Apartment complexes, duplexes, and multi-family dwellings — the hardest property class in the market right now, and the one where placement expertise matters most.
Habitational property — apartments, duplexes, and multi-family rentals — needs building property at replacement cost, general liability, loss of rents, ordinance or law, and coverage for the liability exposures unique to housing people: tenant discrimination claims, animal liability, pools and playgrounds, and unit-to-unit water damage. It is currently one of the most restricted classes in the market, which makes carrier selection more consequential here than almost anywhere else.
Replacement cost on each structure. Habitational carriers scrutinize roof age, and many will not quote at all above a certain age.
Premises liability across common areas, parking, stairwells, laundry, and amenities. Habitational GL is priced per unit and reflects the amenity set.
Rental income while units are untenantable. On a multi-building property, consider whether a single-building loss displaces more units than the damaged one.
Claims alleging discriminatory treatment in leasing, eviction, or accommodation. Not covered by standard general liability, and one of the most common serious claims in the class.
Older apartment stock is exactly where a significant loss triggers expensive code upgrades.
On-site managers handling deposits and rent are an exposure a property policy doesn't touch.
It is worth being direct about this. Habitational property has tightened significantly across the Southeast — carriers have withdrawn appetite, roof-age restrictions have hardened, wind and hail deductibles have moved from flat dollar amounts to percentages of the building limit, and older frame construction is increasingly difficult to place at any price.
What that means practically: the difference between a good result and a bad one on an apartment account is which markets the submission reaches and how it is presented. A complete submission with a current roof inspection, loss runs, an accurate valuation, and documented updates to electrical, plumbing, and roofing will get quoted where an incomplete one gets declined without a look. This is where an independent agency with real habitational markets earns the difference in premium several times over.
The highest-frequency loss in multi-family housing. A supply line, a water heater, or an overflowing tub on the third floor damages units below and generates both a property claim and liability claims from displaced tenants. Requiring renters insurance in the lease is the cheapest partial mitigation available, and enforcement is the hard part.
Allegations under the Fair Housing Act — refusal to accommodate, discriminatory screening, disparate treatment on eviction — are not covered by general liability. They are defended expensively even when meritless. Any owner with an on-site manager or a screening process should carry this coverage.
Pools, playgrounds, fitness rooms, and grills each add liability and each raise underwriting questions. Pools in particular draw fencing, depth-marking, and signage requirements, and an unfenced pool is a declination at most carriers. Dogs are the other recurring issue — breed restrictions in your lease affect both your liability and your insurability.
Standard commercial property forms cut back coverage once a building has been vacant beyond a set period — commonly 60 consecutive days. After that point, losses from vandalism, glass breakage, water damage, sprinkler leakage, theft, and attempted theft are typically excluded outright, and most remaining covered losses are paid at a reduced percentage.
This catches owners between tenants far more often than you would expect. A building that loses a tenant in March and sits empty through May is in vacancy territory by the time the pipes freeze the following winter. If you know a space is going dark, tell us before the clock runs, not after the loss — vacancy permits are available, but not retroactively.
Licensed in five states. We write this coverage across North and South Carolina — our primary markets — as well as Tennessee, Virginia, and Florida.