Author Topic: Landlord insurance recommendations  (Read 2981 times)

bittheory

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Landlord insurance recommendations
« on: August 09, 2015, 09:18:15 PM »
Hi all,
I own a rental house that my wife and I purchased several years ago. We lived in it for four years before moving out of the state and renting it. It is still currently a rental, which I plan to keep for a long time.

Up until earlier this year, that house was covered on the same Progressive home owner's insurance we've had since buying it. It was a good monthly premium, so no need to change. Then earlier this year, I got a letter saying that since I no longer reside in the house my insurance would be canceled. Makes sense, I'd heard that not all homeowners ins will cover a rental, but I was surprised it took that long. Oh well.

So I scrambled to find the best new insurance for the rental. At first, it seemed Safeco would be the company to go with, but I didn't qualify because there are 8 units in the rowhomes and Safeco only allows 6. Strange. Then I tried Allstate, the company on my primary residence. They offered a decent premium as long as I carried my auto insurance to them as well, which I did for the benefits of one company and the multi policy discount.

Now I'm wondering if I do some independent shopping around for all my insurance, from car to home to landlord. I'm very interested in Metromile insurance when it's available in my state since my wife and I both drive under 400 miles per month. I'm thinking Safeco might be the best insurance for my primary residence based on low rates and mustacian recommendations. Now I'm wondering who I should look at for competitive landlord insurance since Safeco is out of the picture. Any recommendations?


Bill76

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Re: Landlord insurance recommendations
« Reply #1 on: August 10, 2015, 10:00:23 AM »
I've had decent luck insuring my rental house through State Farm. I had to move the insurance on my cars and my primary home over to them to get the good rate, but it was worth it to save $1400/year over what my previous insurance company wanted to charge for the rental.

bittheory

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Re: Landlord insurance recommendations
« Reply #2 on: August 10, 2015, 10:11:53 AM »
Yeah, I've had a good experience and competitive rates bundling everything under AllState, the only problem is I know I can get a much lower rate on my auto. Once Metromile is available in my city, I think I'll shop around for new homeowners and landlord policies.

Bill76

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Re: Landlord insurance recommendations
« Reply #3 on: August 11, 2015, 07:28:57 AM »
I think my auto insurance went up a little bit with the switch, but it's been almost 4 years, so I don't remember exactly. Net savings were still at least $1200/year. Not bad for a few hours of research, a half dozen phone calls, and a few pages of paperwork.

jda1984

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Re: Landlord insurance recommendations
« Reply #4 on: August 11, 2015, 04:17:54 PM »
Bundling seems to be the best way in my experience too.  We had a loss on our primary residence so our premiums went up.  We're looking to insurance shop again too now that other companies should be able to underwrite us again.

You may want to call an independent insurance broker.  They often sell insurance for many carriers and could work some of the comparisons for you.

CashFlowDiaries

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Re: Landlord insurance recommendations
« Reply #5 on: August 17, 2015, 10:31:56 AM »
I would go with an insurance broker.  They have access to all kinds of different companies and plans and can normally find the best deals also.

zinethstache

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Re: Landlord insurance recommendations
« Reply #6 on: August 18, 2015, 10:46:10 AM »
We used state farm to bundle our rentals with our personal insurance, however when we bought our last property the rate was out of this world, the only difference was it was a triplex (not duplex) So we had to use a broker and the rate was still high, like double our duplex rates which of course made me grumble as it ate into our cash flow and I was not expecting such a huge jump.

our duplex insurance is around 750/year with state farm. their quote for the triplex was 2100! through a broker it was still $1560.  That ate up $810 of cash flow I was expecting to net for myself.

Your rowhouse situation will be a factor, if Safeco already turned you down. A broker is likely your best bet.

bittheory

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Re: Landlord insurance recommendations
« Reply #7 on: August 18, 2015, 03:51:36 PM »
We used state farm to bundle our rentals with our personal insurance, however when we bought our last property the rate was out of this world, the only difference was it was a triplex (not duplex) So we had to use a broker and the rate was still high, like double our duplex rates which of course made me grumble as it ate into our cash flow and I was not expecting such a huge jump.

our duplex insurance is around 750/year with state farm. their quote for the triplex was 2100! through a broker it was still $1560.  That ate up $810 of cash flow I was expecting to net for myself.

Your rowhouse situation will be a factor, if Safeco already turned you down. A broker is likely your best bet.

Wow, what an incredible rate for landlord insurance. You are one of many who has recommended State Farm. I had no idea they were so competitive. I'll be looking into them in the near future as well as using a broker. Thank you.

 

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