For property owners, you should be listed on your resident’s renter’s insurance policy as an “additionally interested”. If you aren’t, you should change that. It’s very important that your tenants, all of them, have placed you on their list. It may seem that the label “additional interest” would mean someone with a financial interest. In fact, it doesn’t. It refers to persons who have a stake (or interest) in the property. With this clarified definition, it makes sense why the property owner should be on that list. Some owners already require their renters to carry a renter’s insurance policy. While this is a step in the right direction, many of them fail to check the policy itself to see if they are properly listed on it. Requiring both a renter’s insurance policy and being accurately included in it are necessary parts in defending your rental home from unforeseeable problems.
Since you are the owner, you have so many reasons why you’d want to be informed with what is happening to your Pearland rental property. This is what is listed as an additionally interested in your tenant’s renter’s insurance policy will do. When a property owner or property management company is correctly listed as an “additionally interested” on a renter’s insurance policy, it would benefit you. The owner or property manager will receive a notification if any changes are made to the policy, which includes letting it lapse and not renewing it. This is valuable information that needs to get to the owner or property manager. This is especially true if the policies are paid monthly.
To be clear, although you are the listed party– as an “additionally interested”– it doesn’t mean that your tenant’s renter’s insurance policy now gives you any type of insurance coverage. As the owner, you can’t point to that policy and claim that your property is now protected. Rather, being listed like this only gives access to information. It gives the owner the authority to verify coverage; nothing else. This distinction is important and must be explained well to a tenant to avoid any misunderstandings.
A tenant must also be informed that if they transfer to another place, the policy will not automatically be canceled, and the name of the “additionally interested” entity will not automatically be removed. An owner listed as an “additional interest” does not have the power to make changes to the policy; they are not able to cancel it. The tenant is obligated to make the necessary changes or cancel their policy if they’ve transferred to a different home or stopped renting.
Essentially all insurance companies who offer renters insurance will list an additionally interested in the policy upon request. If your tenant tries to avoid adding you on their policy by claiming their insurance company will not, it may be because they are not asking for the correct action. Placing an additional interest is different from placing the owner or property management company as an additional insured. Seeing to it that your tenant knows that there is a difference between the two can really speed up the process and move things forward efficiently.
Explaining all the features of renter’s insurance can take a really long time. But it is important that your tenants are covered with the right insurance policies and that arrangements have been made to keep you in the loop when any changes are made. At Real Property Management, we manage all of the aspects of running a rental property, including dealing with tenants to make sure they agree with the renter’s insurance requirements in Pearland. Insurance is an important part of protecting your valuable investment property; make sure it’s done correctly with the services of Real Property Management Prestige. To know more about what we can do for you, please contact us online or give us a ring at 281-532-5455.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
