When it comes to homeowners insurance, no situation is trickier to cover properly than rental properties. If you own rental units, you have to have insurance to protect yourself from huge expenses from fire, flood, etc. just as with any other homeowner situation, but there are a lot of other issues that renting to others presents that the average homeowner doesn’t have to cope with which leads to hundreds of questions. What type of homeowners insurance for rental property is right for me? Is theft insurance applicable? What about protection for vehicles in the parking lot? What about damage caused by visitors and guests? How much is the tenant responsible for and how much is the landlords?
Sitting down with an insurance professional who is schooled in homeowners insurance for rental property is essential to getting a policy that covers everything needed while still remaining economically affordable. They can sit down with you to go over all the different aspects of a rental policy from basic coverage for a single duplex all the way to taking care of the needs of a multi-property apartment conglomerate. Whether your rentals involve mobile homes and spaces in Alabama all the way through high-rise buildings on Park Avenue in New York City, each situation has specific coverage bases that have to be taken care of.
In some cases, having separate policies for each unit involved is the way to go. This way, each tenant can control just how much they want to have to pay out for insurance. Top end apartments and units may well have special needs that require a customized policy. This especially holds true if the tenants have a penchant for renovating and redecorating. While the load-bearing structure may remain the same, when a tenant renovates a unit, it may have little to no resemblance to what it looked like before. And the insurance needs of the updated dwelling will change accordingly.
Other times, having every unit you own covered under one bulk policy is going to be the way to go. Premium prices are baked into each tenant’s rent and are paid out accordingly. More often than not, the tenant is your “average person” and the insurance needs will be typical. Bulk policies can be applied to low end units like mobile home parks, duplexes, and multilevel apartment complexes all the way through high rises, housing developments and even gated rental communities. While there are restrictions that apply to each, having all your coverage options taken care of in a bulk policy can save thousands of dollars every year.
Whether you own one unit or hundreds, there are dozens of ways to decrease your premiums. Everything from security cameras, well lit parking lots, easily accessible fire suppression equipment and sprinklers to having private security patrols can drop your homeowners insurance premiums thousands of dollars every month. Even something as simple as being within 5 miles of the police department can mean a huge savings. The differences in your premium prices can be significant.
Again, taking the time to sit down with an insurance professional will be the best bet. They will know all the ins and outs of what your needs will be as a rental property owner when it comes to making sure that you are covered from every possible angle. Rental properties are subject to a lot more hazards than simple fire and tornados, so take advantage of the professional knowledge available out there. It will save you money every day.