A homeowners policy is written for the house you live in. A landlord policy is written for the house someone else pays rent to occupy. We put the right form in place, flag the coastal gaps, and issue what the lender is asking for.
General description only; the policy that is issued, its terms, and the carrier's determination control.
Coverage A is the cost to rebuild the rental, not what you paid for it and not what it would list for. Landlord forms (often a dwelling fire / DP-3 style policy, plus liability) are built for a house you do not live in. Keep an owner-occupied homeowners policy on a rented house and a claim can be denied for occupancy, not for the peril.
If someone is injured on the property and you are held responsible, this is the part of the policy that typically pays defense and damages, up to the limit. Limits are often written at $300,000 or $500,000; that number is a ceiling, not a promise the policy pays it. An umbrella sits on top when one rental, or several, is more exposure than that limit.
If a covered loss makes the house unrentable, loss-of-rents (sometimes called fair rental value) typically pays the rent you would have collected while it is repaired, for the period the form allows. It does not pay because a tenant skipped out, because you evicted someone, or because the house sat vacant between leases.
Detached garages, sheds, fences and similar structures are usually a percentage of the dwelling limit. The landlord's own furnishings in a unit (a stove you own, a washer you left) can be covered, typically at a modest limit unless scheduled. The tenant's furniture, electronics and clothes are not on this policy. That is what a renters policy is for, and many Jacksonville leases require the tenant to carry one.
Onslow County rentals sit in the same coastal wind market as owner-occupied homes. Many landlord policies carry a separate hurricane or named-storm deductible written as a percentage of the dwelling limit, and some addresses have wind written apart from the dwelling form through the residual coastal market. On a rental insured for $300,000, a 2% named-storm deductible is $6,000 out of pocket before the policy pays. The wind and hail page is the depth on how those deductibles and placements work.
Flood and storm surge are excluded; they need their own policy, which we walk through on our flood guide. Wear and tear, poor maintenance, and a slow leak you knew about are not claims. Tenant belongings are not claims. Vacancy is a clause, not a footnote: many forms restrict or suspend coverage after the house has been empty for the period the policy names, often 30 or 60 days. Short-term or nightly rental use is frequently excluded from a standard landlord form; say so at the quote if that is how the house is used.
Jacksonville, Richlands, Swansboro, Sneads Ferry, Hubert, Holly Ridge. A single rental next to the house you live in is still a landlord risk. We write those every week, and we keep the owner-occupied policy and the rental policy from being the same piece of paper.
PCS turnover is the local rental market. A Marine family moves in for two or three years, then orders come. That is ordinary here. What is not ordinary is leaving the occupancy wrong on the policy, or skipping loss-of-rents, and finding out after a fire that the form still thought you lived there.
You closed on a Jacksonville house as a residence. A year later you are headed to another duty station and the house is becoming a rental. Tell us before the first tenant moves in so the form matches the use.
Mortgage companies treat a tenant-occupied house differently from the house you live in. They will ask for a dwelling/landlord form and often for specific liability limits. We issue what they asked for, on the form that actually fits, rather than hoping the old homeowners policy still satisfies the loan.
Not by state law. There is no North Carolina statute that fines a landlord for going without a policy. A mortgage lender will almost always require a dwelling or landlord policy for as long as there is a loan on the house, and will force-place coverage at your expense if yours lapses. Even without a loan, a tenant injury or a fire is a large position to hold personally on a coastal rental.
When the house is tenant-occupied, the form has to match that use. Lenders require it on financed rentals. Some HOAs and property managers require proof of liability before they will let you rent the unit. The moment of the change is move-in day, not the first claim. If you are about to list a house you used to live in, that is when to convert the policy.
Typically the dwelling, other structures, limited landlord personal property, liability, and loss of rental income after a covered property claim. Wind and hail are generally covered subject to the named-storm deductible on coastal properties. Flood is not. The issued policy and its exclusions control what is actually paid.
Flood and storm surge, tenant belongings, wear and tear, maintenance you deferred, and usually the period after the house has been vacant longer than the form allows. Eviction costs, lost rent because a tenant stopped paying, and short-term rental use are commonly excluded or limited. If a use is not on the application, do not assume it is on the policy.
A homeowners policy (commonly an HO-3) is written for the house you occupy. A landlord policy is written for a house a tenant occupies. The dwelling, liability and loss-of-rents pieces are built for that use. Keeping the homeowners form after you move out and rent the house is how people end up with a denied claim for occupancy, not for the storm.
It depends on the rebuild cost, the age and roof, how close the house sits to the coast, the deductibles, the liability limit, loss-of-rents, claims history, and whether wind is inside the form or written separately. We do not quote from a published state average, because an average blends a Jacksonville rental with one in the piedmont and describes neither. Send us the address and how the house is used.
The dwelling limit should track rebuild cost, not purchase price. Liability is commonly written at $300,000 or $500,000; several rentals, a pool, or a dog on the lease is how people decide they also want an umbrella. Loss-of-rents should reflect actual rent and a repair period that is realistic after a coastal storm, when contractors are booked. We set those from the house, not from a rule of thumb.
Hurricane wind is typically a dwelling or wind claim, subject to the named-storm deductible. Flood, storm surge and rising water are not on the landlord form and need a separate flood policy. The same storm can produce both, and they stay on different policies. See our wind and hail page and the flood guide for how those two are split.
Not as the primary form, not if you want the claim paid. Tell the carrier (or us) before the tenant moves in and convert it to a landlord or dwelling policy. A mid-term occupancy change that nobody recorded is one of the cleaner ways to have a claim denied. If you still live in part of a duplex and rent the other side, say so; that is a different underwriting conversation than a house you have left.
One quick form or one quick call. We shop the carriers; you keep your afternoon.
This page is for informational purposes only and is not an insurance policy. Coverage is determined solely by the terms, conditions, and exclusions of the actual policy issued. Requirements referenced are specific to North Carolina; South Carolina rules differ. Insurance coverage is not bound or altered until confirmed by an authorized representative of Kolstad Insurance Services.
