Most property managers will tell you to “make sure you have landlord insurance” and leave it there. We can do better than that, because we also own an insurance agency — and we see the actual policies behind the properties we take over.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What follows is what we find wrong most often. None of it is exotic. All of it is expensive at exactly the moment you cannot afford it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the most common and the most dangerous. When you move out and a tenant moves in, the property stops being an owner-occupied home and your homeowners policy stops matching the risk it was written for. Carriers know this. A claim on a rented property under a homeowners form is a claim positioned to be denied, and you will not find out until you file one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You need a landlord or dwelling policy. That is a specific product<\/a>, not a rebranded homeowners policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A fire or a major water loss does not just damage the building. It stops the income while the building is unusable, and the mortgage keeps arriving anyway.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Loss of rents covers that gap. Owners routinely either do not carry it or carry it at a limit set years ago that no longer reflects what the property actually rents for. On a property renting at $1,400 a month, a six-month rebuild is $8,400 of income you fund out of pocket if the endorsement is missing or short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most standard property forms restrict or suspend coverage once a building has been vacant beyond a stated period — frequently thirty or sixty days. That is not a footnote, it is a condition, and it takes effect automatically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A turnover that runs long, a make-ready that stalls waiting on a contractor, or a property held empty between tenants can cross that line without anyone noticing. Vacancy coverage exists<\/a> and is inexpensive relative to the exposure. Because we manage the property, we know when it goes vacant — which is the whole point of the agency and the manager being the same people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Replacement cost tracks construction cost, not purchase price. A property bought well below replacement cost — which describes a great many Dayton-area rentals — is precisely the one most likely to be underinsured.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Older stock compounds it. Rebuilding a pre-war house with plaster, masonry or original millwork costs more than a per-square-foot estimate suggests, and rebuilding to current code costs more again unless you carry ordinance-and-law coverage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Percentage-based wind and hail deductibles are common in Ohio and are frequently misunderstood. A 2% wind deductible on a $200,000 dwelling limit is a $4,000 out-of-pocket, not the $1,000 you think you have. On a modest rental that is the difference between filing a claim and absorbing the loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The gaps above are general. Which one bites you depends a great deal on where the property sits, so each of our market pages carries the specific exposure we see there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Requiring renters insurance<\/a> in the lease is one of the cheapest risk reductions available to an owner. It covers the tenant’s belongings, which your policy never did, and it carries liability coverage that responds when the tenant causes damage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Without it, a tenant whose negligence causes a fire has no ability to make you whole, and your carrier absorbs a loss it may later look to subrogate against nobody. We write renters insurance into the leases we manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ryan wrote Rental Property Insurance: An Investor’s Guide to Insurance<\/strong> for exactly this reason — everything above, in more depth, without a sales pitch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Free book:<\/strong> Ryan wrote Rental Property Insurance: An Investor’s Guide to Insurance<\/em> because insurance is one of the most commonly misunderstood lines on a rental P&L. It walks through how landlord coverage is generally structured and, more usefully, the questions worth putting to your own agent about your own policy. Get a free copy →<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n Ingram Insurance Group<\/a> is an independent agency writing landlord, rental property<\/a>, vacant property<\/a> and umbrella<\/a> coverage across Ohio. Independent means we are not obliged to place you with one carrier.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A review costs nothing and carries no obligation, and we will do it whether or not we manage the property. Send us the declarations page and we will tell you plainly what it does and does not cover. Frequently the answer is that you are fine, in which case you have that in writing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Call 937-999-3890<\/a> or email hello@daytonproper.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes. The occupancy changed, so the policy has to. This is the single most common and most costly mistake we see.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Not necessarily, and it is beside the point — a cheaper policy that does not respond to your claim is not cheaper. Get a real comparison rather than assuming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In Ohio you can generally require it as a lease term. We do, on the properties we manage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are usually better structures than a stack of unrelated individual policies, including umbrella coverage across the portfolio. Worth a conversation once you are past two or three doors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n No, and vice versa. They are separate relationships and plenty of people use one without the other.<\/p>\n\n\n\n General information, not insurance advice for your specific situation. Coverage depends on the policy form, the carrier and the facts. Talk to a licensed agent about your actual property.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Send us the address and we will tell you what it rents for today, what it would rent for after specific work, and whether you should rent it or sell it. No cost, no obligation, usually back within two business days.<\/p>\n\n\n2. No loss-of-rents coverage<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
3. Coverage that quietly lapses during vacancy<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
4. A dwelling limit set to what you paid<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
5. Deductibles nobody has read<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What we see market by market<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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What your tenant should carry, and why it protects you<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Read the book<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Get your current policy reviewed<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Questions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Do I really need a different policy just because I rent it out?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Is landlord insurance more expensive than homeowners?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Can I require renters insurance?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What if I own several properties?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Does using your agency mean you manage my property too?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Get a free rental analysis<\/h2>\n\n\n\n