Insurance guides for CRE owners and investors
Plain-English answers to the questions that actually come up when you own or insure a commercial property — lease obligations, who goes where on the policy, vacancy, tenant certificates, roof age, and more.
For owners of single-tenant and net lease properties
How to Add a Newly Acquired Property to a Portfolio Policy
A step-by-step checklist for adding a single-tenant building to an existing blanket policy: what to send, what to ask, and how to keep tenant billing clean.
Read the guide →How to Allocate an Insurance Premium Across Multiple Properties
A blanket policy gives you one premium for many buildings. Here are four ways to split it, why an even split fails, and a worked example landlords can defend to tenants.
Read the guide →Insuring an Auto Service Property: Tire, Collision and Parts Tenants
Tire shops, collision centers and parts stores bring fire, pollution and liability exposures that a typical retail building does not. Here is what an owner should check.
Read the guide →Insurance on a Ground Lease: Who Insures the Building and the Land
In a ground lease the tenant often owns or builds the improvements. Here is who usually insures what, what the landlord should require, and what lenders look for.
Read the guide →How to Bill a Tenant for Property Insurance: A Step-by-Step Guide for Landlords
A practical routine for billing a net lease tenant for insurance: what to check in the lease, how to calculate the amount, what to send, and how to reconcile at renewal.
Read the guide →Caps and Limits on Insurance Pass-Throughs in a Net Lease
Some net leases cap how much insurance cost a landlord can pass to the tenant. Here is how to find the cap, how to read it, and what to do when premiums rise faster than the cap.
Read the guide →How Insurance Reimbursement Works on a Net Lease
On a net lease the tenant usually pays for the building's insurance, either directly or by reimbursing the landlord. Here is who pays whom, when, and what the lease has to say.
Read the guide →Landlord Liability on a Net Lease Property
Your tenant's liability policy names you as an additional insured, but that protection is narrower than most owners think. Here is what it covers and where you need your own.
Read the guide →Insurance Billing When Your Lender Escrows the Premium
If your commercial lender collects insurance through an escrow, the billing chain gets longer. Here is how the money flows between tenant, landlord, lender and carrier.
Read the guide →NNN Landlord Insurance: What the Owner Still Needs
On a triple net lease the tenant pays for the building's insurance, but the owner still has gaps to cover. Here is what an NNN landlord should carry or verify.
Read the guide →Policy Year vs Lease Year: Why Insurance Billing Never Lines Up
The insurance policy, the lease and your books each run on a different calendar. Here is how to handle estimates, true-ups and mid-year changes without a mess.
Read the guide →How to Prorate Insurance When You Buy a Property Mid-Year
Bought a building partway through the policy year? Here is how the premium is usually prorated by days, how to bill the tenant for the stub period, and a worked example.
Read the guide →Insuring a Quick-Service Restaurant Property: What Owners Should Check
Fast-food and quick-service restaurant buildings come with cooking fire, grease, rooftop equipment and drive-thru exposures. Here is what an owner should verify.
Read the guide →What Drives the Cost of Insuring a Single-Tenant Commercial Building
Roof, construction, location, tenant type, deductibles and coverage terms all move the premium. Here is what underwriters look at and which factors an owner can control.
Read the guide →Single-Tenant Commercial Property Insurance: The Owner's Complete Guide
Who insures a single-tenant building, what the owner still needs, how to bill tenants, and how to keep certificates and renewals under control. One guide to the whole subject.
Read the guide →Single-Tenant Commercial Property Insurance in Kansas: Storms, Roofs and Lease Terms
Kansas owners of single-tenant buildings face hail, wind and tornado exposure. What drives coverage and cost in Kansas, and what to check in your policy and lease.
Read the guide →Single-Tenant Commercial Property Insurance in Texas: Hail, Wind and What Owners Should Know
Texas owners of single-tenant buildings deal with hail, wind deductibles and roof terms. What drives coverage and cost in Texas, and what to check in your policy and lease.
Read the guide →Tenant Certificates of Insurance: What to Require and How to Track Them
A certificate of insurance is a snapshot, not a guarantee. Here is what to check on a tenant's certificate, the red flags, and how to keep track of expiration dates.
Read the guide →When a Tenant Disputes the Insurance Charge: What to Document and How to Respond
Tenants dispute insurance reimbursements over allocation, increases and what is included. Here is the usual cause, what to keep on file, and how to resolve it quickly.
Read the guide →What a Landlord Can Do When a Tenant's Insurance Lapses
A tenant's insurance lapsed or the certificate never arrived. Here is the usual lease remedy, what force-placed insurance is and is not, and how to document the steps.
Read the guide →Tenant-Paid vs Landlord-Billed Insurance on a Net Lease
Should the tenant buy the building's insurance, or should the landlord buy it and bill the tenant? The tradeoffs in control, paperwork, risk and cost.
Read the guide →What Happens to Your Insurance When a Tenant Leaves
Many commercial property policies limit coverage once a building has been vacant for 60 days. Here is how vacancy is defined and what to do before the tenant leaves.
Read the guide →Buying or refinancing a property
NN vs NNN vs Absolute Net: Who Really Insures the Building?
Double net, triple net, absolute net. The lease type decides who carries the property insurance on your commercial building. Here's how to tell, and why it changes your policy.
Read the guide →Named Insured, Mortgagee, Additional Insured, Cert Holder: Who Goes Where
The four roles on a commercial property policy: named insured, mortgagee/loss payee, additional insured, certificate holder. And why naming your lender wrong is the top reason an insurance review fails.
Read the guide →Does Roof Age Really Matter for Commercial Property Insurance?
Roof age is one of the heaviest factors in commercial property underwriting. Here's how it affects your coverage, your deductible, and whether a carrier will quote at all, plus what to do if you don't know it.
Read the guide →The Blanket-Policy Problem: Why You Can't Tell a Tenant What Their Building Costs
When a broker lumps 20 properties onto one blanket policy, the premium comes back as a single number, so you can't tell any tenant what their building costs. Here's how per-property cost allocation fixes it.
Read the guide →Replacement Cost vs Actual Cash Value: Setting Your Building Limit
Replacement cost (RCV) vs actual cash value (ACV) is the difference between rebuilding after a loss and getting a depreciated check. Here's how to set your commercial building limit and dodge a coinsurance penalty.
Read the guide →Business Income & Rental Value: How Your Lease Sets This Limit
If a covered loss shuts your building down, business income (rental value) coverage replaces the rent you lose. Here's how your lease sets the limit and why investors underbuy it.
Read the guide →What Carriers Actually Need to Quote Your Property
A complete submission gets faster, better-priced quotes. Here's the exact information carriers need to quote a commercial property, and which items you can skip because we find them for you.
Read the guide →How to Read the Insurance Clause in Your Lease
The insurance article in a commercial lease decides your coverage more than anything else. Here's how to read it: required limits, waiver of subrogation, additional insured, and who carries the building.
Read the guide →Buying a Leased Property: The Insurance Timeline for Closing
Insurance shouldn't be the thing that delays your CRE closing. Here's the timeline: when to start, what the lender needs, and how to have a bindable policy ready for your effective date.
Read the guide →Loss Runs: Why 5 Years of Claims History Matters
Loss runs are your property's claims history, and carriers want five years of them. Here's what they are, why they move your premium, and how to get them when you're buying.
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