Landlord / Rental Property Insurance discounts and questions
Insures a house, condo or small building you rent to others: the structure, the rent you lose while it is repaired, and lawsuits from tenants and visitors. Written on a dwelling fire form, because a homeowners policy stops responding once the owner moves out and a tenant moves in.
Discounts carriers commonly offer
- Multi-property
- Several rentals with the same carrier, sometimes on one schedule.
- Newer roof and updated systems
- A recent roof, updated electrical and plumbing, and a replaced water heater rate better and are easier to place.
- Protective devices
- Smoke detectors, a monitored alarm, a water leak shutoff and deadbolts.
- Package with the owner's home and auto
- The landlord policy alongside the owner's personal lines with one carrier.
- Long-term tenancy
- A property under a lease of a year or more is rated lower than one rented by the week.
Questions people ask
I am moving out and renting my house. Can I keep my homeowners policy?
No. Tell your carrier the date the tenant moves in and switch to a landlord form on that date. Some carriers will endorse the home policy for a short rental; most require a new policy. A claim that arises while the house is rented on a homeowners policy can be denied on the misrepresentation, and the mortgage lender will want to see the correct form.
How much liability should a landlord carry?
Enough to cover a serious injury claim without reaching your other property, which for an owner with equity in several buildings means a limit well above the form's default and an umbrella on top. Titling the property in an LLC changes who is sued, not whether the claim happens, and the LLC has to be named on the policy for the coverage to follow it.
Should I require my tenants to carry renters insurance?
Yes, in the lease and as a condition of move-in. It costs the tenant little, it pays for their belongings after a loss your policy does not cover, and it gives your carrier a policy to recover from when the tenant causes the fire. Ask for a certificate naming you as an interested party so you learn if it lapses.
Does the policy cover a tenant who trashes the unit?
Vandalism by an outsider is covered. Deliberate damage by the tenant is excluded on many landlord forms and covered on others, sometimes with a separate endorsement and a separate deductible; it is one of the questions the analysis puts to each carrier. Ordinary wear, a dirty carpet and nail holes are never a claim; that is what the deposit is for.
Is a condo I rent out covered by the association's master policy?
The master policy covers the building's common elements and, depending on the bylaws, some or none of the unit's interior. A landlord condo policy covers the interior finishes from the studs in, the appliances, the rent loss, the liability and the owner's share of a loss assessment from the association. The bylaws decide where the master policy stops, and the unit policy starts there.
My rental is in a floodplain. Is flood included?
No. Flood is excluded from every dwelling fire form and is bought separately, through the federal program or a private carrier; a lender on a property in the mapped high-risk zone will require it. The tenant's contents are their own flood question, and a renters policy excludes flood too.