Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2015 · 109 posts · 40 votes
This may be a crazy off-base question but just want to get clarification.
I rent an apartment in Texas as my personal residence and cover it with a renter's insurance policy. I own a duplex in Oklahoma and I have a rental dwelling policy to cover that property.
Talking with an insurance agent friend of mine, he mentioned that it is possible to extend your personal insurance coverage to cover other properties, even if it is a rental property. He said it's possible to save money this way while still covering both properties.
It seems crazy that I would be able to extend my renter's insurance policy to cover tenants. Especially if it's in another state.
Does this sound at all within the realm of possibility?
Up here to your north, once upon a time, you could - and maybe still can - obtain a household insurance policy which would also cover your personal belongings if you were renting in another location, or staying in a hotel, for work or would cover your kid's belongings when they were away at school. So you might not be hearing about unicorns.
Up here to your north, once upon a time, you could - and maybe still can - obtain a household insurance policy which would also cover your personal belongings if you were renting in another location, or staying in a hotel, for work or would cover your kid's belongings when they were away at school. So you might not be hearing about unicorns.
@Tim Johnson this is possible, but probably would not save you much $.
Your current "Rating Basis" is 1 renters policy and 1 rental policy. You would change to a single policy with the same rating basis of 1 renters and 1 rental.
So just to clarify. Is your agent suggesting that you extend your renter's insurance from your apt (which typically only covers your personal belongings) to the rental property you own? or to the people you are renting your duplex unit to for their personal belongings only?
I don't see how can you use your renter's policy which typically only covers personal belongings to alsocover the actual duplex's insurance (i.e. the building itself). That would seem to be counter-intuitive.
I guess there is more coverage in renter's insurance that could be applied to the building - i.e. if the renter were to cause a fire, then their renter's insurance would be on the hook. But what if there is an electrical fire that is not the renter's fault? Renter's insurance wouldn't cover that and then there would be no coverage on the building.
Doesn't seem to make sense that you could get that to work to actually cover the building itself - which is what your lender is going to require......
But there are some unique insurance policy features out there and I am definitely no expert. From a simpleton's point of view like mine though I just don't see how this could fly.
Thanks all - I'll talk to my agent to see if I can extend the personal belongings coverage from my personal renter's policy and have it cover my tenants in the duplex... if that would even provide any additional benefit versus what the rental dwelling policy already provides.
You can likely extend LIABILITY from your renters policy to cover a second/rental dwelling that you own, but unlikely you can extend PROPERTY coverage (especially BUILDING coverage) to another location (let alone in another state). I also don't know if you were talking about covering "tenants" personal property but if you were, know that at time of loss there must be an "insurable interest" in such property otherwise the insurer won't pay the claim. (You have no interest in tenants personal property and therefore shouldn't be insuring it). Hope this helps.
I would think it would go the other way. I would think that the policy that you have in place to cover your rental property that you OWN would extend to cover the small walls-in coverage that you have in the property that you RENT.
Either way, your insurance agent should have the best, most economical way of doing this.