If their property was in your care, custody or control – they may have coverage up to five hundred dollars (at your request). If you do not live in the home, the property is not in your care, custody control. This provision is more to cover the weed eater that you borrowed from the neighbor that was in your
garage when it burned down.

As far as lost rent goes – Does your policy have a coverage D – or Loss of Use? If so, this will help with the lost rent.

Here's some pretty basic info on a property policy. This is pretty general and their can be some variation depending on the language in your policy and the policy form you have.

But – A is always the structure
B is always other structures
C is always contents
D is always loss of use

Coverage A – this number (probably 180K) pays for the structure and all fixtures attached to the structure. Think of it this way — if you would leave it when you moved out — it will be coverage A. So the vanity, toilet, stove – coverage A. Usually you take a refrigerator with you- that's usually coverage C. This is the amount of money available to rebuild.

If you have an inflation guard endorsement – this number could go up. The adjuster will use a multiplication factor that is based on a standard table to determine how much the Coverage A limit goes up.

Also – your policy may allow for 5% of the coverage A limit toward debris removal in the event of a total loss of the structure. This is added to the amount of the coverage A.

Depending on your policy, your adjuster may have more to work with than just the coverage A limit.

Coverage B – other structures. This pays structures that form part of the realty that are not the residence structure. So outbuildings, fences, swimming pools, unattached garages will fall under this coverage. Usually this has a limit of 10% of the Coverage A amount. (18,000)

Coverage C – contents coverage. This pays for your personal property. These are the things you would take with you when you move — your clothing, your decorative items, the referegerator, and the stove can be put here if needed.

It depends on the type of policy you have as to how much this limit is. It is usually a % of the coverage A limit.

In a rental situation — this will cover your property in the unit – not the tenants. So if the refrigerator, washer/dryer are yours, this should cover those.

Coverage D – loss of use — this pays for the rent that you are unable to collect. If you lived in the unit, this is the coverage that would pay for you to stay in a hotel or alternate location while your home is being repaired/rebuilt.

This coverage picks up the extra costs. So, if the fire never happened, you would have received rent. This coverage will help with the lost rent.
If you lived in the home, you would have to pay rent on your temp housing while paying the mortgage on your home. So, this coverage will pay the rent on the temp housing.

The other coverages are liability coverages. These coverages would not come into play usually in a fire loss.

If your tenants did not have a renters policy, most likely, there is nothing your policy can do to help them out.

You've had a fire loss. It's ok to call your adjuster and ask them any question that comes to mind. Its ok to ask questions more than once. There is no such thing as a stupid question. So any question that comes to mind….ask. Part of your adjusters job is to walk you through this process.