Recently, I had a client call me regarding the purchase of a new property.
I went through the typical questions I would ask…
What’s the address?
Do you have a settlement date?
Is it a business or personal property?
How do you plan to use the property?
Who will reside at the property?
Who will own it?
It is not uncommon to get all green lights until you get to the last question. Business entities are a tricky business in the personal insurance arena. They are not impossible just tricky.
Insurance companies get a little crazy when you start talking business entities owning personal properties. A business has a different kind of exposure or risk and therefore has different insurance needs. Personal insurance policies are not designed to meet those needs and ultimately a business entity could put an insurance company in quite a pickle if a claim happens.
An LLC can sometimes be done if the LLC is formed solely for the purpose of holding a single residential property. The LLC should not conduct any other business and should not employ anyone. There may be tax benefits to an LLC but you need to weigh the tax benefits against the issues that arise when it comes to insuring the property in the name of an LLC.
Trusts can also be done but every insurance company is different. Some will name the trust as Named Insured, some as Additional Insured, some require a special endorsement for naming the trust. Only your insurance company will be able to tell you how the trust can be named.
Estates are tricky in that typically the estate was developed to hold assets for a person that has passed away. An insurance company would shy away from this type of situation because it is unknown who will live in the home, who will take care of the home, will the home be vacant, is it for sale, how long will the estate exist? The answers to these questions have an additional amount of risk associated with it and the insurance company may not want to take on that risk.
Regardless of what your plans are, you should always consult with your insurance agent on what your plans are before committing to them. You may not be able to get the coverage you thought you could or need.
Pamela