Landlord insurance - things to consider

[Ryan Cruz]

Hi BP community,

So I’m in contract on a property in Parma, Ohio, and I’m shopping around for quotes on Homeowners Insurance. Given that I’ll be a Landlord, are there Landlord-specific things that I should be looking out for, regarding the type of policy and coverages that I should get? Compared to a policy for a residence that I’m living in, I won’t be having personal belongings in the house, so that’ll be the responsibility of the tenant to insure. I did speak with one insurance provider, and they mentioned a DP3 versus a DP1 policy. The DP3 covers more scenarios (water, weight of ice/sleet/snow, falling objects, in addition to all that DP1 covers) compared to the DP1 (fire, lightning, wind, hail, vandalism).  Also, if I remember correctly, the DP3 covers up to the replacement cost of the home, while the DP1 covers up to the market value.

I asked about the scenario of “tenant slips on [part of house], and now wants to be covered, or else will sue”, and the insurance salesperson talked about liability coverage that is typically added (we started at around $300k when cranking out a quote). We also took into account things like locks, presence/absense of security system, amount of deductible.

If there are other things that I should be considering in the course of shopping for a Homeowners Policy as a Landlord, and you can share those tips, I’d appreciate it.

Thanks!