Maryland Landlord Insurance
Get a full analysis of Maryland landlord insurance costs, coverage, and companies.
Written by
Ann Herro has been writing about insurance and employee benefits for over 15 years. She has covered topics as easy as insuring a car, and as difficult as transparency in healthcare costs.
There are over 6 million people living in the state of Maryland, with around 32% living in rental homes. If you own a rental property in Maryland, it may be a side gig that provides extra income, or it could be your full-time business.
Whether you own one rental home or multiple large apartment complexes, you need to ensure that all of your rental properties have protection against disasters, damaging weather, fire, or theft that could be financially disastrous. You also need to protect your assets in case you are sued for some type of negligence.
Landlord insurance is the best way to protect your investment in a Maryland rental property.
A local independent insurance agent can help you get landlord insurance quotes from multiple insurance companies in Maryland so you can find the policy that best meets your needs and budget.
Best Landlord Insurance Companies in Maryland
The following are some of the best landlord insurance companies in Maryland. These companies provide a mix of valuable coverage offerings and competitive pricing.
- Progressive: Progressive is based in Ohio and offers personal insurance, including landlord insurance. Maryland residents can look to Progressive for most of their personal insurance needs.
- Travelers: Travelers offers highly rated landlord insurance in Maryland. It can meet your additional personal insurance needs with a full line of products, including homeowners, auto, boat, identity theft, umbrella, and other coverages.
- Safeco: Safeco has been protecting individuals and families since 1923. The company offers landlord insurance in Maryland, as well as a comprehensive range of other personal insurance policies. Working through independent agents, Safeco makes it easy to get the best mix of coverage and pricing.
- Stillwater Insurance Group: Stillwater is a national personal and commercial lines carrier with rock-solid financial stability. The company can help you with your landlord insurance needs in Maryland.
- Foremost Insurance Company: Foremost was founded in 1952 and offers a wide range of coverage, including landlord insurance, in 50 states.
An independent insurance agent in your area can help you learn more about these and other landlord insurance companies in Maryland. A local agent can help you get competitive quotes for the coverage that fits your needs.
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What Is Landlord Insurance?
Landlord insurance is similar to homeowners insurance in that it protects your residential property in the event of a fire, storm damage, or other covered perils.
The difference is that landlord insurance is written to specifically protect landlords in their unique situation, such as protecting the building but not the personal property of the tenants, as well as covering loss of rental income and the increased liability risks that landlords face.
Is Landlord Insurance Required in Maryland?
Landlord insurance is not required by law in Maryland. However, if you've worked with a lender to finance the purchase of your residential rental property in Maryland, the lender will almost certainly require you to have landlord insurance as a condition of your loan.
A local independent insurance agent can help you determine how to appropriately cover your particular rental property.
What Does Landlord Insurance Cover in Maryland?
Landlord insurance in Maryland provides several different types of coverage:
- Dwelling coverage: Covers the building itself for any physical damage caused by fire, lightning, wind, hail, ice, snow, or other covered perils.
- Other structures coverage: Helps pay to repair detached structures (e.g., a garage or shed) on your rental property if they're damaged by a covered loss.
- Personal property coverage: Covers the landlord's personal property used to service the rental (e.g., lawnmowers, snowblowers, maintenance equipment) left on site if it's damaged by a covered loss. (This does not cover your tenants' possessions.)
- Landlord liability coverage: Protects you if someone is injured on your property or if you are responsible for damaging someone else’s property. Landlord liability insurance covers the costs of any medical treatment or property repairs that are required. If you're sued, it also covers legal costs (e.g., attorney fees, court costs, and financial settlements or judgments).
- Loss of rental income: Coverage for your lost rental income if your tenants have to move out so you can make repairs to your building after a fire, storm, or some other covered peril. (This does not provide coverage if your tenant can't pay the rent because of a job loss or financial problem.)
A local independent insurance agent can help you decide if you need additional types of coverage for your rental property.
What Else Can Maryland Landlord Insurance Cover?
Some insurance companies offer additional coverage options that you can include in your Maryland landlord insurance policy, such as:
- Non-occupied dwelling coverage: This provides coverage during the times that your rental property is vacant. Many insurance companies will not honor claims for damage that occurred in a home that had been vacant for more than 30 days unless the landlord carries this optional coverage.
- Building code coverage: This is most beneficial if you own an older property. Building codes may have changed since it was built, so if it is damaged, contractors doing repairs may identify additional renovations necessary to bring it up to code. This insurance can cover these unexpected extra costs.
- Rent guarantee insurance: This offers you some protection if a tenant fails to make rent payments. Your policy can cover the revenue losses for a set period of time, which is typically long enough for you to complete the eviction process. Rates are based mainly on how much you are charging in rent and the creditworthiness of your renters.
Rent guarantee insurance is sometimes referred to as eviction insurance, as it may cover the cost of evictions. Keep in mind that this coverage is very expensive, and you won't likely recoup all of your losses. You'll have to pay a deductible, and it will typically only cover a percentage of the monthly rent up to a set limit.
Landlords in Maryland should be aware of the various coverage options that are available so you can be sure you are getting all the coverage you need to protect your investment and your income. An independent insurance agent can help with your landlord insurance in Maryland.
What's Not Covered by Landlord Insurance in Maryland?
As with all insurance policies, landlord insurance has some limitations. Your Maryland landlord insurance policy will not cover:
- Flood damage: This isn't covered even if the flood is the direct result of a covered storm. To be covered, you will need to supplement your landlord insurance policy with a flood insurance policy.
- Intentional damage caused by tenants: Sometimes, tenants act badly out of spite or in retaliation for an eviction notice. If they damage your property on purpose, most landlord insurance policies will not provide coverage. You will instead need to sue the tenant to get compensation.
- Normal wear and tear: Things break. Unless they broke because of a covered event, your landlord insurance policy will not cover them. If the refrigerator in your rental property suddenly stops working or if the hot water tank fails, you will need to cover repair or replacement costs on your own.
It is important to be aware of what your policy does and does not cover so that you do not face any unfortunate surprises later. When you work with an independent insurance agent, your agent can help you review your policy and understand when your coverage doesn’t apply.
How Much Does Landlord Insurance Cost in Maryland?
Owning a rental property is often riskier than owning a private dwelling. For that reason, some landlord insurance policies may cost more than traditional homeowners insurance. In general, landlord insurance costs about 25% more than a standard homeowners insurance policy in your area.
But the cost of landlord insurance can vary considerably based on your unique property and set of risk factors. Some of the factors that will affect your landlord insurance costs include:
- Your geographic location and the crime and weather risks for your location
- The age, size, condition, and construction of the building
- The number of rental units
- Whether you allow smokers to rent from you
- Whether your complex has a swimming pool
- The type and amount of coverage you are purchasing
- Whether you have fire sprinklers, burglar alarms, gated access, or other security systems installed in complex and rental units
Your best bet is to work with an independent insurance agent who can get quotes from multiple insurance companies. You can compare costs and coverage and choose the landlord insurance policy that offers the best fit.
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Our independent agents shop around to find you the best coverage.
Maryland Landlord Insurance FAQs
Landlord insurance in Maryland covers the dwelling (physical structure of the building) and other structures on the property (garages, fences, etc.) if they're damaged by fire, lightning, wind, hail, ice, snow, or other covered perils.
It also provides personal property coverage, which protects the landlord's personal property used to service the rental (e.g., lawnmowers, snowblowers, maintenance equipment) left on site if it's damaged by a covered loss. (This does not cover your tenants' possessions.)
Another important protection offered by landlord insurance in Maryland is landlord liability coverage. It protects you if someone is injured on your property or if you are responsible for damaging someone else’s property.
Finally, standard landlord insurance policies typically include loss of rental income coverage. This coverage reimburses you for your lost rental income if your tenants have to move out so you can make repairs to your building after it has sustained covered property damage.
Residential property owners are not required by law to have a landlord insurance policy to rent out their property. You will be required by your bank to purchase landlord insurance if you've got a mortgage on your rental property.
There are also situations where an insurance company will require that the policy you purchase to protect your residential property be classified as landlord insurance, not homeowners insurance.
Whether or not you'll need landlord insurance or homeowners insurance is usually determined by how you use your property and the insurance company you select.
On average, landlords in the U.S. spend about $1,083 a year on their landlord insurance policies. Landlord insurance generally costs about 25% more than a standard homeowners insurance policy.
Yes. Many landlords require tenants to purchase renters insurance to avoid disputes arising from damage to the renter's belongings, as well as any disputes over liability claims or lawsuits.
If you require your tenants to have renters insurance, it must be spelled out as part of the lease agreement, with specific tenant responsibilities and the consequences of not providing proof of insurance made clear.
We recommend several top landlord insurance companies in Maryland, including Travelers, Progressive, Stillwater, Safeco, and Foremost.
Your landlord insurance covers damage caused by tenants in some circumstances. Here’s how landlord insurance in Maryland typically responds to two different types of tenant damage:
- Sudden and accidental damage: Typically, landlord insurance in Maryland will cover sudden and accidental damage caused by a tenant. If, for example, the tenant accidentally causes a kitchen fire, any damage to walls, countertops, cabinets, and other covered parts of the building should be covered by your landlord insurance. Damage to your tenants’ furniture, cookware, and so on will be covered by their renters insurance, if they have it.
- Intentional damage: Standard landlord insurance policies can’t protect you if your tenant punches in a wall, kicks in a door, or otherwise intentionally damages some part of a unit.
When you purchase landlord insurance in Maryland, be sure that you understand exactly what is and is not covered. You may also be able to purchase certain types of optional coverage that fill in some of the gaps.
Standard landlord insurance in Maryland typically won't cover the cost of evictions. However, eviction insurance, or rent guarantee insurance, can be purchased separately from some insurance companies. It will cover some of the costs involved in an eviction, as well as some of the rent you miss out during the eviction process.
No, landlord insurance does not cover floods in Maryland. But you can purchase flood insurance designed for landlords from the National Flood Insurance Program and some private carriers.
A local independent insurance agent can help you find a competitively priced landlord insurance policy that meets your needs. Independent agents aren’t tied down to one carrier. They can get quotes from multiple insurance companies so you can choose the Maryland landlord insurance policy that best fits your needs and budget.
Contact an independent agent in your area today for a free, no-obligation consultation.
https://www.iii.org/article/coverage-for-renting-out-your-home
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/MD,US/PST045223