Question

Has anybody had a fire at a rental property of theirs? Obviously I'll be working with insurance but I'm curious about firsthand experiences and what to expect or what to avoid, etc. Thanks in advance.  

Answer 1

Did your tenant have renters insurance?  

Comments

@barghest2002 yes, they are required to. It's pretty obviously the tenants' fault. Property manager seems to think their insurance will wind up paying but I'm not sure that sounds right.  

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Typically renters insurance does not cover the structure of the building, it only covers their contents (think the studs of the wall in. ) Your dwelling policy will cover the structure of the home (the studs out. ) Of course this all depends on your policy and may vary state to state.  

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I'm somewhat worried (not that it would be a bad, or good thing) that it will be considered a total loss. It is only part of the house that was destroyed but the house itself isn't particularly valuable. It's pretty cheap. Any idea if insurance covers lost revenue from not having tenants if we are forced to rebuild?  

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Document everything. Go to the responding emergency services (police, fire, ems) and get everything you can that you may have to present to insurance or, God forbid, a judge.  

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@endive9 unfortunately it's out of state. Debating whether to take a business trip down there or just let property management company handle it. Can't really afford to take time off right now but will make it work if that's best.  

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Brooke, im a retired fireman. I know that you can do all of this on the phone or the net. Just Google the involved departments. They have docs for every incident. You'll need the date, address and time of day. It may take some legwork on the phone but it may help. Good luck!  

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@endive9 great, thank you! Still waiting to hear who the fire department was and all that but working with our property management company.  

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@tentacle47 typically you have to have an addition rider on your policy for lost rent when the property becomes uninhabitable.  

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@whensoever looked at our policy and we do, luckily. Hooray for USAA.