If you are about to purchase a home and are considering leasing it back current owner, be sure you discuss your intentions with your insurance agent. Companies will have varying stances in what they can accommodate, and from the consumers stand point, you want to be sure your policy will respond appropriately.
Executing a “lease-back” option makes you a landlord, which presents a different need from an insurance perspective. The typical homeowners policy is not built for a landlord/tenant situation. For instance, the “tenant” will have their own personal property to cover and it will not be covered under your policy. And what about your personal property, most homeowners policies will limit the amount of “off premises” coverage available for your personal property, many times to 10%, and they may exclude theft. So that means that your property is technically not at the location and could be considered off premises and may not have coverage if you have a loss.
There are specific policies available for landlords called Landlord policies, or dwelling fire policies. There are generally more expensive than a homeowners policy and often times they do not offer coverage on the structure or contents that would be available on your regular homeowners policy.
The whole idea here is, we highly recommend discussing your individual circumstance with your agent. Otherwise you could find yourself paying for a policy that does not respond when you need it to most.
For more information on this or anything insurance related, please email steve@stevewhiteinsurance.com