What is Dwelling Fire Insurance?
Dwelling fire insurance , also known as Landlord Insurance, is purchased to protect dwellings that aren’t occupied by the owner or that don’t meet the criteria for homeowners insurance coverage. For example, dwelling insurance is purchased when a rental property owner needs to ensure a building, but not the possessions inside it. Also, dwelling insurance is often the sensible option for covering property that is not occupied full-time by the owners, such as in the case of seasonal and second homes.
Despite the name, dwelling fire insurance can encompass more than fire- and smoke-related damage. Dwelling fire insurance is “named peril” insurance, as it only covers damages for losses resulting from perils listed on the policy. Those perils may include fire, lightning, explosions, windstorms, hail, smoke, and more.
Dwelling Fire Insurance policies protect your rented property from fire damage and protect you from legal liability
What does a Dwelling Fire policy cover
Property coverage covers your rental property if you own rentals built for one to four families, as well as other private structures on your property (like a garage or shed), and personal property, like tools, appliances or furniture that’s stored on the property or used by your tenants. This coverage even includes items that are out for repair or servicing.
Loss of rental income protects you if something happens and you’re unable to rent your property out. It also covers the loss of rental income during the repair or rebuilding period.
Liability coverage helps cover you for one of the biggest risks landlords face: responsibility for injuries that occur on their rental property. This coverage includes personal liability if someone gets hurt or property damage occurs and you’re found responsible. This also covers all your defense costs. It also includes medical payments to others, so that if someone is hurt on your property.
Personal injury coverage will protect you as a landlord from lawsuits alleging wrongful entry, wrongful eviction, and invasion of the right of private occupancy.
What does a Dwelling Fire policy Not cover
What is the difference between DP-1, DP-2, and DP-3 policy types?
DP-1, DP-2, and DP-3 are essentially levels of coverage for a specific landlord insurance policy. Different insurance companies often call each of these levels of coverage something different (such as Landlord Protectors, Landlord Insurance, and so on) but they all generally work the same.
A DP-1 policy is also known as Basic Property Coverage. It covers only perils that are named on the policy such as fire, accidental water discharge, etc. If a peril is not named on the policy then property damage resulting from an event involving it will not be covered.
The next level up is a DP-2 policy. This level of coverage is also called Named Peril Coverage. It provides for more types of perils than a basic policy does and extends coverage to perils like hail, windstorms, and vandalism.
The DP-3 policy is known as Comprehensive Property Coverage. It offers protection against any peril that it doesn’t specifically exclude. This can even include incidents such as a plane or vehicle crashing into the home, damage resulting from frozen pipes, or riots and civil commotions.
In short, DP-3 is the most comprehensive policy and therefore is often more desirable, but obviously a little more expensive.
