Landlord insurance in Sumter, SC.
Whether you own one rental house in Sumter or a portfolio across South Carolina, we shop your properties across top-rated carriers like Progressive, Travelers, Nationwide, and Foremost. The right dwelling fire policy, priced right, with zero agency fees.
Protection built for rental property owners.
From a single-family rental to multi-family units and vacant properties, we insure the risks landlords actually face.
Dwelling coverage
Covers the structure itself against fire, wind, hail, vandalism, and other covered damage, so a bad storm never wipes out your investment.
Landlord liability
Protection if a tenant or visitor is injured on the property and you get sued, covering legal defense and judgments up to your limits.
Loss of rents
If a covered loss makes the property unlivable, this replaces the rental income you lose while repairs are underway.
Landlord's contents
Covers appliances, furnishings, and equipment you own at the property, like the stove, fridge, and washer in a furnished unit.
Vacant properties
Between tenants or mid-renovation, standard policies can leave gaps. We place vacant property coverage so an empty house stays protected.
Multi-family & portfolios
Duplexes, apartment buildings, and multi-property portfolios, with schedules that keep everything on one renewal you can actually manage.
What a landlord policy covers, and what it never will.
The distinctions landlords get wrong most often, in one place.
| What | On your policy? | The detail that matters |
|---|---|---|
| The structure | Yes | Fire, wind, hail, vandalism and other covered perils on a DP-3. |
| Appliances you supply | Yes | The stove, fridge, and washer you own are your contents, not the tenant's. |
| Your tenant's belongings | No | Never, under any landlord policy. Their renters policy covers those, which is why the lease should require one. |
| Lost rent after a covered loss | If included | Loss of rents pays while the home is unlivable. Worth confirming it is actually on your policy rather than assuming. |
| Damage the tenant causes | Sometimes | Sudden accidental damage is often covered. Deliberate damage and neglect generally are not, and the repair is frequently smaller than the deductible anyway. |
| Normal wear and tear | No | Insurance pays for sudden accidents, not aging carpet, a tired HVAC, or maintenance you put off. |
| Code upgrades after a loss | Only with an endorsement | Standard policies rebuild what was there, not what current code now requires. More on this below. |
| Flood | No | Flood is always a separate policy, wherever the property sits. |
General guidance only. Coverage varies by carrier and policy form, and your own policy language controls.
What rental property owners should know.
Rental properties are insured on dwelling fire policies, not regular homeowners policies. The two most common are DP-1 and DP-3. A DP-1 is the bare-bones version: it covers a short list of named perils, often pays claims at depreciated value, and is mainly used for vacant or lower-value properties. A DP-3 is the one most landlords want. It covers the structure against any peril not specifically excluded, typically pays to rebuild at replacement cost, and can include loss of rents. If you converted your old home into a rental and never switched policies, that is a problem worth fixing this week, because homeowners policies are written for owner-occupants and a claim on a tenant-occupied house can be denied.
Two more habits protect your bottom line. First, make sure your policy includes loss of rents coverage, so a kitchen fire does not mean months of mortgage payments with no rent coming in. Second, require tenants to carry their own renters insurance. It costs them little, covers their belongings (your policy never does), and their liability coverage can pay first when their mistake, like a grease fire, damages your property.
- DP-3 policies with replacement cost and loss of rents
- Single-family, multi-family, vacant, and furnished rentals
- One agency for your whole portfolio, re-shopped at every renewal
- Local agents who answer calls and texts
Investor-friendly, always
We never charge agency fees, on one rental or twenty. The carriers pay us, so shopping your properties costs you nothing but a few minutes.
Quote my rentalThe gap between tenants is when policies quietly stop working.
Sumter rentals turn over on a military clock. PCS season empties houses and fills them again, and a few weeks between tenants is ordinary here rather than a sign anything went wrong. The catch is that most dwelling policies do not treat an empty house the same way they treat an occupied one, and nobody tells you the day the coverage changes.
The wording usually turns on two different words. Unoccupied generally means your furniture and appliances are still there but nobody is living in it. Vacant generally means empty of both people and contents, which is exactly what a rental looks like after a tenant clears out. Vacant is the one that triggers restrictions, and the clock commonly starts at 30 or 60 days depending on the form.
Once a property crosses that line, carriers commonly restrict or exclude the perils an empty house is most exposed to: vandalism, glass breakage, water damage, and theft. That is not a technicality. An empty house on a quiet street is precisely the one that gets broken into or has a pipe let go with nobody there to hear it.
None of this is a problem if we know. A vacancy endorsement, or a purpose-built vacant policy during a renovation, keeps the coverage intact. What creates uninsured losses is a landlord who assumes the policy carries on unchanged and finds out otherwise at claim time.
- Tell us before a property sits empty, not after something happens
- Renovations between tenants need their own treatment
- Vacancy rules differ by carrier and form, so the answer is property by property
Call before it sits empty
A two minute phone call before the house goes empty is the cheapest coverage decision a landlord makes all year. Waiting until there is a claim is the most expensive.
Three steps. About 60 seconds to start.
Tell us about you
Send the form above or call or text 803-848-0089. No SSN required to get started.
We shop the market
We run your details across every relevant carrier we represent and bring you the strongest fits, side by side.
You pick. We bind it.
Most policies bind same-day. Then we re-shop your rate every year and help with claims when you need us.
Proudly serving Sumter, Columbia, Manning, Camden, Florence, Bishopville, Lugoff, Hartsville, Lexington, Greenville, Spartanburg, Myrtle Beach, and Charleston, plus all 46 South Carolina counties. See our full service area →
Two settlement details that decide what you actually collect.
Both bite hardest on the older houses that make up a good share of Sumter rentals.
How the roof settles. Plenty of carriers no longer pay replacement cost on an aging roof. They settle it at actual cash value instead, meaning depreciation comes off before you see a dollar, and on a twenty year roof that difference can be most of the claim. Two policies with almost identical prices can treat the same hailstorm completely differently, and the roof schedule is where you find out. It is worth knowing which one you bought before a storm rather than after.
What code compliance costs. A standard policy pays to put back what was there. It does not pay the extra cost of meeting current building code, and on an older house that gap gets real: wiring, plumbing, stairs, and insulation that were fine when the house was built but cannot legally be rebuilt that way now. Ordinance or law coverage is the endorsement that fills it, and on older rentals it earns its keep.
Neither of these shows up in a premium comparison, which is the whole problem with shopping landlord coverage on price alone. They show up in what you collect.
- Ask how your carrier settles a roof claim, and at what age the treatment changes
- Ordinance or law coverage is worth pricing on any older rental
- We flag both when we shop your properties, not after a loss
Landlord insurance questions, answered
Can't I just keep my homeowners policy on my rental house?
No, and this catches a lot of new landlords off guard. Homeowners policies are written for owner-occupied homes, and once a tenant moves in, a claim can be denied because the risk changed. Rentals belong on a dwelling fire policy built for landlords, which usually is not much more expensive.
What's the difference between a DP-1 and a DP-3 policy?
A DP-1 covers only a short list of named perils and often pays depreciated value, which is why it is mostly used for vacant or lower-value properties. A DP-3 covers any peril not specifically excluded and typically pays replacement cost to rebuild. For an occupied rental, a DP-3 is the coverage most landlords should carry.
Does landlord insurance cover my tenant's belongings?
No. Your policy covers the building and items you own at the property, like appliances, but never your tenant's furniture, electronics, or clothes. That is exactly why we recommend requiring tenants to carry renters insurance as a condition of the lease.
What is loss of rents coverage?
If a covered loss, like a fire or storm, makes your property unlivable, loss of rents coverage replaces the rental income you miss while repairs are made. Without it, you are paying the mortgage on an empty house out of pocket. We consider it a must-have for any income property.
Can you insure vacant properties or short-term rentals?
Yes. Vacant homes, properties under renovation, multi-family buildings, and furnished rentals all have carriers that want them, and we know which ones. Tell us how the property is used and we will place it correctly, so a claim never gets denied over occupancy.
One agency for your whole picture.
A real office, with real people in it.
261 Broad St, Suite A5
We're on Broad Street in Sumter, a few minutes from downtown and Swan Lake Iris Gardens, and about 15 minutes from the Shaw AFB main gate. Walk-ins welcome.
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Our neighbors say it better than we can. Read what Sumter families and business owners think of working with us, or add your own.
Call or text 803-848-0089
Mon – Thu: 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM
Friday: 9:00 AM – 3:00 PM
Sat – Sun: Closed
Based in Sumter and licensed across South Carolina. We serve Sumter, Manning, Camden, Bishopville, Lugoff, Columbia, Florence, and every county in between.