The answer here is "maybe". It really depends upon the situation and the coverage. In general, if you consider the same house and the same coverage, the homeowners coverage will cost you less. let's start with some terms. In the industry, we usually call landlord insurance either dwelling fire, or a dwelling policy. It points to the difference between this and a homeowners policy. A homeowners policy has 6 coverages:
A. Dwelling - the structure
B. Other Structures - detached garages, shed's, pole barns, etc.
C. Personal Property - Your stuff
D. Loss of Use - The extra costs you'll incur if you have to live somewhere while your home is repaired
E. Personal Liability - Protects you from being sued
F. Medical Payments - Pays for injuries that happen on your property without having to be sued.
A Dwelling Policy, in general doesn't have any coverage C, Personal Property. As a landlord, you're worried about the building and your liability. Your tenant's personal property is their responsibility to insure. Dwelling policies are more complicated to put together than homeowners policies but I'll leave that discussion for another time. Lets talk about why Dwelling Policy usually costs more than a Homeowners policy.
With a homeowners policy the insurance company has a greater sense of security because they only have one entity to worry about, the homeowners and their family. They have a financial interest in keeping their home safe, secure, and in good repair. With a rental property, you may have many different tenants occupy that home and they have no financial interest in the home itself. A tenant is much more likely to let things go that may eventually cause a claim. Additionally, with a homeowners policy, the liability is protecting the insured from others, with a dwelling policy, you're also being protected from the people that actually occupy the home.
Now, one last thing to mention. If you're renting your home and it's insured on a homeowners policy, change it now. If there's a claim on the home and the insurance company finds out it's being rented, they may refuse to pay your claim. Most homeowners policies require the home to be occupied by the owner for coverage to apply.
Find a good agent that knows how this works and how to put this coverage together for your situation. It's much better to know what your coverage is and make choices rather then to think you have coverage you really don't
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A. Dwelling - the structure
B. Other Structures - detached garages, shed's, pole barns, etc.
C. Personal Property - Your stuff
D. Loss of Use - The extra costs you'll incur if you have to live somewhere while your home is repaired
E. Personal Liability - Protects you from being sued
F. Medical Payments - Pays for injuries that happen on your property without having to be sued.
A Dwelling Policy, in general doesn't have any coverage C, Personal Property. As a landlord, you're worried about the building and your liability. Your tenant's personal property is their responsibility to insure. Dwelling policies are more complicated to put together than homeowners policies but I'll leave that discussion for another time. Lets talk about why Dwelling Policy usually costs more than a Homeowners policy.
With a homeowners policy the insurance company has a greater sense of security because they only have one entity to worry about, the homeowners and their family. They have a financial interest in keeping their home safe, secure, and in good repair. With a rental property, you may have many different tenants occupy that home and they have no financial interest in the home itself. A tenant is much more likely to let things go that may eventually cause a claim. Additionally, with a homeowners policy, the liability is protecting the insured from others, with a dwelling policy, you're also being protected from the people that actually occupy the home.
Now, one last thing to mention. If you're renting your home and it's insured on a homeowners policy, change it now. If there's a claim on the home and the insurance company finds out it's being rented, they may refuse to pay your claim. Most homeowners policies require the home to be occupied by the owner for coverage to apply.
Find a good agent that knows how this works and how to put this coverage together for your situation. It's much better to know what your coverage is and make choices rather then to think you have coverage you really don't