Steadily homeowners insurance

Overview

Steadily is an online insurer for landlords. It does not write homeowners insurance on the house you live in; it writes the policy you need once a house, duplex, condo unit or vacation home is rented to someone else. Those are dwelling fire policies (DP-1 and DP-3 forms), which regulators count as a separate line from homeowners multiple peril. That is why Steadily does not appear in the NAIC homeowners market share ranking even though it is one of the larger specialists in rental-property coverage.

The company is a group of three pieces owned by Steadily, Inc.: Steadily Insurance Agency, Inc., licensed in all 50 states and Washington, D.C.; several MGA programs that write business for partner insurers; and Steadily Insurance Company, an Arizona-domiciled carrier (NAIC 16963) that began bearing risk in November 2024. In its April 2025 funding announcement, Steadily said it had more than $250 million in annualized gross written premium and operated five MGA programs alongside the carrier and the agency. It has dual headquarters in Austin, Texas and Overland Park, Kansas, and lists a mailing address in Beaverton, Oregon.

Most customers quote and buy online. Steadily also sells by phone, through appointed independent agents, and through real estate platforms and franchise systems such as HomeVestors and Real Property Management.

History

Darren Nix, a landlord who found that most carriers treated rental owners as an afterthought, founded Steadily in 2020 with co-founder Datha Santomieri, now chief operating officer. It came out of stealth with a $3.8 million seed round led by Matrix Partners. By November 2021 it had raised $31 million in total, with Matrix Partners and Zigg Capital leading the latest round.

Steadily started as a retail agency placing landlords with outside carriers and wholesalers. As its book grew, those carriers gave it binding authority and it added program administrator (MGA) operations, which let it rate, quote and bind digitally. A $28.5 million Series B led by Zigg Capital followed in July 2023. On November 21, 2024, Steadily announced that its own admitted carrier, Steadily Insurance Company, had received a Demotech Financial Stability Rating of A (Exceptional) and had issued its first bound policy; at that point the company reported a $200 million premium run rate and more than 100,000 rental property owners served. In April 2025 it raised a $30 million Series C led by Two Sigma Ventures at a $355 million valuation, bringing total funding to $89.5 million.

In 2026 it announced a distribution partnership with specialty insurer RLI (reported in April 2026), launched a quoting app inside ChatGPT, and ranked No. 179 on the Inc. 5000 list.

Homeowners coverage

Steadily's product is landlord coverage, not an HO-3. It offers two main forms:

• DP-3 (open perils): covers the building against any cause of loss not excluded, with replacement cost settlement on the dwelling. Steadily calls this its best coverage for rentals.
• DP-1 (named perils): a basic form that covers a short list of perils and settles on actual cash value. Steadily describes it as the form used for vacant homes and some rentals.

Every landlord policy includes premises liability of $300,000 to $2 million per occurrence, which Steadily says typically adds $200 to $400 a year. Loss of rent (fair rental value) is included on most policies; Steadily's guidance is that most DP-1 and DP-3 policies pay for 12 months of lost rent and some for 24. It pays only when a covered loss, such as a kitchen fire or burst pipe, makes the unit uninhabitable. A tenant who stops paying is not a covered event.

The sample DP-3 policy Steadily posts is built on AAIS's Dwelling Property 3 form (DP 00 03 05 19), and its declarations page warns that roof loss settlement terms can vary with the roof's age and the property's location. Read the "Loss Valuation" column on your own declarations page to see whether your roof is on replacement cost or actual cash value.

Several gaps are common to landlord policies. Tenants' belongings are not covered (tenants need an HO-4 renters policy). Flood from rising water requires a separate policy, such as NFIP or private flood coverage. Vacancy clauses restrict coverage once a home sits empty, often after 30 to 60 days, so Steadily sells a separate vacant and renovation policy for light-to-moderate rehab projects. It also offers short-term rental coverage for Airbnb and VRBO hosts and covers condo units, ADUs and buildings of up to four units.

Discounts and savings

Steadily does not publish a list of named discounts. Its own cost guide says landlord discounts are limited and points owners to two levers: protective devices (burglar alarms, sprinklers, motion sensors) and insuring several rentals with the same company. For vacant properties, it says alarms, boarded openings, regular checks and a documented renovation timeline can lower the price, and that the cost rises the longer a property sits empty.

Where it sells and recent market moves

Steadily quotes landlord policies in all 50 states. Depending on the state, a policy may be written by Steadily Insurance Company on admitted paper or by a partner carrier on a non-admitted (surplus lines) basis. Its sample declarations page includes lines for surplus lines tax and stamping fees. The carrier named in the "Underwritten by" field of your declarations page is the company that owes your claim, and surplus lines policies are generally not protected by a state guaranty fund.

The biggest recent change is structural: since late 2024 more of Steadily's premium sits on its own balance sheet rather than with partner insurers, and in 2026 it widened its agent distribution through the RLI partnership.

Claims

Claims can be filed online through Steadily's claim submission page or by phone at 888-966-1611. Steadily asks landlords to report damage as soon as reasonably possible, prevent further damage (tarping a roof, shutting off water), take photos, keep invoices from emergency services and file a police report for vandalism or break-ins. In November 2024 the company said it had brought claims handling in-house for a substantial portion of its book and cut the time to first payment by 55%.

Ratings and reputation

Steadily Insurance Company received a Demotech Financial Stability Rating of A (Exceptional) in November 2024, the minimum Demotech grade Fannie Mae accepts on a mortgaged property. No AM Best rating for the company was found. Policies written by partner carriers carry those carriers' own ratings; RLI's insurers, for example, are rated A++ (Superior) by AM Best. Steadily is not ranked in J.D. Power's home insurance studies, which cover homeowners rather than landlord policies, and an NAIC complaint index for the young carrier was not found.

Who it suits

Steadily fits individual investors with one to a few rentals, especially owners who want a quote in minutes without an agent appointment, and owners of hard-to-place property types such as short-term rentals and fix-and-flips. It fits less well for someone who wants one agent and one company for home, auto and umbrella, or a borrower whose lender insists on an AM Best rating.

• Strengths: landlord-only focus with DP-1, DP-3, short-term rental and vacant/renovation options; liability of $300,000 to $2 million built into every policy; online quoting in all 50 states; its own Demotech A-rated carrier since November 2024.
• Weaknesses: no published discount list; some policies are on surplus lines paper without guaranty fund protection; roof settlement can depend on roof age and location; flood, tenant belongings and rent defaults are not covered.

How to contact Steadily