The day a tenant moves in, your homeowners policy stops being the right policy.
Cover for rental property from a single unit to a portfolio, including lost rent — which a homeowners policy does not contemplate because it assumes you live there.
Tell us the situation.
A licensed human replies the same business day — not an auto-responder, and not five producers calling at once. We shop it across our carriers and tell you if the policy you already have is the right one.
We use this to quote and service your insurance, and we do not sell it or pass it to lead networks. Privacy policy.
What landlord insurance businesses actually need.
Dwelling and other structures
The building itself, at replacement cost.
Without it — A homeowners form excludes tenant occupancy, so the whole policy is in question.
Loss of rents
The rent that stops while the property is uninhabitable after a covered loss.
Without it — The mortgage continues through a six-month rebuild and the income does not.
Landlord liability
Injury claims by tenants and their visitors.
Without it — A trip on a stair or a dog bite in a shared yard names the owner, not the tenant.
What landlord insurance operators ask us.
Should I require tenants to carry renters insurance?
Yes, and put it in the lease with a minimum liability limit and proof at renewal. It costs the tenant very little, and it does two things for you: it covers their possessions so they are not looking to your policy for them, and their liability cover responds first when they cause damage — a kitchen fire or an overflowing bath — instead of your policy taking the claim and the loss history. Ask to be named as an additional interest so you are notified if it lapses.
Does one policy cover several properties?
Once you are past about four units it usually should. A schedule of locations on one policy is simpler to manage, avoids gaps at renewal dates that drift apart, and typically prices better than separate policies. Past roughly ten units, or with any commercial tenancy in the mix, it moves to a commercial package — at which point you also gain the ability to add a blanket limit rather than insuring each building to a fixed number.