Rental Insurance
Rental Insurance Is Important For Proper Property Management
If you are entering property management for the first time, you might have decided to rent your home out to others because of a job transfer or you down-sized or upgraded to a different home. While you might be maintaining your homeowner insurance policy on your rented property, it is important that you understand the reasons you need to carry rental insurance on the property. Many people don’t think about this until an incident occurs.
Rental insurance comes in several different forms. Many insurance companies might require a supplemental rider to an existing homeowner policy. This might especially be true if you have just rented out a part of your home to others. On the other hand, you can find some companies that will require a separate rental insurance policy that offers higher liability limits and has certain exclusions to the contents of the property.
When you are in the business of property management, you never know if tenants might have somebody come onto the property that will have an accident, for example. Even the most innocent circumstances can lead to liability, if you are the property owner. Limits on liability coverage might not cover some circumstances where large medical bills occur or where there might be negligence on the landlord’s part. This is where rental property insurance can be the most important protection for those that have entered property management on a whim or were forced to rent out their home due to a change in living situations.
There are several things to consider when you are in the business of renting property. Having enough liability coverage is important or you could lose personal assets when you get sued. The costs of these types of coverage are in line with your homeowner policy premiums, but there are different limits and exclusions, in certain cases. It is important you understand the differences in your insurance needs. You can be protected from loss of rental income, vandalism and theft by renters and other things that a normal homeowner policy doesn’t offer. These can be important when you are stuck with two mortgage payments and a home to repair, in order to make it livable and rentable again.
The peace of mind that comes from having the proper insurance coverage is worth considering. When you get rental insurance to cover your property, you are protecting yourself against several circumstances you might not have thought of. The increased liability exposure can come from the negligence of tenants, but if you have adequate insurance coverage, this won’t need to be a concern. You can’t know whether a tenant will maintain a property the way you would and this can lead to additional risks that might not be covered under traditional homeowner insurance policies.
Having the proper insurance in place is part of property management, meant to protect your property, as well as yourself. There are many different things to consider when you are renting your property out to others. Having the proper rental property insurance is one of the more important ones.
Is it worth it to buy the extra insurance for a UHaul rental truck?
That is, even though my car insurance covers rentals, I have a 500 dollar deductible. Does getting the rental truck insurance make it so there is no deductible in case of an accident?
I know of 4 insurance companies that do not cover U-haul. American Family, Geico, Liberty Mutual, Allstate. You need to check with your agent first. Make sure you tell them if you are going out of state. I had a customer who was told she was covered, then stopped in after she got the truck and told them she was going out of state, and they said she was not covered. I had another customer who did not take the insurance, and was backing into the drive of his destination, and hit a large rock damaging the truck, it cost him almost $300. Even if someone hit you, you are responsible for the truck. But on the other hand, it is an option. I have heard of several dealer who add the insurance without the customers approval. So I am glad to see you asking questions. I had an insurance agent rent from me, and when I asked him about the insurance he said yes so fast it shocked me. He stated that if something did happen it would not ding his auto insurance.
U-hauls SafeMove insurance covers damage to the truck, the cargo in the truck, and also has medical/life coverage. The SuperSafeMove also includes $1 million in liability coverage.
I wish you luck in your move and safe driving.