This is not giving advice and only use for general information.

Although we are not experts in insurance, being in the Property Management industry has exposed KGR team to what we see as deficiencies in many widely used policies.

Below is an example;

One self-managed landlord ended up with a big shock when his tenants moved out. They had taken his entire kitchen with them…even the kitchen sink was gone!

“Until then, I’d never heard of a tenant liking a kitchen so much they decide to take it with them when they leave. From my experience, theft from investment properties is more common than landlords realize,” said Carolyn Parrella, executive general manager of Terri Scheer Insurance.

Some important areas to look out for in landlords insurance coverage include;

• Loss of rent cover – How long does the cover last and under what circumstances the policy will cover this.
• Accidental damage – How much the cover is, and what is considered accidental.
• Malicious damage – How much the cover is, under what circumstances, is a police report required.
• Excess amount and how many are payable depending on the situation (Some policies will charge multiple excesses for different items, even if they all happened at the same time).
• Is pet damage included – whether the pet is approved or not.
• Fire and flood damage – How much is covered, under what circumstances.

Did you know that some policies:

• Will not pay the first 4 weeks rent loss and then have an excess on top of that.
• Will not pay claims if a Tenant is on a periodic lease or lease continuation.
• Will not pay claims where a Tenant has applied to the court on hardship grounds.
• Will not pay Tenant damage without a police report.
• Will not pay Tenant damage unless it can be proven that the Tenant did it with malicious intent.

Perhaps this could have been prevented if the landlord entrusted their investment property to a property manager instead of self-managing. By thoroughly screening and vetting tenants and conducting regular inspections, any odd behavior would have been flagged early on before the damage was done. As a good agent, KGR do not wish this happen to you or anyone you know.