Landlord Insurance - how necessary is it?

[Angelito Mamutuk]

Hi BP,

This is probably a stupid question but wanted everyone's take on Landlord Insurance. I'm located in the Bergen County, New Jersey area and fortunate enough to be moving into a new primary home within the next month. My current primary residence is a multi-family (2 units) my wife and I house hacked, so it's under regular Home Insurance (through Geico). Since I'll be moving and renting out my space to a tenant, I'm back and forth between keeping the same home insurance or doing Landlord Insurance. The cost is much more - my home insurance now is $1100, and landlord insurance is $1850. 

Is Landlord Insurance worth it? First time using it. I require all my tenants to have renter's insurance as well. 

Again, I think I know the answer but figured I'd ask haha. Thanks for the help!

[Theresa Harris]

I'd call around and ask what deductibles are as well as coverage.  None of my insurance policies are more expensive than my primary residence and there is no reason why it should be.  The landlord policy covers the basic building and liability.  A home owner's policy covers those as well as all of your contents, so it should be more.  The most expensive landlord policy for me is still less than half of that for my personal residence.

You can't keep your homeowner's policy because it means that you live there.  If you had a claim, your policy won't cover you because you don't live there.