All Forum Posts by: Kevin Romines

I think your agent is giving you bad advice? If I understand what he/she was saying about not being listed as an additional insured for fear of inadvertently being named in a claim? If that's what they were saying, then that's dangerous advice.

Number 1, anybody can be sued at anytime for anything. Insurance is about an insurable interest. The owner of the pet has an insurable interest in the pet as they are the owner of the pet. You have an insurable interest in the home / property and the contract rights thereof. Even if you were not listed on the renters policy as an additional insured, you could and would be named in the claim / law suit if the damages the pet caused someone else was severe enough, which doesn't take much?

Lawyers will look at all possible liable parties and take legal action on all of them in hopes to get enough between all parties to cover all damages and best of all from their stand point....legal fees, which is how they get paid. Lawyers love long drawn out fights, more money for them!!!

You being listed as an additional insured is another key fact of insurance. Insurance is about transference of risk. The insured is agreeing to pay premiums in exchange for transferring the risk of certain and specific situations from them to the insurance company based on specific limits.

Being listed as an additional insured does absolutely zero harm to you, however it does protect you in the amount of the liability coverage on that policy and it also pays all legal fees up to the point when the limits have been paid out on the policy or the claim is denied.

At that point you have your landlord policy as your back up policy to pick up on additional liability and legal defense costs. I just can not think of a single reason any agent would tell you not to be listed as an additional insured on the renters policy......that boarders on malpractice......oh and by the way, insurance agents can be sued for giving bad advice?

Ask yourself, why do all the large companies, and lenders and contractors require their subs, and other companies performing work for other companies.......to be listed as additional insureds? They must provide current certificates proving so? Because its in the best interest of that company?

Your agent may need to rethink their position? 

Several people have it correct. Just follow the advice that @Jeff Bridges gave you and you should be fine. If their insurance company gives you a hard time, you can turn it into yours. In the end your company will subrogate against the liable parties insurance carrier. This means they will go after the party that created the liability, and that means they will go after their insurance company. If your company hits you with the deductible, once they collect on the subrogation, they should reimburse your deductible.

You company may tell you that it wont be considered a chargeable claim, however it is best to pursue the liable parties insurance 1st.

Depending on the policy, it may be built in. Our landlord policies have them built in, however Foremost, a company that Farmers owns has that coverage as electable? I guess its a matter of personal choice. The additional premium is very little. So are you willing to trade a little for quite a bit more?

I would just look to the overall coverages on the policy and compare prices. By the way.....Load up on the liability coverage, this is what saves your bacon!!! Maybe even follow them up with an umbrella. Regardless of the amount of assets you have, I think you should have an umbrella policy!!!

Mandate the renters policy especially in the case of pets. This protects them as well as an additional layer of protection for you. I would go a few steps further than your agent suggested. You need to be listed as an additional insured. This insures you as it insures them. That includes legal defense fees to be paid by their insurance carrier. You also need to be listed as a certificate holder. This will notify you if there is ever a termination, cancellation or lapse in the policy. As for me, I would require liability coverage of 500K or more.....To go from one liability level to the a higher one is very inexpensive.......and remember, this is what protects them as well as you.

If you feel strongly enough about it and don't want to take the chance the renter will flake on this down the road, then build the cost of the policy into the rents. You pay for the policy out of the increased rents and that ends the question of will they keep it maintained? You will be in charge of paying that from your increased rents.

However, the tenant is still required to sign the application is it will be in their name (they can refuse, but if they do, they are not the tenant you want). They are still the owner, so they can make changes, you are just the bill payer and the additional insured / certificate holder. But hey, why would they cancel the policy if your paying for it according to the rental agreement?

Farmers and Foremost have no restrictions so long as the dog or dogs don't have a bite history and or a claims history? Most insurance companies cant say that.......Great prices too!!!

The primary factors that make up your premium are 1) reconstruction costs 2) fire rating 3) coverage levels on liability, separate structures and various endorsements and somewhere in there ( a black box so to speak) is your credit rating. Oh and lets not forget past claims history of the person and property?

Ask yourself, how much would I be willing to take care before I felt the need to turn in a claim? Deductibles of 500 / 1000 / 1500 / 2500 / 5000? This will help or hurt your premium based on the levels you choose? Are there any special endorsements that you may be able to do without? I would not be penny wise and pound foolish with these, it could cost you thousands. Never ever skimp on liability coverage.....Always load that up. That's what saves your bacon at that end of the day......And we all love bacon.

Just concentrate on the things that you can control, the coverages, the coverage levels, the deductibles and maybe the most important of all......who you choose to do business with? 

My biggest thought about this is that you mentioned that you haven't done much with rentals in the past. You are buying not just a full time job, but a career. Have you fully thought out and asked them what is involved on a day to day basis? Do you work full time now? Can you job shadow him or have him stick around for a few months to mentor you?

You are well on your way with that many rentals, just be cautious and try to cover all the details you can find?

Some have mentioned that there is no way to assure the tenant has and or maintains an insurance policy. If you feel strongly about wanting it, then build the cost into the cost of rents. Make the proper notices in your rent agreements and if the renter refuses to sign the renters policy application, then don't rent to them.

They will be the policy owner, you will be the policy payer or the person billed. You will pay this from their monthly rents. If they don't pay, then they are not paying your rents. This is a different issue, and I have even heard of a policy (not with my company) that may cover this type of situation.

The point is that some are saying the renters policy could never have enough liability coverage to cover all the assets you have. That's not the point, if they have a substantial amount of liability coverage, then your protected to that amount and it could be enough to cover the total of all liability damages. If not, then your policy kicks in as secondary coverage to their policy. For the inexpensive cost of a renters policy, it just doesn't make sense to me professionally and personally to take these steps to protect yourself? 

You can get an umbrella policy with some, not all carriers while having the auto coverage elsewhere. They will need to know your underlying auto limits and may even have a minimum required amount? Call the company that insures your auto and see what their requirements are and the costs of the umbrella?

When it comes to pets, not all insurance companies are the same. As mentioned above, Allstate will not allow certain breeds. Other companies will. I have worked for 2 companies that will so long as they don't have a bite history or any claims associated. If you choose to allow pets, switch companies to assure your covered for liability. What if a tenant sneaked a dog in, would Allstate cover you then?

Its always the best course of action to require the tenant to have renters insurance. This protects them, but it also protects you. If they have renters insurance and the dog bites someone, then the claim hits their policy 1st and only then goes to your policy if they don't have enough coverage?

I would require certain minimum limits of liability, say 500K or higher (your the property owner, you get to make the rules) and I would require them to list you as both an additional insured and a certificate holder.

By being and additional insured, it protects you just as it does them. The insurance company has to pay to defend all legal actions against you in the case of a covered claim and they must pay up to the damage award or limits of the liability coverage. These are separate costs, so defense costs are not reducing the limits of coverage. Being a certificate holder, you will be notified anytime the policy is about to lapse or terminate for any reason.

If people want to rent property and they have animals, then they need to pay for the very little a renters policy costs (between $8-25 per month) to help insure against the risks they are bringing to the table.

I have even been asked by landlords if they could build the cost of the policy into the rents and pay for the policy in that way. The answer is yes, you can do that, however the tenant must still sign the application. So it can be done, and when explained to the prospective tenant, it just may be worth them paying a bit more to be able to rent your really nice property.