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Rowhomes, twins, and multi-unit buildings with tenants in them need a different policy from the one that covered the house you lived in.
For rental property owners
Landlord insurance covers a tenant-occupied property’s structure, the owner’s liability, and the rent lost while a covered loss keeps the units empty. Across Delaware County’s rental stock, the most common mistake we see is not underinsurance. It is the wrong policy entirely.
Insurance classifies properties by occupancy, and occupancy is exactly what changes when you start renting. A homeowners policy assumes the owner lives there. Keep it running on a tenant-occupied rowhome and the carrier can treat the risk as misrepresented, which is a polite way of saying your claim gets denied when you need it most.
Dwelling fire policies exist for this. The DP-3 form is the standard for most rentals, with DP-1 and DP-2 as narrower, cheaper cousins. Which one fits depends on the building, the tenancy, and how much risk you want to keep.
What is covered
Built around the building and the income it produces, rather than the things inside it.
The structure itself against fire, wind, and other covered perils, on open-perils terms under a DP-3.
The rent that stops arriving while a covered loss makes units unlivable, typically for up to twelve months.
A tenant or visitor injured on the property, and the legal defence that follows, up to your limit.
Detached garages, fences, and sheds that belong to the rental parcel.
Appliances and maintenance equipment you own and leave on site for the tenancy, such as a supplied washer or mower.
Sewer and drain backup in tenant-occupied basements is a frequent, excluded loss unless this is added.
Cost
Published Pennsylvania averages cluster between roughly $988 and $1,380 a year for a single rental dwelling. Expect a landlord policy to run meaningfully above a comparable homeowners policy, because tenants raise both the liability exposure and the claim frequency carriers price for.
Source by source: Steadily puts the Pennsylvania average near $988 a year without stating limit assumptions. SimplyInsurance lands at $1,179 a year, noting metro properties price higher. CoverForge USA’s DP-3 average is $1,380 a year, which it attributes to running 25 to 30 percent above a comparable homeowners policy. Rowhome and twin rentals at this end of the county tend to sit in the middle of that band, with multi-unit buildings priced per unit.
Cost sources: Steadily, SimplyInsurance, CoverForge USA. Retrieved August 2026. Your own premium depends on the building, occupancy, and claims history.
The occupancy problem
A homeowners policy is priced and written for an owner who lives in the house. Once a tenant occupies it, the risk no longer matches the contract, and carriers can deny claims on a property that was quietly converted to a rental without being re-written.
This is not a technicality that adjusters overlook. Occupancy is among the first facts verified after a serious loss, precisely because the difference is expensive. The honest path costs little: a dwelling fire policy written for the actual tenancy, often with the same carrier, sometimes for less than owners fear.
Inherited houses deserve a special mention. A family home kept after a parent passes, and rented to cover the taxes, is one of the most common uninsured-in-practice properties in this area. If that is your situation, the fix is one phone call.
Read this part
The exclusions define where your tenants, your endorsements, or a different policy have to take over.
Why independent
Every carrier wants the tidy owner-occupied single. Rentals are where underwriting opinions split: one carrier loves a four-unit building and hates a student let, another prices pre-war rowhomes gently but loads older knob-and-tube wiring, a third will not touch short-term stays at any price. Placing rentals well is mostly knowing who wants what this year.
That is an independent agency’s home turf. We quote the same building across five carriers and put the differences in front of you, including the endorsements each one needs to make the coverage honest. Owners who live in one unit of their own building, or who still carry homeowners insurance in Drexel Hill, PA on their residence, get both policies compared together, and serious portfolios usually add umbrella insurance in Delaware County above the stack. When a portfolio grows past a few doors, we have the business insurance in Drexel Hill, PA conversation about whether a commercial package fits better.
Questions
Tell us about the building and the tenancy. We will compare five carriers and show you what honest coverage costs.
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