Super Bowl Fever’

For some, Houston is the place to be on Feb. 1, 2004, when the Super Bowl comes to town. As such, many Houstonians may succumb to the temptation to make money off of football fans by renting their homes to out-of-town Bowl goers. One question these potential landlords may ask is: Will their homeowners policy stand behind property or liability claims resulting from a temporary rental situation? According to the Independent Insurance Agents of Texas, in most cases it will. In a recent Texas Agent Personal Lines Report, the IIAT explained: “The property section of the homeowner policy covers the dwelling on the residence premises and property while on the residence premises. There are no exclusions in the property section related to rental of the dwelling or personal property on the premises.” Still the IIAT recognized that “the definition of residence premises, which requires the insured to reside on the premises,” may present a potential cause for concern. However, the association commented that “leaving the premises for a short period of time to stay in a hotel or someplace else does not imply that the insured has stopped residing there; otherwise homeowners coverage would be in jeopardy every time an insured went on an extended vacation.” It noted that “one major coverage exception in the property section relates to ‘other structures’ on the premises, such as a guest house. Such other structures are not covered if ‘wholly rented to any person.'” It pointed out, too, that the “ISO homeowners policy excludes coverage on other structures rented to any person not a tenant of the dwelling.” Agents, the IIAT said, should therefore counsel clients who ask about coverage for Super Bowl rentals “not to rent out a guest house or any structure on the premises other than the main dwelling.” As for liability, according to the IIAT the “liability section of the homeowners policy excludes liability arising out of the rental of any part of any premises by an insured, but the exclusion does not apply to the rental on an occasional basis if used only as a residence.”

Topics Property Homeowners