage for food that spoils during a power outage and replacement cost coverage for your personal belongings. With replacement cost coverage, Erie will pay you enough after a claim to buy brand-new replacements for your damaged or stolen belongings. (Some insurance companies pay less to reflect the depreciation of older items.)
Also included is personal injury liability coverage, which offers financial protection if someone sues you for libel, slander, discrimination or other offenses.
You may be able to customize your policy with the following coverage options, depending on where you live:
Sewer and drain backup, which pays for damage if water backs up into your home.
Home-sharing, which covers liability, theft and damage to your belongings if you rent out your space on a site like Airbnb or Vrbo.
Identity recovery, which provides assistance if you’re a victim of identity theft.
Cyber event, which includes identity recovery coverage but also helps with data recovery and various expenses after a cyber attack.
Scheduled personal property, which offers additional coverage for valuables like jewelry or sports equipment.
In most of the states it serves, Erie also offers bundles that include some of the options above plus higher coverage limits.
Erie renters insurance rates
Erie renters insurance costs $148 a year on average, according to NerdWallet’s rate analysis. That’s cheaper than the national average of $179 a year. Erie renters insurance was less expensive than average in most of the individual states where we evaluated the company's rates.
Discounts
You may be able to save money on Erie renters insurance by:
Having an alarm or sprinkler system in your home.
Getting a quote more than a week before you want your renters policy to take effect.
Buying more than one Erie policy.
Signing up for autopay.
Paying your premium in full, upfront.
Discount availability varies by state.
Consumer complaints
Erie received fewer than the expected number of home insurance complaints to state regulators relative to its size, according to three years’ worth of data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners. (NAIC home insurance complaints also cover other home policy types, including mobile home, renters and condo insurance.)
Consumer experience
Website: Erie’s website doesn’t have many bells and whistles, but you can use it to make payments, find an agent and track claims. However, you can’t get a quote or file a new claim online.
App: On the Erie mobile app, you can read policy documents, pay bills, check the status of a claim and find your agent’s contact details.
Claims: To file a claim, call your agent or dial Erie’s 24/7 claims line at 800-367-3743. Once you’ve submitted the claim, you can track its status through your online account or the app.
Customer service: You can get help by calling your local agent or dialing 800-458-0811, Monday through Saturday. You can also send an email through the site or chat live with a representative via your online account (weekdays only).
Where Erie stands out
Coverage. Having replacement cost coverage included in a standard Erie policy is a nice perk, ensuring that you’ll get enough of a claim payout to replace all your stuff after a covered disaster.
Customer satisfaction. Erie draws fewer consumer complaints than expected and was rated above average for customer satisfaction in J.D. Power’s 2022 Home Insurance Study.
Where Erie falls short
Availability. Erie’s renters policies are available in fewer than half of U.S. states.
Online features. Erie doesn’t offer the option to file claims online or get a quote on its website.
» MORE: Erie home insurance review
Other renters insurance companies to consider
Not ready to make a decision? You may be interested in these other renters insurance companies:
Allstate: Solid coverage and discounts, available nationwide.
Progressive: Sells its own renters policies and those of a third-party partner.
State Farm: Long list of coverage options from the nation’s largest insurer.
Travelers: User-friendly website and numerous coverage options.
Renters insurance ratings methodology
NerdWallet’s renters insurance ratings reward companies for customer-first features and practices. Ratings are based on weighted averages of scores in several categories, including financial strength, consumer complaints, coverage options, discounts and online experience. These ratings are a guide, but we encourage you to shop around and compare several insurance quotes to find the best rate for you. NerdWallet does not receive compensation for any reviews. Read our full renters insurance rating methodology.
Insurer complaints methodology
NerdWallet examined complaints received by state insurance regulators and reported to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 2019-2021. To assess how insurers compare to one another, the NAIC calculates a complaint index each year for each subsidiary, measuring its share of total complaints relative to its size, or share of total premiums in the industry. To evaluate a company’s complaint history, NerdWallet calculated a similar index for each insurer, weighted by market shares of each subsidiary, over the three-year period. NerdWallet conducts its data analysis and reaches conclusions independently and without the endorsement of the NAIC. Ratios are determined separately for auto, home (including renters and condo) and life insurance.
Renters insurance rates methodology
To find the national cost of renters insurance, NerdWallet averaged rates for 30-year-old tenants from multiple insurance companies in every ZIP code across all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Sample tenants were nonsmokers with good credit and no recent claims, living in a two-bedroom apartment. They had a $500 deductible and the following coverage limits:
$30,000 in personal property coverage.
$100,000 in liability coverage.
$10,000 in additional living expenses coverage.
$1,000 in medical payments coverage.
We then compared the insurer's rates to the average rate for all companies in states where it offers policies and where its rates were available from Quadrant Information Services.
These are sample rates generated through Quadrant Information Services. Your own rates will be different.
