Oregon4now

People Can be so thick, RI is quite normal with the LL as an additional loss payee..

Written into most lease agreements is a provision that advises the Tenant to carry renter's insurance to protect tenant from any such loss or damage. But this suggestion does not often get follow-up on and may not help fully protect the landlord or tenant.

A reputable and experienced properpty management company will often present an additional terms that requires the tenant to obtain renters insurance and that the landlords be named as additional "loss payee" on the policy. It is also benefital to have the tenant show proof of such insurance coverage within days of the date of signature of the Rental Agreement. Protecting the tenant and landlord with insurance is a smart expenditure for piece of mind.

1. If your property catches fire, through no fault of the tenant, the owners insurance does not cover the tenants personal property or expenses they may incur while the property is being repaired. Who might they come after if they have no other protection?

2. If your tenants cause their neighbors to suffer a loss, through bodiy injury or property damage, their Renters Insurance will provide protection that would compensate the injured party. This protection can prevent arguments over liability between you and your tenant, and who might the neighbors come after if they have no other protection?

3. If someone sues your Renter for monetary damages for some other reason, and they haven't done anything illegal, their Renters Insurance puts Insurance carrier money on the table and as the landlord you don't need to be involved.

4. Your tenant's personal property is protected (less the deductible) while they are away from home, like in their car, or when traveling. If they loose something that is of value to them they may have less resources to pay your rent.

5. They can get cross line discounts on their auto insurance, which will save them money while protecting more of their stuff. Depending on how expensive their auto insurance is, their Renters Insurance might even be FREE! And, they might not even know that! That certainly wouldn't hurt your standing with them!

6. It gives you peace of mind to know that should a loss occur, you won't have to deal with the Renter's loss, and you can concentrate on repairing any damage to your property!

7. Having the funds readily available to replace lost items will reduce the strain on your relationships with your tenants.

8. You will have less problems than other Landlords, assuming everything else is equal, so you will have more free time!

9. As the landlord you can make this a mandatory condition of renting the property, which means you never have to worry about your tenants not being covered, and most importantly...

10. It's very inexpensive, and easy to obtain a policy. A typical policy covering up to $15,000 in property damage and $100,000 in liability coverage cost under $200 per year

scrubbedexpat099

The landlord as the loss payee?

Way back when we set up a scheme for Council Tenants to have cover, basically added to their weekly rent. If memory serves me right the loss experience was terrible and the take up rate not that much better.

meauxna

If you've posted someone else's words, please also post the link. Thank you!

Oregon4now

Here ya go !!
http://www.apropertyman.com/Top-10-R...ters-Insurance

Giantaxe

Especially when said 10 points are written as advice to landlords

Oregon4now

See if this helps you understand it more...

http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/...20s/p36957.asp

Giantaxe

There's been no disagreement on this thread of the need for renters to take out renters insurance. The issue has been whether a renter should include their landlord as a loss payee on the policy.

Oregon4now

In my own experience this usually applied when living in a Townhouse/Condo as opposed to an Apartment building, but either or, it is perfectly acceptable to list the property owner as an Additional Loss payee on RI.

I shall attempt to explain why. This is just a simple scenario.
Say you have a fish Aquarium or a Waterbed in your rental and one of them breaks resulting in the flooding of the home, say you live on the second floor and destroyed the property of those living below you, who should be held responsible for repairing the damage, The Property owner, The property owners of the place downstairs ? The people who live downstairs ?
The answer of course is You, You are the one who is responsible for damages. Say you cause $150k worth of damage, how does the Property owner make sure you Pay ? Or another scenario, you have a guest over your place and they trip over an area rug you placed on the floor, that resulted in hitting their head requiring emergency services and hospital stay. Who is responsible for paying this bill , The property owner ? Say the person Sues for damages, who does this person sue, the property owner ? All you are doing is listing them as loss payees, There is a clause in the RI contract that should cover this in regards to structural damage caused by negligence of said policy holder. Say the Property owner has a $2,500 deductable with their homeowners ins, Who should pay this deductable the property owner or the Renter whose negligence caused the problem ? It could get quite pricey if you get sued ..
This is one of many reasons why Property Owners require you to add them as an Additional Loss payee, Just in case of scenarios such as this.
Truly it is only adding protection for yourself and there is nothing sneaky about such a request from a Property owner..
I hope I have explained this in a way to be understood.

scrubbedexpat099

A loss payee is applicable to property insurance, not liability insurance.

Giantaxe

I disagree. It's about adding extra protection for the landlord at the expense of potentially creating a conflict of interest on the renter's insurance. In no way does this add protection for the renter. In fact, I suspect that the motivation for this is more about trying to shift claims onto the renter's insurance when there is a dispute as to whether a liability is an issue for the renter or the landlord.

scrubbedexpat099

No strict liability for water beds that I know of.

They claim against their own insurance. Subrogation, if any, is then in their hands.

Initially the visitor is.

They could, but even in America I would not expect much joy.

No body is likely to sue for that amount, small claims court maybe.

Land of the free.....

You talked about Liability issues, sort of.

Not really

Oregon4now

4 things that you are 100% incorrect about, but since you are so clever I will let you figure them out on your own...
To the OP I suggest checking out this link, I hope it helps you get a clearer picture. http://allinsuranceinfo.org/liability/OLT.html

RoadWarriorFromLP

Of course, that's correct.

People need to understand the concept of "bad faith". The only parties who can claim bad faith against an insurer are the insured.

In a dispute over owner vs. renter liability, a landlord who is added as an additional insured could claim bad faith against the renter's carrier if that carrier elects to pursue the owner's policy. In effect, the landlord would control both sides of any potential lawsuit, given that both insurers have a duty to protect the landlord if the landlord was added to the renter's policy. Being an additional insured gives the renter's policy a duty that it would it not otherwise have, and that added duty would compromise its ability to pursue the owner's policy in earnest.

That's great for the landlord, but rotten for the renter who is paying the premiums. I'm frankly surprised that any renter's policy would allow for this, as it is lousy for them, too.

S Folinsky

I don't see the "obvious reason."

Personally, I think it is advisable to either minimize or avoid the conflicts to the greatest possible extent. You are free to disagree with that concept.

frrussre

I have lived in USA, for a long time. Never, ever heard of Landlord (Not even the big boys & girls), requiring they be named on the Renters Policy. Yes, they always, require you have Renters Insurance, with certain minimums on LIABILITY. Yes, they want a copy of the Policy.

I smell over zealous Attorney, tilting everything in his clients direction.

Find another, Landlord.

Reg. Frank R.