Dwelling Fire

Our partner carriers offer a wide range of coverage options and discounts to meet the needs of clients with rental properties.

Some of our carriers are, in fact, leaders in providing landlord insurance, this provides you a broad market, anything from condo units to single-family homes to quadplexes.

	Unique Situations? Products are Flexible Because every property is different, our carriers offer at least four different dwelling fire coverage levels, each with varying options.
	Easy to quote and generous discounts Quoting dwelling fire is super easy. You can start in PL Rating and compare rates, or go directly to the carriers quote application.
	Help your client find the best tenants Did you know, Safeco’s Landlord Protection policy provides a 15% discount to TransUnion SmartMove, which allows landlords to screen prospective tenants. This is a good reason to consider Safeco when quoting Dwelling Fire.

Landlord Policies for the Business Minded Landlord

Landlords face risks that other property owners don’t need to worry about: they could lose rental income in the event of a claim or be sued for the behavior of their tenants. Quoting with our carriers makes it easy for your agency to target these clients.

Here are some reasons to include dwelling fire as leader to build help build your business:

Co-branded brochures, cross-sell letters and prospecting letters

Show clients and prospects that your agency can offer the best combination of value and price to meet their needs.

Social media support for your agency

Develop content for your social media channels to help you raise awareness of the importance of a a dwelling fire policy and landlord protection.

Convenience of writing all lines of business

Because you have access to so many excellent carrier partners, you can easily packaging policies from a single company or at the agency level. This offers convenience or savings (maybe both). 

Provide the service your customers expect

Take advantage of mobile service tools Today’s customers prefer the option of doing business online. Take advantage of e-signature and ensure your customers are taken care of 24/7 with the carrier’s online account or smartphone app. Get started today!

Our carrier partners are looking to insure responsible, business-oriented landlords who maintain their property.

Dwelling fire policies can be tailored to your customer’s specific situation, even if they use a property manager or the rental property is owned by a limited-liability business entity such as an LLC. In fact, some of our carries even allow the property to be owned by a corporation.

Generally, with most of our partners carriers, to be eligible for coverage for a dwelling fire policy, the following qualifications must be met:

• All dwellings or units must be primarily tenant-occupied and used exclusively for private residential purposes.
  • Long-term rentals (6-12-month lease terms) must be fully tenant-occupied.
• An individual property must cannot be more than four units designed for single-family occupancy.
• There will be a limit to the number of rental units an individual can have (eg. Safeco is 16 units).
• Properties must be well-maintained, occupied, not unduly exposed to loss and insured for an amount adequate to reconstruct it at today’s costs.

Note: Generally, the property maintenance standards a homeowners policy will be similar to Dwelling Fire.

Tenant Screening Services Responsible landlords seek responsible tenants. Did you know, Safeco’s Landlord Protection customers get a 15% discount on TransUnion SmartMove. SmartMove is an easy-to-use online tenant screening service that checks the credit and criminal records of potential tenants and provides landlords with information that helps them make smart leasing decisions.

General Underwriting Guide

• Ineligible Risks

  Generally, the following are not eligible for dwelling fire coverage with most of our partner carriers (refer to the manual for the full list and for carrier specific eligibility rules):

  • Vacant or unoccupied units, buildings or homes (vacant rental properties that will be occupied by tenants within 60 days are eligible)
  • Buildings undergoing construction or extensive remodeling
  • Nonstandard or architecturally unique buildings (including those on a historic register)
  • Trailers, mobile or manufactured homes
  • Properties with exotic pets, horses or “breeds of concern” dogs on the premises
  • Houses for sale or speculative residences intended for “flipping”
  • Farms
• Binding Authority

  In most instances, you or your underwriters will have the authority to bind dwelling fire coverage for customers and properties that meet carrier eligibility qualifications. Below are some of the circumstances that may require carrier underwriter review prior to binding:

  • A customer or property that has had coverage declined, canceled or non-renewed
  • A customer or property that has more than one loss in the previous five years
  • Properties where business is conducted on the premises
  • Properties that are exposed to hazard or where incidental farming takes place
  • Properties that are vacant but will have a tenant within 60 days of the time coverage is bound
  • Dwellings with a Coverage A amount over IronPoint binding authority with the carrier
  • A rental unit that is a log home
  • Residences built prior to 1930 — if the carrier is going to consider older properties, expect to provide photos (the front and back of the primary structure and all outbuildings); you may want to consider an in-person inspection
• Business Entity as Named Insured

  Increasingly, financial and tax advisors are recommending that owners of rental properties put their properties in the names of limited-liability business entities (eg. LLC, LLP and Pass-Through Corporations). Most partner carriers allow the business entity. In Some instances (eg. CSE) you can write the policy in the name of the business entity, and with others you need to add them as Additional Insured and list the managing member as the Named Insured (eg. Safeco). Review the partner carrier’s underwriting manual to see the proper process to include the business entity.

Please see the carrier manual for specific policy requirements and eligibility guidelines.

Dedicated underwriting and support Have a question about a particular policy risk? No problem! Our team of underwriters is dedicated to helping you get answers and getting your policy issued. To get in touch, call underwriting at (877) 334-7646 Ext. 106. To create a trackable ticket, submit a service form: Policy Service Policy Service Request Close New Quote Service New Quote Assistance Close

• The Basics of Quoting

  We make it easy for our members to quote dwelling fire risks. Each member will be provided access to our online comparative rating platform offered through PL Rating^®. Even if you don’t yet have your own carrier credentials, you’ll be able to quote in PL Rating and refer the quote to underwriting to receive a bindable proposal for your insured.

  PL Rating will allow your to quote, auto, home, condo, renters, motorcycle and dwelling fire. All required fields are clearly marked. For the most accurate quote – and to avoid surprises later for you and your customer – ensure all fields and data are as complete as possible.

  If you have carrier credentials, you can always go directly into the carrier to quote your risk.

  Pro-Tip:

  Presently there is no connectivity from PL Rating to the policy system (NowCerts). When you complete a quote, you’ll also want to login to NowCerts to add the prospect under your account. This will help in matching any policy issued to your customer for accounting, future service and system access. Always input the name, address, and contact information the same as you do in PL Rating or the carriers systems to guaranty accurate matching during the nightly policy download from the insurance companies.

  Notable quoting tips:

  • Create quote templates in PL Rating to help you with the commonly asked questions and coverage defaults.
  • Eligible discounts are applied automatically based on information you have entered.
  • PL Rating and most carrier systems will allow your to quote bundle or account business.
• Comparative Raters

  Because we represent multiple carriers, we know that a comparative rater is the best tool for shopping auto insurance. As part of your membership we provide you access to PL Rating. However, once you get your carrier credentials you are free to use any comparative rater you choose. Note: ITC TurboRater has a direct integration with our policy management system, and there is a workaround if you use EZLynx. Contact marketing if you need assistance.

  Best practices for using comparative raters

  • If available, use rater prefills to ease your workflow, but be mindful of unique customer attributes.
  • Be specific when quoting Occupation and Education (where permitted by state). Selecting values such as Other may not give you an accurate rate.
  • Some raters prefill the effective date with today’s date. If quoting for the future, set the effective dates in the future to take advantage of all available discounts (outside CA), unless the customer needs the coverage today.
  • Multi-policy discounts may be worded as package, multi-policy or companion depending on the rater.
  • Some carriers return quotes with discounts they are encouraging your to sell (eg. multi-policy or telematics). Make sure you remove them or get the final bindable quote from the carrier before you present it to the insured.

  The more accurate the quote, the less follow–up work will be needed once you or your underwriter are in the carrier system. And you’ll provide a better customer experience with a policy and a price that represents the best solution to their insurance needs.

  Things to remember post bridging from a rater to the carrier:

  If you set defaults in carrier system or your rater to help with quoting efficiency, remember:

  • If you set defaults the rater, the carrier system may override those values;
  • Some default options in a rater may lead to selecting something you don’t intend. It’s best to avoid relying on defaults in the rater that are not coverage-related.

  The bottom line: When you are diligent about gathering and entering your customer’s complete information up front – whether in the carrier system or the comparative rater – you’ll save time and potential frustration later. Relying too much on pre-filled information or skipping steps may lead to an inaccurate quote for the coverage your customer needs.

• Tips for Accurate Quotes

  Dwelling fire policies are generally easy to quote, but there are several unique fields that make it different from quoting a homeowners risk.

  Selecting the number of units

  Make sure you select the Number of units at property to be insured, select the appropriate number of units (for example, 2 for a duplex or 4 for a four-plex). The number of units can change eligibility, so you want to make sure this input is accurate.

  Dwelling information

  Remember that Total living space and other details are typically for the entire dwelling — if there are four 500-square-foot units, enter 2,000. If each unit in a four-plex has one full bathroom, enter 4 for the total number of baths, and so on. Detached rental units are separate and must be written on separate policies, even if they are on the same piece of property.

  Adding a property manager

  Many landlords use property managers to care for their rentals. If you need to add a property manager, you’ll likely need to do this within the carriers system. Refer to the underwriting manual to determine how to add a property manager. Note: you may have to add them as an Additional Insured and with some carriers you may have the options to extend specific coverages.

• Quoting Earthquake Coverage

  Earthquake coverage is provided through CEA with some of our carriers (eg. Safeco, Nationwide). When the carrier participates in the CEA, you can get a quote directly on the CEA website and then follow the carrier process for issuance (see manual).

  If you require a quote with one of our mono-line Earthquake providers, please complete a “New Quote Service” form and one of our underwriters will assist you.

• Getting a Bindable Quote

  Tips to help get a bindable quote

  For members still in the initiation period, or if you require the assistance of our underwriting team. We make getting a bindable quote easy. However, you need to remember, this is a two-way-street and we can only provide you quick service when you provide all the information. Below are some tips for assuring that you get a fast turn-around on your new submission service request:

  • Make sure you input you clients information in PL Rating (personal lines) or Insureon (commercial lines) before you reach out to your underwriter for assistance.
  • If you’ve made assumptions in your PL Rating or Insureon quote, please let you underwriter know when you send in the service request.
  • If you have supporting documents, like a signed application or photos, include those with the service request.
  • Submit a New Quote Service request form. This will create a tracking ticket and keep your request on-track.
  • If your request has a special priority, include that in the form comments and we will do our best to accommodate.