Landlord’s insurance
Most people see the benefit in insuring big-ticket items such as cars, homes, and their life and health, and it should be no different when it comes to investment properties.
Having a property manager gives you exclusive access to a specific type of insurance not available to private landlords, dubbed landlord’s insurance.
What is landlord’s insurance?
There a few different types, from insuring the dwelling itself, to chattels, to rent received for the dwelling.
Dwelling Insurance covers risks such as fire, natural disaster, flood and accidental damage.
Tenanted Dwelling Insurance covers unlawful substances such as meth, loss of rent and landlord chattels.
You can also obtain a Standalone Landlords Loss of Rents Insurance Policy, which specifically covers scenarios where tenants abscond in paying rent, along with malicious damage.
These type of insurances are approximately $360 a year.
So what’s the difference between home insurance and landlord insurance?
While without a property manager you can obtain insurance for the dwelling itself – at generally higher prices – you cannot often insure the rents received or chattels.
Having a property manager meets landlord’s insurance conditions of having a tenancy agreement, taking reasonable care in selecting tenants, collecting one week rent in and two weeks’ rent bond, monitoring rent weekly and, when rent is 21 days in arrears applying to the Tribunal.
You can’t obtain landlord’s insurance if you do not have a property manager managing your property.
What type of things are you insured for?
We use RentSure and will provide some of their policies as a guide.
Intentional damage/malicious acts (up to $35,000), pet damage up to $3,000 (excludes carpets), tenant vacating without giving required notice – 10 weeks, eviction of a tenant for non-payment of rent – 18 weeks, tenant refusing to vacate – 20 weeks
Loss of rent following death of tenant – up to 10 weeks (sole tenancy), prevention of access – up to 52 weeks, loss of rent due to malicious damage – 52 weeks, loss of rent due to murder or suicide – 26 weeks, loss of rent due to meth contamination – 6 weeks if not insured elsewhere.
As you can see, landlord’s insurance provides an additional layer of protection that goes above and beyond regular insurances for properties. You can have peace of mind knowing that if unruly tenants damage your property, or vacate owing rent, you will be covered. It takes a lot of guesswork and worry out of the renting process for landlords, and we highly recommend it – as investment property owners ourselves.
