Standard homeowners insurance policies exclude properties you rent to others. That gap in coverage exposes landlords to property damage costs, liability claims, and lost rental income with no financial backstop. Steadily is one of several insurers that focuses specifically on landlord policies, and understanding how these products are structured helps investors make better coverage decisions across their portfolios.
What Rental Property Insurance Actually Covers
Landlord insurance, sometimes called a dwelling fire policy or rental property policy, typically includes three core components:
- Dwelling coverage: Pays to repair or rebuild the physical structure after covered perils such as fire, wind, hail, or vandalism. Coverage limits should reflect the property's replacement cost, not its market value.
- Liability protection: Covers legal defense costs and judgments if a tenant or visitor is injured on the property and sues. Standard limits run from $100,000 to $500,000; umbrella policies can extend this further.
- Loss of rental income: Reimburses rent you cannot collect while a covered loss renders the unit uninhabitable. This is typically capped at 12 months of fair rental value.
What standard landlord policies generally do not cover: tenant belongings (tenants need renters insurance for that), routine maintenance or mechanical breakdown, flood damage, and earthquake damage. Flood and earthquake coverage require separate policies or endorsements.
How Steadily Structures Its Coverage
Steadily operates as a managing general agent (MGA) that places policies through admitted and non-admitted carriers. That structure lets it underwrite properties that traditional carriers decline, including short-term rentals, properties under renovation, and portfolios with high unit counts.
Key features of Steadily's approach:
- Policy types: Steadily writes DP-1 (basic form), DP-2 (broad form), and DP-3 (special form) dwelling policies. DP-3 is the most comprehensive, covering all perils except those explicitly excluded, and is the standard recommendation for occupied long-term rentals.
- Short-term rental coverage: Steadily explicitly covers Airbnb and VRBO-style rentals, a category many standard carriers exclude or limit significantly.
- Portfolio pricing: Landlords with multiple properties can quote and bind multiple addresses through a single platform, which reduces administrative friction compared to managing separate policies with different carriers.
- Vacancy coverage: Steadily offers coverage for vacant properties, which most standard carriers restrict after 30 to 60 days of vacancy.
Premiums vary by property type, location, construction, and coverage limits. As a general benchmark, landlord policies for single-family rentals typically run 15 to 25 percent higher than a comparable homeowners policy on the same structure, reflecting the added liability and occupancy risk.
Matching Coverage to Property Type
Not every rental property carries the same risk profile, and coverage should reflect that.
Single-Family Rentals
For long-term leased single-family homes, a DP-3 policy with replacement cost coverage on the dwelling is the baseline. Landlords should confirm whether the policy includes or excludes liability, since some DP policies are structure-only and require a separate liability endorsement.
Multi-Unit Properties
Small multifamily properties (2 to 4 units) are often written under residential landlord policies. Properties with five or more units typically require commercial property insurance, which is underwritten differently and usually includes business income coverage as a standard component rather than an add-on.
Short-Term Rentals
Occupancy turnover is higher, and liability exposure increases when guests rather than long-term tenants occupy the property. Confirm that any policy explicitly includes short-term rental use in its covered occupancy language. Platform host guarantee programs (such as Airbnb's AirCover) are not insurance policies and do not replace a landlord policy.
Properties in High-Risk Locations
For properties in FEMA-designated flood zones, the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private flood carrier provides flood coverage that a standard landlord policy excludes. In earthquake-prone states such as California or Washington, a separate earthquake endorsement or standalone policy is necessary. Premiums for these coverages vary significantly by zone and soil type.
Evaluating Coverage Limits and Deductibles
Two decisions that directly affect your out-of-pocket exposure:
Replacement cost vs. actual cash value (ACV): Replacement cost pays what it costs to rebuild at current prices. ACV pays replacement cost minus depreciation, meaning an older roof or HVAC system may generate a fraction of the repair cost. For rental properties, replacement cost coverage is almost always worth the premium difference.
Deductible selection: Higher deductibles reduce annual premiums but increase what you pay per claim. For investors with cash reserves, a $2,500 to $5,000 deductible on a property valued at $200,000 or more is a reasonable risk transfer. For investors operating closer to margin, a lower deductible provides more predictable claim costs.
What Lenders Require
If a rental property carries a mortgage, the lender will require proof of hazard insurance with limits sufficient to cover at least the outstanding loan balance, and often the full replacement cost. The lender will need to be listed as an additional insured and mortgagee on the policy. Failure to maintain required coverage gives the lender the right to force-place insurance, typically at significantly higher cost and with fewer protections for the borrower.
DSCR lenders (who underwrite based on debt service coverage ratio, the ratio of a property's net rental income to its mortgage payment) and other investment property lenders will request a declarations page at closing and may require annual evidence of renewal.
How to Compare Landlord Insurance Quotes
Premium alone is a poor basis for comparison. When evaluating policies:
- Confirm the perils covered. DP-3 open-peril coverage is meaningfully broader than DP-1 named-peril coverage.
- Check the liability limit. A $100,000 liability limit is inadequate for most investors; $300,000 to $500,000 is a more defensible floor.
- Review loss of rental income terms. Note whether the limit is a dollar amount or a time period, and whether it applies per occurrence or annually.
- Verify occupancy restrictions. Confirm the policy allows your specific rental use (long-term, short-term, or mixed).
- Read the vacancy clause. Understand exactly how many days of vacancy trigger coverage limitations and what those limitations are.
Steadily is worth quoting for investors who have had difficulty finding coverage for non-standard properties or short-term rentals, or who want to consolidate a portfolio under a single insurer. For straightforward long-term rentals, independent agents who can access multiple carriers including State Farm, Erie, Farmers, and regional specialty markets may surface competitive alternatives.
Building Insurance Into Your Investment Analysis
Insurance is an operating expense that affects net operating income (NOI) and, by extension, property valuation. Budget insurance costs before acquiring a property, not after. As a starting estimate, landlord insurance on a single-family rental typically runs $800 to $2,000 annually depending on location, structure, and coverage level. Multi-unit and high-value properties will run higher. Properties in coastal, flood-prone, or wildfire-exposed areas carry meaningfully higher premiums that should be modeled explicitly.
Underinsuring a property to reduce operating costs exposes the investment to losses that can exceed years of premium savings in a single event. The right coverage level is the one that transfers catastrophic risk while keeping predictable operating costs within budget.
