Landlord Insurance - When Do You Need It?

Landlord insurance is pretty straightforward; it protects a property owner from losses connected with properties rented out.

Landlord insurance policies cover both the building and the property belonging to the landlord inside of it. For example, if an owner wanted to rent his ski lodge for the season, a landlord insurance policy would protect the lodge itself and the owner’s skis stored inside.

A couple of misconceptions are often associated with landlord insurance.

One is that it’s “Superintendent” or “Super” insurance. In other words many owners with large rental spaces will often hire a property manager to watch the estate and liaise between owner and renter. Sometimes these liaisons are even referred to as landlords. Landlord coverage does not protect the interests or property of property managers, unless they actually own the property.

A second misconception is conflating buy-to-let insurance (a term much more common in the UK) with landlord insurance. The two entities are not the same thing. Buy-to-let insurance is actually a subset of landlords insurance -- for when an owner is looking to insure only a single property. Multi-property insurance is the other branch of the subset, useful when covering two or more properties.

Landlord insurance covers much of the same entities that traditional homeonwers and renters do, including the standard protection against fire, storms and theft and other sorts of malignant forces.

There are also additional options to fill out a landlord policy, including rent guarantee and liability insurance; the latter protects the owner in case someone hurts themselves by accident inside the property.

The property of tenants is not covered by landlord insurance. That property would fall under the homeowners or renters policy of the visitor. If he/she does not have renters insurance at home, he/she will be out of luck.