What is Landlord Insurance?

Landlord Insurance is an insurance policy designed to cover property owners where there is damage to a property they rent out.

What exactly does that mean? Here’s an example.

Annette owns an apartment building she rents out to tenants. One of her tenants accidentally starts a fire in their apartment, resulting in damage to that unit and a few others.

Annette’s landlord insurance policy would help pay for the repairs or rebuilding needed to make those units inhabitable again, but would not cover the loss of her tenants’ personal property. If somebody is injured in this fire and wants Annette to pay for the medical fees, her landlord insurance would provide liability coverage for the resulting legal fees and medical expenses.

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Do I Need to Have Landlord Insurance?

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While it’s not required by law, landlord insurance can help save you from catastrophic losses that may happen while managing a property. If a tornado or fire destroys your property, you would have to pay the property’s total cost out of pocket to rebuild it.

With insurance, you would only have to pay a small deductible. Your insurance can even provide additional coverage for other events, such as vandalism or theft if you add it to your policy (Vandalism and theft are known as human perils)

Landlord insurance applies to long-term rentals, periods over 30 days. If you want to do short-term rentals for Airbnb or VRBO, you’ll need a commercial, homeshare, or vacation rental policy instead of landlord insurance.

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What about when you rent to family?

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Yes, it is still wise to have landlord insurance. We have a dedicated post just for this specific situation.

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What if I am just renting my room out?

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Whether you need landlord insurance or if your homeowner’s insurance will still cover you will depend on your current homeowner’s insurance company and a few additional factors.

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