Many people are confused about the difference between renters insurance vs. landlord insurance. This may stem from the fact that many people incorrectly refer to the person who owns the home they live in as their “renter” rather than their landlord, or another semantic issue. But there’s a vast gulf of difference between the two, so you’ll want to make sure you get the right one – especially if you’re the one that owns the dwelling being rented! Tacoma, WA Renters Insurance is right for one of you, but only for one of you.
What Is Landlord Insurance?
To look at renters insurance vs. landlord insurance, we need to know what landlord insurance is, in the first place. Landlord insurance is the policy that covers the dwelling itself. If there’s a fire, and the building burns to the ground, landlord insurance rebuilds it. It may cover some contents that come with the rental, as well, but mostly it’s there for the building.
Landlord insurance also protects the owner of the rented dwelling against liability risk. If someone sues them, the policy can defend and potentially pay for those claims. That keeps the building in the owner’s possession so it doesn’t have to be sold to pay for that liability claim.
Renters Insurance Vs. Landlord Insurance
What Is Renters Insurance?
Understanding renters insurance vs. landlord insurance requires a quick look at a renters policy, as well. Renters insurance does not cover the dwelling. The renter is not obligated to insure the building, because they don’t own it. In fact, a renter can’t cover the building for that very reason – they’d suffer no direct loss as a result of the building being destroyed in and of itself.
You would, of course, suffer a loss from not being able to use the rental, and that’s where loss of use coverage on your renters insurance comes into play. It pays for you to stay somewhere else while repairs are being made or while you relocate after a covered loss. Those expenses can often be significant.
Renters insurance also covers your personal property, because your landlord can’t insure that for the same reason you can’t insure the building. He suffers no loss if your personal property is destroyed. You would, of course, have a significant loss if you had to replace everything you own. That’s why you need renters insurance.
Renters insurance also provides you with liability protection as well. That’s one commonality between the two policies, both offer liability coverage and defense coverage for the same. That means if you’re sued for something (like starting a fire in the building through your negligence) you can have a defense and the claim can be paid without resorting to your own resources.
Renters Insurance Vs. Landlord Insurance
Renters insurance covers the contents, or personal property, inside the dwelling that you rent, but not the building. Landlord insurance, on the other hand, covers the building and generally not the contents. This is because each party to that lease has specific things that they own which would cause them a loss if they were destroyed, but neither has an interest in the others’ property.
Tacoma Renters Insurance will cover loss of use for you as a tenant if there’s a covered loss that results in you not being able to live there for a period of time. That pays for a hotel for you to stay in, for example. Landlord insurance loss of use, on the other hand, might cover the rent that you’re not paying because you’re not able to live in the dwelling unit and the other expenses related to having the unit vacant.
Both landlord and renters insurance are likely to include medical payments to others coverage, which is a small good-faith payment for someone who is injured on the property but where there is no actual fault to be found which caused the injury. This is because both parties could be responsible if there were negligence or fault, and the good faith payment resolves it at minimal expense and trouble for everyone.
Both renters insurance and landlord insurance will include liability coverage. If someone suffers a loss as a result of the insured’s negligence, there’s coverage for the loss and coverage for defense. Often times, you’ll find that responsibility for a loss can overlap between tenant and landlord which is why the policies both provide the coverage – if someone slipped on a snowy walk, it wouldn’t matter who the lease said should have shoveled it. It only matters that someone was injured on the premises for which both parties were responsible. In that case, each person would likely be defended by their respective policies.
As you can see, there are significant differences between landlord insurance and renters insurance. Those differences are important. Renters insurance is also much less expensive, which is another important difference that you should be aware of. The average renters insurance policy nationwide is about $187.00 a year, and renters insurance in Washington can often be much cheaper than that! Sometimes you can even save money by having a renters insurance policy because bundling your car insurance in with it can reduce the price of the auto policy by more than what the renters policy costs!
How Can I Buy Fast, Cheap Landlord Insurance Or Renters Insurance?
Effective Coverage was built from the ground up to meet the insurance needs of tenants. You can get a policy in just sixty seconds by clicking above, or you can call and speak with an insurance expert for renters and have all of your questions answered efficiently.
If you’re a landlord, we’ve got policies for you, as well. Just call and work with an insurance expert and we can look at your options, make sure you’re not currently underinsured, and even see if an umbrella policy might be appropriate. They often are, especially with multiple properties. There are a wide variety of risks that landlords face in this day and age.
Whatever your insurance needs, Effective Coverage works to help you get the right coverage at the right price. All you have to do is call (800)892-4308 or click to get covered - whether you need Washington renters insurance quotes online or coverage anywhere else!
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