Do You Need Insurance as an Illinois Landlord?
Call (800) 641-7488 for an Illinois Landlord Insurance quote.
Wondering if you need insurance as a landlord? If you have invested in real estate as a landlord, you should purchase insurance to protect your investment. Not only do you need protection for the structure itself, let’s say your tenant accidentally burns the place down, but you as the landlord need certain liability protections in place.
For example, a tenant gets upset you ask them to move out. Instead of moving out, they decide to sue you for wrongful eviction. Now you must defend yourself in court, having the right liability coverage on your policy can help.
Illinois Landlord Insurance Coverage
Landlord insurance offers coverage for property owners renting out one or more residential homes, condos or apartments. As a landlord in Illinois, you need to protect yourself from a financial loss that may result from damages to your property from a fire, break-in, severe weather and more. You can also add on coverage to help cover the loss of income if your rental units become unlivable due to circumstances beyond your control.
Coverages you may find on a landlord policy may include the following.
Property Damage
Property damage offers protection against damage to your buildings and personal property from fire, storm damage, vandalism, theft, and tenant damage. You want your landlord insurance will cover the replacement costs for your entire rental property in the event of a total loss.
General Liability Insurance
Liability insurance provides protection for you against liability claims or lawsuits. Whether it’s your tenant, a visitor or even a trespasser that sustains an injury on the rental property, there is a chance you could find yourself in a courtroom. Your landlord insurance helps with the costs associated with bodily injury claims on your property. Costs may include medical payments, legal fees, funeral costs, and judgment or settlement costs. As the landlord, you may also have coverage if you are found responsible for another person’s property damage. Let’s say you neglect to fix a leaking water pipe, and the ensuing mold damage damages a tenant’s expensive collection of vintage albums, the tenant may file a liability claim can be filed against you.
Loss of Income
Loss of income helps compensate for lost revenue if a rental property becomes uninhabitable due to a covered loss, such as a natural disaster or fire. The loss of income coverage, or “rental reimbursement,” will prevent you from losing any revenue you would have had if you were able to collect rent.
Optional Coverages
Optional coverages for landlords may include guarantee insurance, employer liability insurance, natural disaster insurance, and landlord contents insurance to cover your items such as furnishings or carpet in the rental property.
Key Takeaways for Illinois Landlords
Landlord insurance may not be a requirement for Illinois property owners but provides a level of protection against the financial loss resulting from natural disasters, accidents, injuries and other liability issues associated with your rental property. It also includes reimbursement for loss of rental income and may cover any repairs or even the entire replacement of a rental property structure.
Landlord Insurance Costs
There are a variety of factors that insurance companies use to determine the insurance rates that an individual might pay for landlord insurance. A few points they look at include:
- Value
- Size & Condition
- Location
- Type of Occupancy (Is property vacant?)
- and more…
At our agency, we’ve seen landlord insurance for single family homes at premiums from $280 per year to as high as $3,200 per year for multi-unit residential properties. (Of course, monthly payment options are available.)
Landlord Insurance Quotes
If you are ready to start a conversation about protecting your investment, contact one of our property insurance specialists at (800) 641-7488, they will be glad to go over your rental exposures and the solutions we have available.
Read More: Investment Rental Property Insurance
Illinois Rental Property Listing Registration
