Renters insurance
 

Can you help me...we own a home in Meredith which is listed as a summer rental with local agency and is booked for the summer and it just occurred to me that although we have home owners insurance I neglected to mention I'm renting the house to summer tenants. I'm curious what other people are doing regarding insuring their homes when they rent them to summer vacationers.
Do I have to disclose it to the insurance company and will my premium go way up? Thanks, Cole

There are two ways you can go about this. If your current homeowners policy allows you to extend your liability coverage over to the second, but it will not give you property coverage.

The other way is to get a Dwelling Fire policy that will cover that specific property for liability and Property coverage on its own policy. Most DF policies will allow for rentals, it is very important to tell your agent that you are renting the property out and that it is not a "second home. If it was occasional rental a few times per year that is one thing, but if you are continuously renting the property you want to make sure there is no rental exclusion

Landlord Insurance
 

They are expensive. Almost twice the price of homeowners.

Ask for one, it is a godsend when something goes wrong on the property.

Make sure the renters realize that the possessions are not covered and they should buy rental insurance.

Don't Disagree for a commercial landlord policy, but if you go a personal policy route with the Dwelling fire, you might not get all the bells and whistles, but you will get the coverage you need at a lower rate, also there are less restrictions to type of condition of updates to the property

Talk to your agent. The type of policy is going to depend on how often you rent it. We have a rental condo in the North Conway area, as long as we don't use it personally for more than 14 days per year the coverage isn't too expensive. It's when you split it as a rental and second home that the price starts to go up.

I may be wrong, but dont renters often have the option to buy insurance? We use to rent from preferred properties way back in the day and I thought I recall some sort of insurance option.

Thank you all
 

Thank you for all the input regarding renter insurance

While this may be true... this protects the renter, from claims of damage by the owner...

What is being discussed here is proper insurance for the property owner to have for liability and loss should a renter burn the place down, or claim injury based on the owners negligence.

Tenant vs Owner
 

JasonG. Sounds like you were a tenant. The thread appears to be asking from the owners point of view. That really isn't "Renters Insurance". It's either a Fire policy or a homeowners/condo policy. As mentioned above, that usually means a call to the agent. Too many variables for solid advice here.

Liability Rider is way to go
 

I rented all summer for many years, and had a fire policy and a large liability policy. The price was very reasonable. My local agent found the right company. Talk to your agent. Also if you are claiming the income and expense of renting the insurance cost is one of your expenses to offset the income.

Buying the right insurance . . .
 

saves you from personal liability. It is worth it in the long run if someone accidentally, and God FORBID, falls and breaks their face or drowns. If you don't think someone will sue you if this happens, you are sadly mistaken. I manage rental properties and the things I hear from some of the most discerning clients is appalling. What one will say to an owner is entirely different than what they say to a property manager.

Cover yourself or be prepared to lose it. You should consider your costs when renting your property, and pass that onto the consumer. We are sue happy as a society, personal responsibility is a thing of the past. Call your agent.

if you are looking at some options, I am a insurance agent, not trying to solicit for the business, but would be more than happy to review what policies you are looking at, just shoot me a PM

Liability Umbrella
 

I have rental property and one of the things I was advised to do was get a personal umbrella. I have $500,000 in liability insurance on the properties themselves and a personal umbrella that kicks in at that level. This is especially important if the property is in your name and you will be managing it yourself.

If a tenant falls on a loose board on the front stairs you know that you, as the owner and manager, will be named in the suit. Without sufficient insurance on the subject property other assets in your name could be attached.