Rental Property Insurance: Landlord Insurance Guidelines for Californians

When you rent out your home you take on more responsibility than just finding a tenant to rent the property. You’re basically leaving your investment in the hands of people you may not know personally. We really don’t know how someone will treat our property being that it isn’t theirs. Rental property insurance will help you safeguard your home while someone is renting it.

What does landlord insurance cover?

Rental property insurance also known as landlord insurance is designed to protect houses, condos, apartment and other rental property. It protects the structure of the home as well equipment used to maintain the property from fire, wind, severe weather, and other covered perils.

The structure of the building:

Most standard landlord insurance policies will cover you for vandalism, fires and more. If you want extended coverage you can always opt to add additional perils like windstorms, hail and earthquakes. When you’re looking into very comprehensive policies most perils are covered unless they are specifically excluded from the policy. Homeowners is very similar to building rental property insurance. The amount you end up paying for your landlord insurance policy will depend on what perils are included as well as a number of other factors.

Contents and systems:

Rental property insurance policies recognize that you as the landlord will have certain responsibilities you will need to show to your tenant. Theres is always a good chance the person renting your home will not be as responsible as you would be.

California landlords are usually responsible for the property being habitable. What this does is makes it so that the landlord has to maintain the property and make sure everything is up to date and working. This requires them to maintain the building structure and keep sanitation, plumbing, heating and electrical systems in good working order. If your boilers, heaters, or other systems breakdown you can look into option coverage that may protect you. 

There are also settlementrsthat may allow you to replace any damaged items with brand new ones of comparable value. If you’re not putting furniture in your rental home there is a good chance you may not need content insurance. As a California landlord you are not responsible for your tenants property. They would need to look into renters insurance for coverage.

Lost rent coverage:

Your standard landlord insurance policy will include loss of rent coverage. What this portion of your coverage will protect is any lost rental income you may encounter if your tenants are unable to use the home. This coverage would kick in if a covered peril damaged or destroyed the home such as fire, or another covered peril. Your loss of rent coverage goes into effect when your tenants leave the home due to a covered loss. If the tenant moves out of the home for other reasons there is a good chance this part of your landlord insurance will not cover you.

Personal liability coverage:

California landowners are liable for the things that happen on their property. If someone is hurt or injured on your property regardless of who’s at fault, you may be liable for medical and legal fees. Your personal liability coverage will protect you if someone falls or is injured on your property. It can cover legal and medical costs if a claim is filed. 

Landlord insurance quote

If you’re looking for the best rate on rental property insurance coverage you’ve come to the right place. Not only are our agents polite and nice, they also know a lot about landlord insurance. Give us a call today for a free rental property insurance quote at 916 313 6100