Seven Key Coverages Your Landlord Insurance Policy Should Include

SEVEN KEY COVERAGES YOUR LANDLORD INSURANCE POLICY SHOULD INCLUDE

Before you purchase landlord insurance, it’s important to find out what coverage is included in the policy. The language in an insurance policy can be a challenge to fully comprehend, but having a comprehensive understanding of your policies will help you in case you ever need to file a claim. Here are some key coverages to look for in a policy before you decide to buy:

Dwelling Coverage 1 This type of coverage helps pay to repair or rebuild your properties if the damage is the result of a covered loss. Critical home components like plumbing, electrical wiring, and your HVAC system fall into this category.

Liability Insurance 2 Accidents happen and you will want to make sure you are covered. This piece of coverage helps protect your assets and cover costs associated with a lawsuit if someone is injured on your property. The amount of liability coverage you need will vary depending on the size of your real estate portfolio and the assets you need to protect.

Personal Property 3 Personal property coverage protects the property within your rental units. This is particularly important if your rental units are furnished. However, even if you are renting an empty property, this type of coverage would cover damage to carpets, appliances, light fixtures, household goods, and even window coverings.

4 Other Structures This type of policy would cover the cost of repairing or rebuilding additional structures on your rental property including detached garages, sheds, and other similar structures.

Loss of Use 5 A loss of use policy covers the amount of loss of rental income due to your properties being uninhabitable due to a covered loss such as a flood or tornado damage.

Flood 6 Flood insurance is required in certain flood-prone areas, but just because you are not required to carry flood insurance, does not mean you should forego it. Flood insurance not only covers damage from natural disasters such as hurricanes and flood waters, but it can also cover costly repair damages from unfortunate incidents such as sewer backups.

Earthquake Like flood insurance, earthquake insurance is not required by lenders. While they 7 Once you purchase your landlord insurance policy, keep in mind can happen anywhere, some areas are obviously more susceptible to earthquakes, that it will not protect your tenant’s belongings inside the home making this type of policy more important in protecting your real estate portfolio. If if you choose to rent out your property. If damage is caused by you have properties on the West Coast or other areas that are prone to earthquakes, a natural disaster or a break in occurs, your tenants will not be ask your insurance agent if they can offer an add-on or standalone policy. covered. You may want to advise your tenants to purchase their own renters insurance policy, or you could even require it in your rental agreement.

For additional resources or to get a quote for your real estate investment insurance portfolio, visit our website at www.swbc.com/rei or call us at 800.683.6736

This illustration is for informational purposes only.

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