On the evening of Saturday, October 24, a fire tore through an apartment building in the 1100 block of Deerfield Road, impacting 16 units and leaving nearly two dozen neighbors temporarily without homes (CBS Chicago). Two residents were taken to area hospitals, two firefighters suffered minor injuries, and one entire section of the building was left uninhabitable. For the families displaced, the immediate concern was safety — but the weeks ahead will test something most renters never think about until it's too late: how they will replace everything they lost.
That gap is the subject of this guide. As a Deerfield resident and local State Farm agent, I want to explain — plainly and without a sales pitch — what renters insurance actually covers, what it costs, and why the landlord's policy that protects the building does almost nothing for the belongings inside your apartment. Understanding this now is how a family avoids discovering, in the middle of a crisis, that they were never protected in the first place.
What the landlord's insurance covers — and what it doesn't
The single most common misconception I hear from renters is that the building owner's insurance protects them too. It doesn't. Your landlord's policy generally protects the building itself — the structure, the roof, the shared hallways — not your furniture, clothing, electronics, or your obligation if a guest is injured in your unit. State Farm's own guidance makes the point directly: your landlord's insurance protects the building, not your belongings inside your apartment (State Farm).
That distinction matters more than it sounds. In a fire like the one in Deerfield, the structure may be repairable and the building owner's carrier handles that. But everything you brought into that space — the couch, the bed, the laptop you work on, the children's clothes — is your responsibility to replace. Without your own policy, the financial weight of rebuilding a home falls entirely on you.
What renters insurance actually covers
A standard renters policy bundles three distinct protections: personal property, additional living expenses, and personal liability. Each answers a different question a displaced family faces, and together they form the financial safety net that a fire, theft, or smoke-damage claim would call on.
Personal property replaces your belongings — furniture, clothing, electronics, kitchen items — if they're damaged or stolen in a covered loss. This is the core of the policy. State Farm notes that replacing everything you own after a fire or theft can easily run into the thousands of dollars, which is why coverage amounts are typically set to the full replacement value of what you own (State Farm).
Additional living expenses (ALE) pays the difference between your normal housing costs and the cost of temporary housing, meals, and other extras if your rental becomes uninhabitable from a covered loss. In Deerfield, where one section of the building was left uninhabitable and residents faced temporary displacement, ALE is the coverage that turns a hotel stay into a manageable expense instead of a second bill (CBS Chicago).
Personal liability helps cover your legal responsibility if you're held liable for injuring someone or damaging their property — say, a guest slips in your hallway, or your dog bites a neighbor. State Farm points out that renters insurance may also provide liability protection if you accidentally damage someone else's property (State Farm).
How much does renters insurance cost?
The most common objection I hear is cost — and it's almost always a misperception. State Farm reports that the average renters policy runs about $15 per month for up to $35,000 in personal property coverage — often less than a month of coffee (State Farm). In Illinois specifically, the average premium came in even lower than the national figure, at roughly $157 per year in 2020 against a national average of about $173 (Insuranceopedia).
That's the trade: a few dollars a week for the ability to replace a home's worth of belongings and hold liability coverage against a serious claim. You can often lower the premium further by choosing a higher deductible that fits your budget, bundling renters with your auto policy, or asking about available discounts. Illinois renters face real weather risk too — State Farm notes the state is on pace for its highest catastrophe claim volume in a decade, with home catastrophe claims running 50% above the 10-year average (State Farm). A fire is the most immediate threat, but it isn't the only covered peril a Deerfield renter should plan for.
The coverage gap most renters don't know they have
Even among renters who carry a policy, understanding of what it covers is thin. A national survey by Assurant found that 57% of renters either didn't know who was responsible for theft or property damage, or mistakenly thought it was the landlord's job (Insuranceopedia). That same confusion leaves families unprotected at the exact moment they need their policy most.
The gap is real at the community level too. The Harvard Joint Center for Housing Studies estimates that about 55% of renter households nationwide have renters insurance — meaning nearly half of all renters have no policy at all (Harvard JCHS). After a fire, that missing policy means no payout to replace belongings and no funds for temporary housing.
What does that look like in practice? A standard renters policy typically pays to replace your personal property, covers your liability, and — through additional living expenses — helps with temporary housing when your unit becomes uninhabitable. But if a tenant has no policy, or the loss isn't a covered peril, they receive nothing for their damaged belongings or their temporary housing (Harvard JCHS).
What a standard policy doesn't cover
No insurance policy covers everything, and knowing the exclusions is as important as knowing the protections. A standard renters policy generally does not cover flood damage, earthquakes, normal wear and tear, damage from pests or pets, or intentional damage (State Farm).
Some belongings may need extra coverage depending on their value and your policy limits. High-value jewelry, musical instruments, cameras, and collectibles often sit above standard sublimits, and a separate rider — like a Personal Articles Policy — can provide broader protection for eligible items (State Farm). If you work from home, review whether your equipment sits within the policy's business-property limit or needs its own coverage.
What you should do this week
The single most useful step you can take, fire or not, is to create a home inventory. Walk through your apartment and photograph or list your belongings, room by room — clothing, furniture, electronics, kitchen items. This makes it far easier to remember what you own and to file an accurate claim if you ever experience a covered loss (State Farm).
Then check your lease and confirm what you actually have. If your landlord requires renters insurance, your declarations page is the proof they'll ask for. If not, get a quote anyway — the premium is small enough that the decision often comes down to a few dollars a week. Ask your agent how much coverage fits your belongings and what your deductible would be.
For Deerfield neighbors affected by the fire, the first priority is safety and recovery — and I hope this explanation helps. For everyone else reading this, the lesson of the past week is straightforward: the insurance that protects a building does nothing for the life you've built inside it. Protecting that is a small monthly decision you can make before you need it, not after.
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