Looking for Landlord insurance + eviction, and malicious tenant damage coverage

[Sean Leonard]

I own a single family ranch house in Massachusetts, just north of Boston. We had a fire/landlord policy with Norfolk and Dedham insurance, however after my last tenant and last property manager allowed my property to get into a state of severe disrepair, including water damage from a dishwasher/septic backup, which was never remediated, my insurer dropped me from coverage as a "bad risk" (we had made a claim for the water damage by the tenant).

So in this current economic environment, a "bad risk" is anyone that makes a claim against an insurance policy.

The damages have been remediated, the interior of the home has been rehabbed, including a complete kitchen makeover.

My insurance agent had difficulty finding me a replacement policy, given that the property was untenanted, and undergoing construction. She found me a policy that would cover the property for 2-3 months for $1500.00. Given our financial constraints at the time, we couldn't afford such a high sum for limited coverage.

I'm told that the lapse in coverage for the few months between being dropped by our previous insurer and attempting to get a landlord/investment property policy will make if VERY difficult to get a policy.

I'm not sure that my agent really has much experience in insuring investment properties/rental properties.

I reached out to Arcana (now MSI, and they forwarded my a list of agents/reps that could work with me.

My question is: Are there any other places I should be looking to obtain coverage?

--Sean