Will Renter's Insurance Protect the Owner?

Question

I have never required renters to obtain renter's inturance, but recently it was suggested that I require them to obtain it for my own liability protection. My first thought is if someone is injured on my property they will likely come after the owner, and not the renter, but does anyone have any experiences with this?

Brandon Gadish
Landlord Technology LLC

Account Closed · Answer

If they burn your house down, your fire insurance will go after their renter's insurance.

If they do some injury and they don't have any money, maybe the injured will go after you, the landlord.  If the tenants has tenant insurance and the injury isn't a major one (like maybe 10k will make the problem go away), then the tenant insurance will deal with it.

For the most part, though, what it protects you from is tenants who want to sue you because their clothes stored in the basement got moldy

Jon Holdman · Answer

You should have your own liability coverage.  The renters coverage covers them, not you.  But by telling them they need it and what it protects, you've made them aware your insurance does not cover their stuff.

Timothy W. · Answer

P NW pretty much has it how renters insurance will protect the landlord.  It is someone for you or your insurance company to go after.  That tends to work out better for you when renewing.

Steve Babiak · Answer

I'm not saying this is right or wrong - but here is the thinking behind this notion.

Landlord is named as "additional insured" on tenant's policy.  Say an incident occurs where liability coverage would come into play.  Putting the claim against the tenant's policy first makes their insurance pay the first loss.

But then the problem arises where two companies have policies on the same matter; each will seek to mitigate their loss by having the other company pay first - this can lead to the claim going unpaid while they fight it out.

Always some minus that you trade off in exchange for some plus.

Brandon Gadish · Answer

I figured, and yes i do have liability protection of my own.  It was advice from an insurance agent, but I was skeptical that it would protect me from a liability perspective.

Will Renter's Insurance Protect the Owner?

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