You bought renters insurance to protect you against life’s what-ifs. So if you wake up with a row of small bites, you might be wondering: Does renters insurance cover bedbugs?
Bad news. In most cases, you can’t get renters insurance to cover bedbugs. You’ll be on the hook for paying for extermination or the other treatment of your choice — provided you can’t prove your landlord is responsible for the situation.
(This doesn’t mean you should drop your renters policy. It still covers you against a whole bunch of risks.)
Long story short, renters insurance bedbugs coverage is pretty much nonexistent. Let’s find out why.
[ Read: Is Renters Insurance Worth it?]
Does renters insurance cover bedbugs?
No.
But your renters policy is supposed to protect you against unexpected disasters, so why doesn’t renters insurance cover bedbugs?
Your renters insurance safeguards you against sudden, unavoidable disasters. Bedbugs disqualify you for coverage in two ways. First, insurers don’t see them as a sudden peril. Secondly, they’re generally seen as avoidable. In fact, most insurers will argue preventing and dealing with bedbugs is a maintenance issue.
Beyond that, most renters policies — both cheap and pricy renters policies — specifically exclude bedbug coverage. Even all-perils policies usually list bedbugs as a policy exclusion. (The same is generally true for home insurance policies, too.)
Some companies offer renters insurance bedbugs endorsements, meaning you could add bedbug coverage to your policy. But these endorsements are increasingly hard to find. And as far as insurance policies designed specifically for bedbugs, those are usually reserved for landlords and business owners (e.g., hotel owners). You’ll probably have a pretty hard time finding renters insurance with bedbugs coverage.
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Is my landlord supposed to take care of bedbugs?
Does renters insurance cover bedbugs? No. But does that mean you definitely need to pay out-of-pocket to deal with them? Not necessarily. In some cases, the infestation is your landlord’s responsibility.
Legal rights as a tenant
In most states, landlords have to provide their tenants with a safe, habitable living space. If you can prove that the bedbugs are your landlord’s fault — not yours — you have a leg to stand on here.
It’s easiest to lean on your legal rights as a tenant to have your landlord handle the infestation in two cases:
- You just moved in and found bedbugs. In this case, you can probably prove that the bedbugs were there before you.
- You live in a multi-unit property and multiple units have bedbugs. If the bedbugs can’t be traced back to you or another tenant at the property, your landlord will have to deal with them.
Bedbug laws
In some states, landlords are legally required to get rid of bedbugs at their property. In Arizona, California and other states, for example, a landlord can’t knowingly rent a unit that has bedbugs. In Florida, landlords are explicitly required to exterminate bedbugs any time they show up on their property.
Ultimately, bedbug laws vary from state to state. But that doesn’t mean you have to delve into your state’s statutes and codes to find out if your landlord is on the hook. The EPA has a handy, alphabetically organized spreadsheet summarizing all bedbug laws in each state, as of September 2019.
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How do I prevent bedbugs?
Since you know you’re lacking renters insurance bedbugs coverage, you want to avoid this infestation, for sure. Steering clear of bedbugs comes down to checking items before you bring them into your house.
After travel
If you travel somewhere you suspect had bedbugs, launder any clothes you’re wearing and shower right away. Then, leave your suitcases outside until you can launder everything in them (on hot) and vacuum them out thoroughly. Make sure you hit any seams with extra care.
After buying second-hand
If you thrift for furniture or clothing items, check anything you bring home really well before you bring it inside.
Tips at home
Additionally, you can do a few things around the house to make it harder for bedbugs to thrive there:
- Clear out clutter around your bed so these bugs don’t have a place to hide
- Vacuum regularly around your bed
- Put your mattress inside a protective cover (bedbugs love hiding in mattress seams)
How do I get rid of bedbugs?
You have a few options you can explore to nix those pesky pests:
Hire an exterminator
Your best bet for ditching bedbugs is to bring in a pro. Costs to treat your bedbug infestation can vary based on the extent of your infestation and the treatment you choose, but you’re probably looking at somewhere between $ 500 and $ 1,500.
Launder what you can — and seal up what you can’t
Run all your clothes through the laundry on a hot cycle for both the washer and dryer. Do the same with your bedding and literally anything else you can launder, including bedskirts, drapes, towels, rugs and stuffed animals.
If something can’t go through the wash, double bag it in a trash bag and be prepared to stash it for a while. Bedbugs can live for months without feeding.
Vacuum, then empty your vacuum carefully
Vacuum the crevices of your mattresses and furniture. Vacuum all of your floors, focusing particularly on the areas around the legs of your bed, too.
Immediately after finishing vacuuming, take the vacuum outside. Dump the contents into a trash bag and seal it. Place that bag in an outside trash — don’t bring it inside or you risk undoing all of your progress.
[ Read: How to Buy Cheap Renters Insurance Online ]
Too long, didn’t read?
Does renters insurance cover bedbugs?
Why doesn’t renters insurance cover bedbugs? Simply put, pretty much all policies specifically exclude it.
Since you’re without renters insurance bedbug coverage, you might be able to tap your landlord to deal with the infestation. If not, be prepared to hire an extermination company to handle the situation for you.
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