Landlord insurance

[Kevin Allison]

We are about to rent out our first house, (not by choice). I have been toying around with idea of switching to landlord insurance in hopes in my cover us better as well as possibly lower our insurance cost in our escrow. Any thoughts or tips on whether or not this is a real option. Thanks for any help

[Jon Holdman]

You need landlord insurance if you're going to rent the house.  Period.  If you just have homeowners and you have a claim, the insurance company will try very hard to deny your claim based on the fact it was rented.   Landlord insurance will be quite a bit more expensive.  Just one of many, many expenses you sign up for when you rent a house.  You are also likely to have to find a different insurance company.  Many do not write landlord insurance.  I use Safeco, but there are others that will do this, too.