Landlord Insurance vs. Homeowners Insurance

Now that we’ve gone over the basics of landlord insurance vs homeowners insurance, let’s move on to their specific details, which separate them from each other. 

1. Landlord insurance covers your rental properties, whereas homeowners insurance covers your primary property of residence.

Homeowners insurance protects the primary residence of the homeowner. The coverage of the homeowners insurance is comprehensive: it includes pretty much everything that the policy contract doesn’t specifically state as excluded. Damages caused by sudden events, accidents, burst pipes, vandalism, break-ins, lightning strikes, fire, severe snow, wind, and rain are generally included in the coverage of homeowners insurance.

On the other hand, landlord insurance can cover a property regardless of whether or not the landlord resides there. This type of policy is customized to protect the rental properties of the landlords, and hence, covers almost everything that the landlord owns or is responsible for replacing/repairing following an incident included in the coverage. In addition to those perils and events that homeowners insurance covers, landlord insurance also covers accidental damage caused by the lessee.

2. Personal properties are not included in landlord insurance coverage, whereas they typically are included in homeowners insurance coverage. 

Homeowners own both the property and its interior components. Since replacing all the furniture that’s damaged due to an accident or peril would be excessively expensive, homeowners insurance covers the repurchasing of these items, so long as the said event is covered. 

Landlords, on the other hand, typically own the property but not the interior components of it. Therefore, the protection by landlord insurance is limited to the property structure to not overcomplicate the costs. To cover such damage to furniture and the like, the tenants can get renters insurance. If the property is furnished by the landlord, on the other hand, the coverage of the interior properties can be added to the landlord insurance policy for an additional fee. 

3. Landlord insurance covers rent losses deriving from perils included in the coverage, while homeowners insurance typically includes loss-of-use. 

The type of coverage as to the period a property is uninhabitable due to a covered incident varies depending on the insurance type. While homeowners insurance covers the temporary residence and meal expenses of the tenant in case they have to move out for a while due to immense damage following a covered peril, landlord insurance tends to cover the rent loss of the landlord instead of the needs of the tenant. Some further extensive landlord insurance policies even cover the payment for the rent the tenant fails to deliver.