The short answer: expect landlord insurance to cost somewhere around 15 to 25 percent more than a homeowners policy on that same house. There is no single fixed percentage, since the exact markup depends on the carrier, the property, and where in South Carolina it sits, but that range is the most consistent number in the industry. Nationally, insuring a single-family rental averages around 1,500 dollars a year, with a wide 800 to 3,000 dollar range depending on the state and the property. South Carolina has no separately published landlord average, so the most useful way to estimate your own cost is to start with what SC homeowners insurance runs today, roughly 2,300 to 3,100 dollars a year in published 2026 figures, and add the landlord markup on top of that.
Why does insuring a rental cost more than insuring your own home?
Three things drive the difference, and none of them are the carrier padding the bill.
A tenant-occupied home files more claims than an owner-occupied one. You know your own house. You notice the slow leak under the sink or the loose shingle before it becomes a claim. A renter, understandably, is not watching the property the same way, and that gap shows up in claims data across the industry.
Liability looks different too. A paying tenant, their guests, and their kids create a different exposure than a homeowner’s own family. If someone gets hurt on the property, the lawsuit lands on your policy, not theirs.
And landlord policies carry a coverage homeowners policies simply do not offer: loss of rents, sometimes called fair rental value. If a covered loss makes the house unlivable, this pays the rent you are not collecting while repairs happen. It is genuinely useful coverage, and it is also one more line item a homeowners policy never had to price.
What actually moves your number?
Once you accept the 15 to 25 percent range as a starting point, these are the levers that decide where your specific policy lands inside it, or outside it.
DP-1 vs. DP-3. A DP-1 is the bare-bones, named-perils form, cheaper and mostly used for vacant property. A DP-3 covers the dwelling on an open-perils basis and is what most occupied rentals should carry. The DP-3 costs more than the DP-1, but it is also the coverage doing the actual job for an occupied rental. Our DP-1 vs. DP-3 guide walks through exactly what each one covers.
Roof age. Same as homeowners insurance: an older roof means a higher price, a smaller carrier pool, or both. This matters even more on rentals, since landlords are less likely to have replaced a roof recently than an owner living under it every day.
Occupancy. A vacant rental costs more to insure than an occupied one, not less. Carriers see empty houses as a bigger risk for vandalism, theft, and undetected water damage, so a property between tenants can actually push your price up rather than down.
Deductible. The usual trade-off applies. A higher deductible lowers the premium, and it is worth pricing a couple of options side by side rather than defaulting to whatever number the quote started with.
Portfolio scheduling. If you own more than one rental, putting them on a single schedule with one carrier often runs cheaper per property than insuring each one separately, and it turns five renewal dates into one you can actually track.
What about short-term rentals?
Everything above assumes a standard, long-term tenant. If you are thinking about Airbnb or a similar setup instead, the cost conversation changes entirely, because a standard landlord policy generally will not cover that activity at all. Our short-term rental insurance guide covers what that actually takes.
The one thing a price comparison alone will not tell you
Two landlord quotes that look close on price can differ a lot on what they actually pay when something happens: whether loss of rents is included, how the roof settles, and how the vacancy clause is written. Shopping on the bottom-line number alone is how landlords end up with a cheap policy that does not do the job. That comparison is exactly what Griffin Insurance runs across 40 plus carriers for every rental property we quote, so you see the real trade-offs before you buy, not after a claim.
Frequently asked questions
Is landlord insurance more expensive than homeowners insurance? Usually, yes. Insuring the same house as a rental instead of an owner-occupied home typically costs 15 to 25 percent more, mainly because a tenant-occupied property sees more claims and carries more liability exposure than a homeowner’s own family home. The exact markup depends on your carrier and the property, but that range holds across most of the market.
What does a DP-3 policy for a rental house cost? It depends on the house, but a reasonable starting point is your local homeowners average plus 15 to 25 percent. South Carolina homeowners averages are running roughly 2,300 to 3,100 dollars a year, so a DP-3 on a comparable rental often lands somewhere in the high 2,000s to mid 3,000s a year. Roof age, claims history, and the deductible you choose all move that number, which is exactly why we quote it rather than estimate it.
Does loss of rents coverage cost extra? A little, but it is one of the better dollars a landlord spends. Homeowners policies do not offer this coverage at all, so it is part of what makes a landlord policy cost more than a homeowners policy in the first place. Going without it to save a few dollars a month means paying the mortgage out of pocket if a covered loss ever makes the house unrentable.
Can I save by insuring several rentals together? Often, yes. Putting a portfolio of rentals on one schedule with one carrier commonly brings the per-property cost down and gives you a single renewal date to track instead of five or ten scattered ones. It is not guaranteed on every portfolio, since the mix of property ages and locations still matters, but it is worth asking us to run the numbers both ways.
Ready for real numbers instead of a range? Call or text 803-848-0089 and a local agent at Griffin Insurance will quote your rental across 40 plus carriers, with zero agency fees.