Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2016 · 221 posts · 134 votes
I'm looking for landlord insurance for a purchase of a SFR we are planning in Huntsville, AL. We don't have the property yet, but I wanted to get some quotes for some we have been interested in the get a general idea of costs for the sake of running numbers.
We will be out of state landlords and we rent instead of own our primary residence. The quote I received sounds extremely high to me, with lower liability than I had expected.
Dwelling 144k
Other structures 14,400
Personal property 5k
Loss of use 14,400
Premises liability 300k
Medical 1k
Totaling payments if $1202 per year.
Anyone have companies they recommend?
What type of coverage limits should I be looking to get for SFR rental?
I had done some prior research and expected something more around $600-700/year with $1 million liability.
Any advice is appreciated!
Also, can someone explain to me the difference between landlord insurance and an umbrella insurance policy?
Monterey Park, CA · Member since 2014 · 157 posts · 80 votes
10y
Do you have an agent who can check with a few insurance companies to give you a quote? If you don't have one yet, talk to a few agents to find one you're happy with. He/she doesn't have to be local but need to be licensed for the state you have properties and should be available when you need to talk / find out info. My agent is in DFW and I'm in LA but I find her customer service to be top notch compare to who we had locally before.
I'm not sure if you need personal property coverage if it's a rental.
From my understanding, the premium usually ties to rebuild cost (size and structure of your property) and local. For example, my DFW rentals have higher insurance because of tornado threat.
Umbrella policy extends the limit of your landlord insurance. For example, if you buy umbrella policy to extend premise liability to $1MM, it covers per occurrence up-to $1MM from your current $300K limit.
Investor · Indianapolis, IN · Member since 2016 · 221 posts · 134 votes
10y
I used an agent to get that quote...but it was just a random person from the internet, not someone trusted or recommended. I'll keep getting more quotes. But I would really love to hear what type of insurance limits others are getting for SFRs.
Investor · Huntsville, AL · Member since 2014 · 108 posts · 50 votes
10y
We use USAA for our rentals - get multiple property and vehicle discounts. They've been good for the few claims we've had. For our personal house, we use Bo Cochran - state farm maybe - who lender recommended - haven't shopped around for another quote. My parents use USAA and Ron Evans with Farmers for their rentals as USAA only allowed them a certain amount of rentals. For Ron's contact info: https://www.farmersagent.com/revans1
IT professional · Sunnyvale, CA · Member since 2015 · 23 posts · 13 votes
10y
I used Joe at: https://www.statefarm.com/agent/US/AL/Huntsville/Joe-Demos-Y5B5B1YS000
I have a 2-unit so can't compare the rates. His service was good. If you get a quote from him it would be good to hear whether he was more expensive or less than others. Good luck.
Realtor · Huntsville, AL · Member since 2015 · 60 posts · 51 votes
10y
I've used USAA too but on my last house with them they really gave me a lot of grief. USAA requires third party inspections of the properties and when the last inspector came through my property was under repairs and he must have given it a bad report.
I've since switched to State Farm. The price is comparable to USAA but for less coverage. I'm only covering 80% of the value with State Farm where USAA required 100%.
The last policy I got from State Farm was $447 for $105k dwelling & $300k liability. I don't yet qualify for multi-premium discount yet and I have pretty high ($5k) deductible. I used Bill Webb with State Farm because I knew he was willing to only insure @ 80% of value.