Renters Insurance Resources 

Renters Insurance, powered by MSI, is now available for residents to purchase directly within the resident site. Protect your properties, and your residents, with a policy trusted by over 300,000 renters nationwide. And there’s no extra work on your end—all you have to do is encourage your residents to sign up!  

With Renters Insurance, powered by MSI we take policy management off your plate so you can simplify your leasing process, save time, and make renters insurance easy and accessible for your residents. Learn more below: Renters Insurance, powered by MSI Time saving reminders Policy coverage How to get started Lease addendum How to tell your residents FAQs

MSI is one of the property management industry’s leading insurance providers underwritten by two A-rated carriers and work with property managers representing 10 million units nationwide. We’ve partnered with MSI to bring you a comprehensive renters insurance solution that will take policy management off your plate so you can simplify your leasing process, save time, and make renters insurance easy and accessible for your residents. With this new offering, residents have the ability to purchase insurance policies right through Buildium’s newly redesigned resident site. 

Benefits for Property Managers:

• Keep track of all policies, whether they were purchased through Buildium, or an outside provider. We’ll keep track of it all. Just have your residents enter their policy information right in the resident site
• Property managers will automatically be listed as an interested party, guaranteeing that they will be notified when residents make changes to their policy or cancel coverage
• As a Buildium customer, all of your residents are pre-approved for policies
• No need to get involved in billing and policy management, we’ve ensured billing is directly between the resident and our partner

Benefits for residents:

• Buildium’s partnership with MSI means all of your residents are pre-approved and can sign up in minutes
• Residents will have the ability to choose from multiple coverage options, and choose their level of personal property coverage
• Residents can add whatever insurance provider they have right in the resident site, giving you accurate reporting without having to collect this information if they purchase coverage from an outside provider
• Access to a dedicated renters insurance support line
• Affordable premiums starting as low as $12 per month (after initial down payment)
• Roommates or a spouse can easily be added to renters insurance policies during checkout. This makes it easy for roommates to get covered and split the cost of the premium and allows residents to add a spouse free of charge.

Reminders do the work for you

Resident reminders – Your automated solution for renters insurance. 

With resident reminders, we make it easier to implement a renters insurance program or requirement for your residents by solving the number one pain point our customers identified: following up with residents to make sure they purchase a policy or provide proof of coverage.

Protecting your properties shouldn’t require endless phone calls, email follow-ups, and chasing your residents just to get a handful of them to get insurance coverage. To save you the headache and give you time back, we built an automated process for you with resident reminders.

Renters insurance reminders will:

1. Automatically email residents who don’t have insurance information on file in Buildium once per week or once per month depending on what you choose.
2. Remind residents who don’t have insurance information on file to either purchase a policy with Renters Insurance powered by MSI, or provide proof of existing insurance when they visit the Resident Center
3. All recent policy updates in the system will be delivered to you via a daily summary email if you so choose – updates will include new policies created, expired or cancelled policies and changes to coverage.

Learn more about resident reminders for renters insurance

Coverage for all situations

All policies automatically include personal property coverage, liability coverage, guest medical expenses and emergency living expenses. And personal property coverage includes a wide range of events including:

• fire and smoke
• wind, hail and lightning
• explosions
• theft
• earthquake in states where it is applicable or required

We are continuing to build on these coverages to bring you and your residents even better protection.

Water backup coverage is one of the most requested additional coverages nationwide. That’s why we are now including water backup* coverage by default for all policies.

Later this year we will also be introducing new optional endorsements that will give residents a chance to get coverage for pet damage or bed bug protection and can each be added individually to their overall renters insurance coverage during the checkout process.

*Note: Water backup coverage is optional in Maryland in accordance with state regulations.

How to get started with Renters Insurance, powered by MSI

To get started with Renters Insurance, powered by MSI, all you have to do is make sure your residents have access to the Resident Center. Residents will be able to log in to the Resident Center and purchase a new policy or enter their existing policy information from an alternate provider. Policy information will be synced to your Buildium account in real time and can be viewed on the lease summary page.  

Please note: renters insurance policies will be available to residents in the United States only.

Renters Insurance Lease Addendum

We have provided a sample lease addendum to include a requirement for renters insurance with your lease agreement. By having your tenants sign a renters insurance lease addendum*, they will be contractually obligated to purchase and maintain a renters insurance policy throughout their lease. We recommend that you consult a licensed lawyer and update this addendum to ensure that you are in compliance with the appropriate laws and regulations regarding your lease before using this addendum.

Download the renters insurance lease addendum

*This sample lease addendum is provided for informational purposes only.  It is not legal advice.  You should consult your own attorney.  Neither Buildium nor its counsel represent you, nor have either offered you legal advice.  Certain jurisdictions may not allow the addendum as drafted, and it may not be appropriate for your purposes.

FAQs

Do I have to use MSI for renters insurance? 

• No, you can have your residents sign up with any insurance provider you choose. You will be able to easily record that information on the lease summary page, or you can have your residents provide proof of coverage through the resident site and that information will automatically sync to your Buildium account.

When can my residents start purchasing polices through Renters Insurance, powered by MSI?

• Residents can start purchasing new policies through the resident site starting August 20th, 2019.

Who is MSI?

• MSI is one of the property management industry’s leading renters insurance providers. They are underwritten by three A-rated carriers and represent 10 million units nationwide. We partnered with MSI in order to create a more integrated renters insurance solution that takes policy management off of your plate.

What if I don’t want to offer Renters insurance powered by MSI to my residents?

• You can opt out of this experience by navigating to the resident site setting page and under additional settings, switching the renters insurance toggle to “off”. With this setting off, your residents will not be able to purchase policies through the resident site. However they will still be able to provide you with proof of coverage through alternative providers through the resident site under my account.

Can my residents purchase an MSI policy before August 20th?

• If you would like early access for your residents to start purchasing policies, please call Buildium customer support.