Toggle Renters Insurance

Toggle Renters Insurance for College Students

Toggle Renters Insurance for College Students
Interest fees, rates and terms
Requirements
Repayment options
Customer service
Extras
Best for
Good choice for dog owners
Good choice for students with few possessions
Offer protection for those with side jobs
Worst points
Claims process not that simple
Rates aren’t the cheapest
They cover less for the money than many competitors
Fully digital aspect makes it hard to talk to an agent
3.9
GET A QUOTE

Toggle Renters Insurance for college students is a great way for college students to protect their personal belongings from loss due to covered perils like storms, tornadoes, fire, theft, and vandalism. Many college students are very unfamiliar with renters insurance or any kind of insurance for that matter because it’s something that has always been taken care of by their parents.

Now that they’re on their own, it suddenly becomes their concern because it’s their personal belongings that are in question. Finding good renters insurance involves research and reading reviews. Below is an overview and a Toggle renters insurance review for college students.

Renters Insurance vs Homeowners Insurance

One of the first misconceptions about renters insurance is that it’s the same as homeowner’s insurance. Some people mistakenly believe if they have renters insurance, they don’t need homeowners insurance. Or, a renter might mistakenly believe homeowner’s insurance is needed.

Renters insurance and homeowners insurance are similar yet very different. While homeowner’s insurance covers the home as well as everything inside the home, renters insurance does not. Renter’s insurance only covers personal belongings. It is the landlord’s responsibility to provide the buildings with homeowners insurance.

About Toggle Renters Insurance Coverage

Toggle, which is a member of the Farmers Insurance Group, is a fully digital company that offers renters insurance. They’ve been in business for more than 90 years. It offers three insurance packages for renters:

  • Basic – This package offers liability insurance plus insurance on personal possessions. It’s best used by the student that doesn’t have many possessions to insure.
  • Standard – This package also offers liability insurance and is for the student that has more possessions to insure.
  • Premium – The premium package is for the student who may live in a large place and has more items to insure and more high-value items.

By offering different packages, college students aren’t required to pay for insurance that they don’t need. They also don’t need to worry about being underinsured. The premiums for Toggle renters insurance for college students are based on what package the student chooses as well as these factors.

  • Location
  • Type of home
  • Size of home
  • Credit scores
  • History of claims
  • Deductible

Toggle also offers coverage on what they call “creative + maker”. This coverage insures items for renters with hobbies or part-time work. For instance, it would cover photography equipment for a student with a photography hobby or art supplies for a budding artist.

Unfortunately, Toggle renters insurance for college students is not available in all states. Although they hope to expand to many more states, they currently are available in these states.

  • Arizona
  • Arkansas
  • California
  • Colorado
  • Georgia
  • Illinois
  • Indiana
  • Iowa
  • Kansas
  • Kentucky
  • Louisiana
  • Minnesota
  • Michigan
  • Mississippi
  • Missouri
  • New Jersey
  • Ohio
  • Oklahoma
  • Oregon
  • Pennsylvania
  • South Carolina
  • Tennessee
  • Texas
  • Utah
  • Virginia
  • Wisconsin

*Updated as of March 2022

Below are some samples of different policies in different cities so potential customers can get a general idea of Toggle’s rates.

Toggle Renters Insurance Quote for a Chicago Student

A college student in Chicago, Illinois can purchase a basic plan for $5 per month. This plan offers $100,000 in liability coverage and has a $500 deductible. It is also $1,000 of blanket coverage, which is in addition to any other coverage you might have. The coverage goes with the student regardless of whether they’re at home or across the country on vacation. The liability coverage will pay medical payments to others that may be injured while in your home.

This same student in Chicago can purchase a standard plan for $12.50 per month. This has a $500 deductible and offers the following coverage:

  • Technology – $2,000
  • Appliance and Furniture – $4,000
  • Jewelry and Fashion – $2,000
  • Creative + Maker – $1,000
  • Liability – $100,000
  • Temporary Living Expenses – $50 per day

This same student in Chicago can purchase the premium plan for $25.25 per month. This also has a $500 deductible and offers the following coverage.

  • Technology – $5,000
  • Appliances and Furniture – $6,000
  • Jewelry and Fashion – $3,000
  • Creative + Maker – $3,000
  • Active – $3,000
  • Deductible – $500
  • Liability – $200,000
  • Temporary Living Expenses $100 per day

Each of these packages can be customized in so many ways. For instance, the student with the premium package can decrease the deductible to $100 and pay $31.50 rather than $25.25. This same student can increase the coverage on the furniture and appliances to $20,000 and pay $27.25, an increase of only $2 per month.

The standard coverage amounts are the same from state to state. It’s the premiums that change with the locations.

Toggle Renters Insurance Quote for Atlanta Student

A college student in Atlanta, Georgia can buy a basic package for $6.25 per month. This offers $100,000 liability insurance and has a $500 deductible. Like all the basic plans, it also pays medical payments to others and offers $1,000 in blanket coverage. The student can upgrade to a standard package for $13.50 per month or the premium package for $26.75 per month.

If the student with the premium package increased the technology coverage to $10,000, the monthly premium would increase to $28 per month. A decrease of the deductible to $100 would increase the premium to $33.50 per month. Toggle offers many ways college students can customize their policies to match their lifestyles and needs.

Other Toggle Renters Insurance Quotes by State

A student attending college in Duluth, Minnesota, or Appleton, Wisconsin would pay $5 per month for the basic plan, $12.50 for the standard package, and $25.25 for the premium plan. A student in Salt Lake City, Utah would pay the same for this standard coverage.

Renters are typically amazed and pleased at the various ways they can customize their policies without affecting their premiums that much. Many college students live on a very limited or fixed income and watch every penny they spend. Saving a couple of dollars per month on insurance while still having good coverage can offer a lot of peace of mind.

Payments are made monthly and made electronically. In other words, the monthly premiums will be automatically taken out of your savings account, checking account, or credit/debit card. At the present time, payments cannot be made annually or bi-annually.

Limits for Toggle Renters Insurance

Like most insurance companies, Toggle also has some limitations to what they cover. This is generally one of the first things student renters look at when they’re doing a Toggle renters insurance review. Insurance companies generally pay one of two ways: actual cash value (ACV) or replacement cost value (RCV).

Actual cash value is the amount the item is worth at the time of the loss regardless of what it cost when it was new or how much it will cost to replace. Replacement cost value pays the amount it will cost to replace the item. By default, Toggle renters insurance for college students pays actual cash value. However, for a few dollars more you can get replacement cost value.

Insurance policies are often difficult to understand, especially for young college students with little experience dealing with insurance. To help them better understand what they’re getting, Toggle provides them with sample policies to see what’s covered and what’s not covered. The samples can be viewed online on the website.

Although the loss of power is never a comfortable situation, it’s not a covered peril or circumstance. Therefore, if you leave your home because of a power outage, your TLC coverage will not be in place.

The things that Toggle renters insurance will not pay for include:

  • Lack of maintenance, neglect, or failure to repair
  • Acts of destruction
  • Intentional actions
  • Government actions
  • Nuclear hazard
  • Mysterious disappearance (misplaced item)

Deductibles

Toggle renters insurance for college students offers the option of choosing between four deductible amounts: $100, $250, $500, or $1,000. For those unfamiliar with insurance terms, deductibles are the amount the renter has to pay on a claim before the insurance company will pay.

If the student has the $500 deductible and makes a claim for $5,000, the student would pay $500, and then Toggle would pay the remaining $4,500. The lower deductible the student has, the higher the premium will be. Although students often choose a higher deductible to save money on the premium, it’s wise to not choose a deductible that would be difficult to pay in case of a claim.

Toggle offers rewards for renters who do not make claims in the form of a “disappearing deductible”. For each claim-free year, the renter will have the deductible decreased by $50 until they are down to the lowest deductible of $50.

Claims

Because Toggle is a fully digital company, the process begins online. All students have to do is log in to their Toggle account and provide some basic information. A claims adjustor will contact the student by email, phone, or chat, whichever the student prefers. The adjuster will most likely ask for additional details to expedite the claims process.

Toggle tries to pay their claims as quickly as possible. If a claim is more complicated or requires additional information or documentation, that may slow the process down. Payment is usually done electronically.

If the claim is for theft or vandalism, the student is required to file a police report. They may also be asked to provide proof of ownership, such as receipts, owner’s manuals, or appraisals. For this reason, students are advised to keep receipts for any valuable things they may purchase.

Anything else

In addition to offering renters insurance for college students, Toggle also offers a few different special features. College students who have pets can get coverage for their pets. You’ll have up to $100,000 in liability insurance in case your pet causes damage. This coverage is in place regardless of where in the world your pet may be. If your home is unlivable due to a covered peril, Toggle will pay up to $500 for you to board your pet while the home is being repaired. Toggle does not exclude any dog breeds.

Toggle offers you credit monitoring services as well as assistance if you’re a victim of identity theft.

Although additional living expenses are listed with the coverage, it’s actually an add-on you have to purchase. You can purchase a choice of $50 per day, $100 per day, or $150 per day.

As a customer of Toggle, you will be given a discounted subscription to Credit Life. Credit Life monitors your payments and reports to the credit bureau so renters can be building their credit while paying their college rent.

Best and Worst Points

As is the case with all insurances, there are pros and cons to Toggle renters insurance for college students. After doing a Toggle renters insurance review, several things popped up in both the pro and con section. While some of the things may not necessarily be important to a college student, others may be very important.

Best points

  • Good choice for dog owners
  • Good choice for students with few possessions
  • Offer protection for those with side jobs

Worst points

  • Claims process not that simple
  • Rates aren’t the cheapest
  • They cover less for the money than many competitors
  • It’s almost impossible to talk to an actual agent over the phone.