Underwriting Rules for Landlords in New York
We insure over 150 landlords throughout New York. Many are good property owners but some do very little to keep improving their properties. We’ll get calls from current clients to lower their cost of insurance, so they can get a better cash flow.
Many times we can help our client, as we have 9 insurance companies that write landlords. Here is the problem though – if we can save you $300 a year but upon a new insurance companies inspection, they find $800 of repairs needed, are you ahead?
So if property owners have differed maintenance issues, they shouldn’t be trying to re-shop their insurance. In New York State, all insurance companies have a 60 day underwriting window in which to determine if they want to stay on a risk. This 60 days gives them the opportunity to inspect your rental and determine if their is any risk factors they don’t like.
Underwriting Rules for Landlords in New York
Broken steps, missing handrails, uneven walkways, gutters missing, downspouts not connected, peeling paint….all issues that might need addressing for the new insurance company. Landlords need to make sure their properties are in good shape before we go switching insurance companies. This goes for new landlords that find us online, through our blog or from other property owners (our best source). We can save landlords money in 90% of the situations but they need to know what is involved too.
We love the good property owners, as they will do whatever it takes to make their property a good insurance risk. Fixing gutters and downspouts (liability risk), replacing handrails (another liability risk) and leaking toilets (property claim) are some of the things insurance companies may request of a landlord to repair.
Tom Larsen
