Insurance Doubled from Primary to Rental

[Allison Park]

I am just about to rent my primary residence and my insurance went from 800 to 1600 per year.  Is it typical for it to double or significantly increase?  Are there any lower cost companies that I should look into?

[Kristen L Garner]

It’s actually pretty common for your insurance premium to increase when converting a primary residence to a rental. Insurers see tenant-occupied properties as higher risk due to factors like increased liability and less frequent maintenance. That said, a doubling of the premium does feel steep, so it’s definitely worth shopping around.

I’d recommend checking with carriers that specialize in landlord or dwelling fire policies like Steadily, Hippo, Foremost, or even State Farm if they write in your area. Also worth contacting an independent insurance broker who can shop across multiple companies for you.

You could also ask your current carrier to go over the policy for you and look for ways to trim cost.  On one of my properties I did this and learned that my replacement cost was way to high.  We lowered it and trimmed $400/year from the policy. 

Best of luck!