All Forum Posts by: Ryan Letzeiser

Get named as an insured.  Anytime you have someone on your property that is on a ladder its best to eliminate the liability risk.  As the economy changes (savings accounts go from surplus to under water) you typically see more frequent and severe GL claims and workers comp claims.  That slip and fall issue lawsuit is pretty easy to get through the courts.  If the handyman isnt accustomed to this you can get a single day policy with you as the insured through thimble or getcovered and its pretty cheap.  Its 10-50 bucks depending but in the long run is a ton cheaper than paying a 1k-10k deductible.  

As for proof the work was completed and done to your standards.  I ask my remote handyman to take before and after pictures and text or email them to me.  He has never argued. 

Viral. We are watching this market shift in real time for insurance. Getting it is going to get harder and more expensive the longer you wait. If you work with an agent you may want to run some pricing simulations of what if my roof was new what if my roof was 12 years old and see if you can get some ROI by doing it sooner than later. The P&L hit may return value over the next 2-3 years where i do not see the market getting much better until inflation is stabilized and the cost of reinsurance begins to go down. If you are looking for NOI now vs long term there is some art and science to the long short game decision you have to make on the property. I would tell you that if you are in an advantageous tax year and can start reducing your tax liability with some extra property depreciation I would do it. I am now seeing carriers decline properties with roofs older than 10 years and to Jays point above extra claims may make the policy more expensive or you may not have access to one at all with more than one claim in a 5 year period.

Ronald-

We have quite a bit of capacity to write business in Northern California.  In fact we may be one of the last remaining providers.  There are a ton of complexities here related to why insurance for carrier capacity is becoming problematic.  Th reality is that a lot of problems tie back to legal issues that the state of California have enacted in an effort to protect consumers from drastic changes in rate. Unfortunately they went too far and now in order for a carrier to be writing business that doesn't loose money they have all had to leave the market and will likely come back in a couple years when they can reprice without regulatory issues.  We started writing business in CA this year and are not handcuffed by the past and we provide an exponentially better product than the fair plan.  This is in no way a solicitation (I wont post a link) but rather an option for you if you want to find us to do some digging. Good luck!

 Makes sense now!  I’d look into RLL (renters limited liability). It’s like 8-15 a month.  That should cover most of your liability and property damage that’s not a total loss. There are a few carriers out there that do this. 

We have done it for a few customers that want some extra protection that’s caused by a renter or a sub renter so you don’t have to shell out a ton for a deductible when you my have 20k in damage from a small kitchen fire etc. 

We write in LA and can likely issue you a policy in under 5 min but you may not like the price you can expect this to get worse in the coming years.  We also might not be able to write in that state soon. The cost of reinsurance and the strength of the US dollar adjacent to the inflationary costs to rebuild are crushing everyone with rate adjustment. Take on all the hurricane risk in Louisiana and it’s a recipe for high costs to insure.  @kevin Hoag I would be worried about tower hill going out of business and into receivership in the coming months and everyone getting flat canceled like UPC in Florida. Their AM best and demo tech downgrade are now no longer acceptable for most lenders. 

This doesn't exist. Corby is correct. You do not have an insurable interest in the property so you cannot get a standard property/gl policy for yourself that ultimately covers the owners assets and liability. The owner must have an STR endorsement in place on their policy…. And even this is a grey area as some exclude subleasing for short term. Unfortunately the insurance industry moves slower than real estate and is not set up to handle these new types of business models. Even short term rental itself is not a risk that most carriers are willing to price.

Hey @Edwin Batte!  I am one of the co-founders over at Obie.  Let me know if I can ever be helpful.  As you look to get more informed we have some insurance educational resources on our site from terms to a risk map which will help you when you go to acquire new properties to see if you are in a flood zone, quake, fire as well as be able to look at the risks that drive up premium like convective (wind), your proximity to a fire station, and the replacement cost of the property.  Shoot me a note if you ever want to chat.

James-

(Tornado) is usually covered in wind and hail.  

Flood would only be required if you are in a flood plain. Enter the property's address on the FEMA Flood Map Service Center website to find out.

Sometimes the lender might require other coverages.  Hired non auto, machinery and equipment, terrorism... The list can go on and on.

Happy to chat more about insurance if you need some additional info.

Ryan  

Marissa-

Are you talking about a DP3 or BOP.  

1. DP3 is a dwelling fire policy and covers the bones of the building and none of the contents.  Sometimes you can get General Liability on it sometimes not.  A BOP is a more comprehensive policy with a few bells and whistles on it.  This will will all be part of your risk tolerance on what you want and what the lender wants.  

2. The roof structure sometimes can be an issue when obtaining coverage... it depends on the carrier.

3. All depends on what you want to insure.  Sometimes you can get mechanical and equipment breakdown as part of a BOP.

We write in Florida and have 20ish carriers that likely fit your needs.  If you want to chat please feel free to reach out.

Ryan

John is correct. You can also search for creditor-placed, lender-placed or collateral protection insurance. I have been involved in purchasing non preforming note portfolios and become the senior lien position for loans. As a result the terms/carveouts/covenants were already pre arranged. In DD we usually make sure the original loan docs allow for recapture of the insurance premium on the tenant when it is in force. If you dont have these terms just plan to pay for the policy and not be able to pass it through on the borrower.  We have a few carriers that we work with in Florida that do collateral protection insurance.  I would be happy to take a dive if you're interested.