Habitational Insurance: What Should It Cover?

A well-crafted habitational insurance policy can protect you from the unique risks and challenges of renting your property to tenants.

Who needs it? Anybody who is renting out property, including single-dwelling landlords, condominium owners, hotels, boarding houses and student dormitories will benefit from this type of coverage. You should also consider getting coverage for your time share property.

Why do you need it? Habitational insurance is a special policy that is designed for commercial residential properties. It has unique characteristics that are not covered by a typical property insurance policy. However, to get adequate coverage, it is important to ensure that specific relevant items are included in your policy. You are not only responsible for the apartment or building that you rent but also the tenants and their visitors as well as any employees who help maintain your property.

Here are several important items that your habitational insurance policy should include*.

• General liability: This may help cover the legal fees and medical bills you could be faced with in the event a tenant or visitor is injured on your property.
• Wind, fire and storm damage: This may help with clean up and remediation costs if your property is damaged or destroyed by wind, fire or a storm. Depending on your location, it is a good idea to get flood or earthquake coverage as well.
• Vandalism and theft: Many property owners are not covered for vandalism. Extensive damages can be quite expensive to fix. Theft coverage can serve to protect you against loss of the property belonging to others that is in your possession or on your premises.
• Signage: Damage to outdoor signs is not always covered by a standard habitational property insurance policy, so it may need to be added. Signage inclusion typically covers damage from fire, wind, theft and vandalism.
• Equipment breakdowns: Physical equipment like your HVAC system is essential to keeping your premises functional. It must be protected from fire, breakdowns, theft, vandalism and other issues. For instance, when equipment fails, you will have to cover repair or replacement expenses and might also be faced with loss of income.
• Environmental cleanup: Exposure to pollution could result in financial loss due to cleanup and/or third party liabilities. Coverage may include cleanup costs and third party bodily injury.
• Loss of income: Similar to business interruption insurance, it is designed to replace loss of income (rent) as a result of an occurrence covered by your policy. It can also cover continuing expenses like employee salaries and other costs that you might incur during the remediation period.

Get Quotes for Habitational Insurance Today

Different types of rental properties have different exposure to risk. Choosing the right habitational insurance coverage is key to protecting you from time-consuming and expensive lawsuits. At The Nowell Agency, our experienced brokers can help you identify and cover your risks. You can depend on our expertise for a comprehensive habitational insurance policy that secures and protects you and your property. Our long association with major insurance providers enables us to provide you with the most competitive rates.

Request a quote for habitational insurance or call a location near you to schedule a meeting with a knowledgeable and experienced broker at The Nowell Agency.

*Disclaimer:
Insurance products are subject to terms and conditions, as well as exclusions that we cannot define on our website and blog. The content published here is only intended to provide you with an overview and general information about policies and products in the insurance industry. YOUR policy will carry details of the specific coverages, terms, conditions, limitations, exclusions. These will be governed by the underwriting guidelines applicable in your state.

If any policy provision is in conflict with the information provide on our website, blog or by any of our agents, kindly note that the policy language is controlling and supersedes all other sources.  For more information, please contact your local office of The Nowell Agency.