How would an investor client’s businesses and income be affected if their property sustained damage to the point that it is no longer habitable for tenants? Your investor clients have property insurance that may cover the cost of repairs, but what about the rental income they will lose out on in the process?
Many people assume that pools, trampolines, and other recreational equipment sitting in the yard are insured. Some people also assume that if a person is injured while using this outdoor equipment, coverage will be available to help reimburse any medical expenses. In truth, policies can vary quite a bit on this topic. Some may include these items while many will choose to exclude them as they are considered attractive nuisances.
Coverage for mold, mildew, and fungus is usually either completely excluded or may be very limited depending upon the policy. Although many people assume that they will have at least some coverage for mold, it is most often the case that mold, mildew, fungus, and their bi-products are excluded.
Prior to the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center towers and the Pentagon, terrorism coverage was a standard component of most insurance policies. The financial toll of 9/11 caused coverage costs to skyrocket, and many insurance companies stopped offering it completely.
The 2022 Atlantic hurricane season (officially beginning June 1), is predicted to be another active one calling for 19 named storms. This increase continues the trends from 2020 and 2021 of above average activity. If your investor clients own Atlantic coastal properties, now is the critical time to be sure they have the appropriate coverage they need should one or more of these forecasted storms strike.
If your investor client has rental properties and has contracted with a Property Manager, their PM likely will (and should) carry Professional Liability coverage, or Errors & Omissions. This helps to cover them in the event their inadequate work or negligent actions while performing these property management duties leads to a lawsuit. But what if the investor performs property management activities on their properties themself? Did you know that if, in the course of performing these PM duties, your client’s negligence results in a claim, their premises liability offers them little to no protection?
Aside from regular inspections, alarms, fire suppression tools and emergency planning are crucial components in ensuring the safety of your investor client’s tenants from a fire. They are in-fact, life-saving tools and strategies that can cut potential fire deaths in half.
The New Year is all about self-improvement. And though some people dread New Year’s resolutions, real estate investors salivate at the sound of “new”. After all, real estate investors improve things for a living. Now, improvement is wonderful, but all this betterment does take planning.
Winter has made its presence known, but your investor clients can still fortify their “castles” against the cold. The saying “better late than never” holds true here. In this two-part article series, we are looking at four winter perils from which your clients need to shield their properties. In Part 1, we addressed ways to protect occupied properties and this time, we’ll cover vacant properties and renovation projects.
The year 2021 continued to be an interesting year in the insurance market, with extreme and unique weather events and ongoing uncertainty around COVID. The industry as a whole continues to experience a rapidly hardening property market, a trend that accelerated in 2020, but had been snowballing the previous five or six years. It is common for the market to cycle from hard to soft every five to ten years, so it is increasingly important for investors to ensure that their insurance agent is advising them on ways to “ride out the storm” while still maintaining adequate coverage.
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