Property Management Insurance

Business insurance for property managers could help protect your business from a variety of risks, including:

• Damage to someone else’s property. Your shoes left stains on a tenant’s expensive rug when you made a site visit. Liability coverage could help you pay for a replacement.
• Accidents to non-employees. A prospective tenant slips and falls on the stairs while you’re showing them a unit. A general liability policy could help pay for medical costs and legal fees.
• Professional mistakes. An owner you contracted with claims you ignored repair requests, resulting in tenants breaking their lease due to an uninhabitable space. Errors and omissions (E&O) insurance (also known as professional liability or professional indemnity insurance for property managers) could help cover costs and defense expenses – even if the accusation is untrue.
• Workplace injuries. Your employee strains their back shoveling outside an apartment building. Workers comp coverage could help cover medical bills and lost wages.
• Damage to your own property. Property insurance could help with costs if your office or warehouse is damaged due to a covered event, such as a burst water pipe, fire or vandalism.

Most property managers need general liability and professional liability (also called errors and omissions or E&O) insurance. General liability could help cover injuries and property damage at the properties you manage, while professional liability could help protect you from claims related to professional mistakes or omissions.

Depending on your business, you may also opt for additional insurance coverage to help provide more comprehensive protection against a broader range of risks. For example, workers’ compensation if you have employees; a Business Owner’s Policy (BOP insurance) to bundle general liability and commercial property coverage together into one package; commercial auto if you or your team drive for work; or cyber liability insurance if you handle sensitive tenant or payment data.

Get a free instant quote to learn which coverage could provide the best protection for your business.

General liability could cover physical risks, like a tenant getting injured at a property you manage. Professional liability (also known as errors and omissions or E&O) could cover financial risks, like claims you failed to address a maintenance issue, made an error in a lease or caused a financial loss as a result of a poor management decision.

Property managers need insurance even if you don’t own a property because you could still be held responsible for injuries, property damage or claims of mismanagement. Your insurance could help protect your business and your role as the manager, separate from the property owner’s coverage.

In many cases, property owners will require property managers to show a certificate of insurance (COI) providing proof of insurance before signing a management agreement. Coverage requirements and limits are usually outlined in your contract.

Your property management insurance won’t typically cover damage by tenants or routine maintenance costs. But to protect your own interests, general liability may help if you’re held responsible for some damages, and professional liability insurance may help if someone claims you failed to address an issue that caused them a financial loss.

If you hire third-party vendors to work on the property you manage, you could still be pulled into claims if something goes wrong. Many property managers require vendors to carry their own insurance and provide a COI before they can get to work. Your coverage could help protect you if you’re named in a claim alongside a vendor.