If you are a client of Gordon Property Management, you know that we require you to name us as an additional insured on your liability policy. A lot of property owners wonder what exactly that means, and today we are going to talk a little bit about that and why it’s important.
Adding your property manager as an additional insured essentially means that if the tenant slips and falls or a lawsuit is filed by the tenant, the landlord’s liability property insurance will defend both the landlord and the property manager. As you know, being a landlord puts you at risk for a lot of litigation. Tenants will trip over their own two feet and sue everybody; the landlord, the property manager and anyone else they can. You want to present a unified defense. The last thing you want is the landlord’s insurance company and the property manager’s insurance company going after each other.
This is a common clause that’s included in most property management agreements. If you don’t add your property manager as an additional insured, you can still be held liable. Make sure you don’t add your property manager as an additional interest. That’s actually pretty meaningless. It needs to be an additional insured.
Some landlords have asked me what happens if an incident occurs that is the property manager’s fault. It’s going to be hard to tell. If your property manager is truly negligent, your insurance company will probably pursue your property management company for damages at some point. And if your property management company is not doing a good job and behaves in a negligent manner, you might want to find a new property manager anyway, but that’s another topic.
It’s very important to add your property manager as an additional insured on your liability insurance policy. This will protect both the landlord and the property manager against litigious tenants and present a unified and strong defense.
If you have any questions about your insurance policy and what’s required, please contact us at Gordon Property Management, and we’d be happy to tell you more.