Comparing Landlord Insurance quotes

[Sammy Lyon]

Hi all! I was wondering if folks had insight on quotes for landlord insurance. I got 3 quotes on a property that are all very similar in price (~850/yr). All 3 are from agents who were personally recommended by investors. They’re pretty standard in terms of deductibles and coverages — so I’m not sure what I should be looking out for in order to choose. I’m sure there are details I’m not seeing that would help me pick and would love your thoughts and experiences. GENERAL INFO The property is: 1) Out of state 2) A single family buy and hold rental 3) In good condition 4) Occupied by a tenant 5) My first investment property The quotes are from: 1) An insurance broker in my home state (CA) who typically uses Safeco 2) An insurance broker in the property’s state (Ohio) who quoted Berkshire Hathaway Guard 3) One of the big name insurance companies, located in the property’s state (Ohio) Any questions (replacement cost vs actual cash value, etc) I should be aware of and asking? Are there pros and cons to working with a broker versus an agent at a company, or them being based in the property’s state or my home state? Thank you for your input! Sammy

[Jason Bott]

@Sammy Lyon

It's hard to suggest coverages if we don't know how much risk you want to take, but I will assume with you being out of state, you want to be more conservative.  Given the pricing is the same, use the list below to eliminate the policies that do not include as many of these coverages/forms.

1)  To limit your 95% of your financial risk, I would start with the following - $1M Liability, Replacement Cost, Agreed Value, Special Form, and Loss of rents.

2) Secondary coverages you may want to consider if your building is susceptible to these risks, Building Law and Ordinance, Sewer Back up, Contents coverage, Flood.

*If they can place the property on a BOP policy, you may be able to get some of the coverages listed in #2 automatically thrown in.

Best of luck,