The renter's insurance market is hot right now, and its majormarket is millennials. There are approximately 80 millionmillennials between the ages of 18 and 29 in the United States, andmore than half of them are renters. They can't afford to buy housesand they have a ton of student loan debt. If they don't want tolive at home with their parents, renting is the only option forhousing that's open to them.

Further, an increasing number of landlords are requiring theirtenants to buy renter's insurance. In 2009, only 25% of landlordsrequired tenants to carry this insurance. In contrast, a 2012survey of large apartment complexes in Washington, D.C. showedthat 84% requiredtenants to carry coverage. While only a third of renters currentlycarry renter's insurance, this will increase as more landlordsrequire it.

Millennials are an obvious market to target when it comes torenter's insurance. They comprise the largest portion of renters inthe country and 60% of them don't carry renter's insurance. Ifthey're not required to carry it, they usually don't, in spite ofthe fact that they tend to accumulate a lot of high-value consumergoods.

Many of them may not know about renter's insurance, may not beaware of its value to them, or feel like they can't afford it. Theyare, however, concerned about financial security. This provides anexcellent starting point for a conversation with them aboutpurchasing a renter's insurance policy. When you talk tomillennials about things that matter to them, they are a veryreceptive audience.

Showing millennials the value of renter's insurance is importantto capturing their share of the market. Providing all theinformation about this type of insurance online where they canresearch it on their own is crucial. Millennials rely on theInternet for almost everything.

Making it easy for them to get quotes, compare levels ofcoverage, and even share information about this insurance withtheir friends is also important to reaching them. Having aninteractive website and a social media presence are essential tocommunicating with them.

Appealing to the millennial sense of community can be animportant part of selling renter's insurance to this market. Manymillennials live with roommates. Offering them risk-pooled policieswhere they buy a single policy with their roommates and share thecost (as well as the risk) is a smart business. Millennials arevery open to what a shared community such as risk-pooled insuranceoffers, and may be more likely to buy if it is offered in thisway.

After all, millennials are used to sharing all kinds ofintimate, personal details about themselves on social media. Theyform the backbone of the nascent sharing economy defined by thestellar rise of car-sharing and apartment-sharing apps, with manyother services to follow. It only makes sense that they would bewilling to give up some privacy in order to use the benefits arisk-pooled renter's insurance policy would bring them.

“Insurance companies have an opportunity to capitalize on thenew cultural willingness to share cars and homes with perfectstrangers,” says Lindsey O’Connell of the research firm Aite Group. “Why not allow people to share risk in theirinsurance policies? In fact, isn’t that how insuranceoriginated?”

An insurer could even offer risk-pooled renter'sinsurance to all of the residents of a particular building, notjust residents of one unit or house. Present renter's insurance tomillennials in this way, and they are more likely to actuallypurchase it. The market for millennials is huge, and now is thetime to bring them into the fold. Reach out to them in the rightway, and they will become solid and loyal customers.

Jon McNeill is CEO of Enservio, a leadingprovider of contents claim software and services thatbring value to the entire spectrum of contents claimmanagement.