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Rental property in an LLC? Your insurance must match the deed.

Gerald Burns, Licensed Insurance Agent · July 2026

Here's a pattern we see constantly: a landlord takes good advice, moves the rental into an LLC for liability protection — and never touches the insurance. The deed now says Main Street Properties LLC. The policy still says John Smith. Everything seems fine, premiums get paid, years pass.

Then the house burns, and the carrier asks a simple question: does our named insured actually own this building? The answer is no. John doesn't own it — the LLC does, and the LLC isn't on the policy. That claim is now, at minimum, a fight. The liability protection you formed the LLC for can turn into the reason your insurance doesn't respond cleanly.

The rule is one sentence

The policy must name the titleholder. Whoever is on the deed — you, an LLC, a trust, a partnership — is who the insurance must be issued to. Members and managers can be added where appropriate, but the entity on the deed is the starting point, not an afterthought.

The related mistakes that travel in a pack

• Homeowners paper on a rental. Once tenants move in, a homeowners policy no longer matches the occupancy — a common basis for denied claims. Rentals belong on dwelling fire / landlord policies. Our landlord page covers this.
• Vacancy nobody mentioned. Between tenants or mid-renovation, standard policies restrict coverage — often after 30 to 60 days empty. There's specific paper for vacant and renovation property; it only helps if you ask for it.
• No loss-of-rents coverage. The building is insured, but the twelve months of rent you lose during the rebuild isn't — unless it is.

The five-minute fix

Check your deed. Check your declarations page. If the names don't match, that's a phone-free email to your agent today, not a discovery to make during a claim. Transferring more property into the LLC later? Same rule, every time the deed changes.