Which insurance premium should I use for rental expenses, the homeowners insurance premium before converting to rental, or the landlord insurance premium?

[espencerito1]

Due to timing, the homeowners insurance premium was paid in 2024 (tax year), the landlord premium in 2025.

[Vanessa A]

You would use the insurance premiums that were in force while you were renting the property.  So if you were renting the property in 2024 and had paid homeowners insurance premiums on the house, then those are the premiums you would deduct for 2024.  

You would need to prorate the premiums and only deduct the amount for the time it was a rental.  You would not deduct the amount that was for the time before it was converted to a rental. 

[espencerito1]

Thank you. The paid homeowners insurance was not in force when the home was converted to a rental. The homeowners insurance policy was cancelled at the start of the rental and converted to a landlord insurance policy. I would then list the landlord insurance policy premium as an expense. TurboTax software appears to do the prorating for me.

[Vanessa A · Accepted solution]

That is correct.  If the homeowners was cancelled at the start of the rental and converted to the landlord insurance, you will list the landlord policy premium as the expense in the year that it was paid.   

However, if the landlord policy premium was not paid until 2025, then you would not claim the premiums until 2025.  If the premiums that were paid for the Homeowners were just transferred over to the Landlord policy, then the amount that was transferred over would be considered paid in 2024 since you made the payment in 2024.