Insurance for ADU house hack

[Dan Sundberg]

Hey BP - looking for some insurance help out there. 

Does anyone have suggestions on getting a Homeowner's insurance policy for an owner occupied single family with a tenant occupied ADU in California?

For the last year we had a normal homeowner policy on the primary owner-occupied structure, and a 2nd landlord policy on the detached ADU. Recently GEICO, who insured the primary home, informed me they are dropping the policy as they no longer cover that type of exposure.

I've reached out to about 8 different insurance companies so far, including local brokers, and have been told that they can't cover this type of situation either. I am continuing to reach out to local insurance brokers.

Any suggestions? 

Thank you!!

[Andrew Bish]

Have you had any luck yet? 

Do the ADU and single family share the same address? If so, you could try to treat the site, it's structures and risks, separately from your personal property and personal liability.

You could place a landlord policy that covers the single family and ADU. Typically these policies are only concerned with the site; dwelling damage, detached structure damage, and on-site liability. You still need to protect your possessions and off-site liability so place a "renters" or "contents only" policy form. The focus of this policy is to protect your personal property and give you liability protection to cover you off the property.

Have you tried Steadily? They wrote a blog post about a year ago discussing ADU regulations in Sacramento.

https://www.steadily.com/blog/adu-laws-regulations-sacrament...