Owner Occupied SFH with an Attched In-Law Unit, what insurance?

[Catherine Zhang]

Hi everybody,

We recently bought an single family residence in California. The property has 4B3B, including a 3B2B primary house and an attched 1B1B in law unit. We currently occupy 2 rooms in the primary house, rent out one bedroom as well as the 1B1B in law unit. What type of insurance should I buy under this condition?

I searched in BP and somebody mentioned I could buy a standard homeowner insurance with an endorcement to the in law unit from Farmers Insurance. But my agent told me I can only do that endorcement when the in law is detached and considered “separate structure”. Under that circumstance my personal liability as a homeowner will extend to the in law. But unfortunately since my in-Law unit is attched to the main house it will not be insured. 

Regarding the roomate situation, my agent told me the insurance will likely cover the property damage caused by the roomate,but if he got injured due to my liability, that won’t be insured. 

My question is:

1, is there anyway to add an endorcement for the in-law unit if that’s attched to the primary house?  2, If there is no way to get the in law unit insured under the homeowner insurance can I just get the landlord insurance for the whole house? Then my liability will be covered and building proportion damage caused by tenant will be covered as well. ( only weird thing is I am homeowner not renter). 

Thank you for the answer.