Multifamily Insurance Update with Jeff King of Ramey King
Insurance quietly became one of the most painful expense lines in multifamily over the past few years. Premiums that were an afterthought during the boom suddenly ballooned, blowing up deals and squeezing cash flow. Now the tide may finally be turning.
On this episode, Old Capital's James Eng sits down with Jeff King, owner of Ramey King Insurance, to trace how apartment insurance costs got so high, why they're coming back down, and what owners should know before their next renewal, refinance, or acquisition.
Here's what they covered.
Meet Jeff King and Ramey King
Jeff is the owner of Ramey King Insurance, a full-service agency focused on commercial real estate, and within that, multifamily. He's in his 43rd year in the industry and runs a team of 27, about half of whom are dedicated to real estate. The firm uses its own proprietary multifamily insurance program plus other specialty markets it can access. Jeff is also a property owner himself on a small scale, which he says helps him understand the owner's side of the desk better than the average agent.
From $200 a door to $1,500 and back: the timeline
James kicked things off by asking Jeff to walk through how insurance costs have moved. Jeff has been around long enough to remember when premiums were around $200 a door. (Insurance isn't actually rated by the door, he noted, but that's how most owners budget it.)
The rough timeline he laid out:
About 10 years ago: $200 to $250 a door.
Peak, around 2023: pushing $1,200 to $1,500 a unit, depending on the property and its history.
Today: he's seeing underwrites back down around $600 to $700 a door.
That's a wild ride, and understanding what drove it helps owners plan.
What caused the spike: a capacity crunch
Up until about 2021, Jeff said, the market simply had a lack of capacity for apartment insurance. Apartments carry unique exposures, fire, hail, and weather-related damage, that not every carrier wants to take on. Rates started creeping up in 2020 and 2021.
Then came the turning point. "There was a large carrier that most all the agents used," Jeff explained. "They lost its reinsurance, or at least part of it, and carriers jumped in, and rates went up," in part by taking advantage of the sudden shortage. That carrier now mostly writes only brand-new and smaller properties (up to about $10 million).
At the same time, carriers tried to shift their underwriting toward newer, 2000-and-later, Class A properties. That's a problem for the typical value-add investor. As Jeff put it, "Most of my customers made, and are making, their fortunes in properties built from 1963 to 93." Those 1980s garden-style deals, pitched roofs and fireplaces included, suddenly didn't fit many carriers' boxes, leaving a lot of owners in a lurch.
James drew a sharp parallel to lending: when there are only one or two lenders willing to do a deal, they charge more and lend less. Insurance behaved the same way. Carriers have to protect their capacity and spread their risk, no single carrier wants to write 50% of all of DFW, so when capacity tightens, rates climb.
The good news: rates are down nearly 50%
Here's the encouraging part. Rates started dropping in 2024, which is when Ramey King formed its own program. And the trend has continued.
"Here we are in mid, going on late, 2026, and rates are almost down 50% for property," Jeff said.
For owners who bought or refinanced at the peak, that's a meaningful tailwind, and a strong reason to have your policy re-shopped rather than simply renewing.
The part owners miss: deductibles quietly shifted the risk
One of the most valuable insights in the conversation was about deductibles, which many owners overlook when they focus only on the premium.
As rates rose from 2020 on, so did deductibles, especially for wind and hail. A property that carried a flat $25,000 wind-and-hail deductible 10 to 15 years ago saw that move to 1 to 2% of the building value, then 3%, then 4%, and as high as 5 to 10% on challenged properties.
Jeff shared what he called the "Jeff King theory." Once your wind-and-hail deductible climbs above about 3%, "the owner is going to end up self-insuring 95% of their storm and wind related claims." At that point, the deductible is so high that most claims never involve the insurance company at all.
That quietly improved carriers' loss ratios (their losses measured against premiums collected), which is exactly what pulled carriers back into the market. "If I'm getting a good premium from the customer, and they have a 3% deductible, and nobody's filing any claims, this is a good business," Jeff said. "Carriers love that." The lesson for owners: a lower premium with a much higher deductible isn't always the win it appears to be, you may simply be absorbing more risk yourself.
Liability and umbrellas: the newer challenge
While property rates have improved, Jeff has seen more challenges on the general liability and umbrella side over the last two years. There have long been issues around assault-and-battery limitations and exclusions.
What changed is that the agencies, Fannie and Freddie, stopped granting waivers when those coverages couldn't be obtained. They now require the coverage or won't do the loan, and the market has had to respond. For borrowers, that means liability coverage can no longer be treated as an afterthought.
How a policy breaks down: 80/20
To orient owners, Jeff gave a simple rule of thumb for how a total premium splits. Roughly 80% goes to property coverage (the building, contents, loss of rents, and weather or fire damage), and about 20% covers general liability (third-party exposure like slip-and-falls) plus the umbrella policy, which is just a higher limit of liability on top. It's a rough guide, but a useful reference point when reviewing a quote.
Shopping insurance on a refi vs a purchase
Because insurance directly affects loan proceeds, it's a key part of every financing conversation. As James noted, when underwriting a refinance, "we'll always ask, how's your insurance looking?" A reduction in premium can increase the proceeds a borrower qualifies for.
On a refinance, the process is relatively quick, about 30 days. The agency requests the insurance specifications, Ramey King reviews replacement costs, deductible configuration, and required liability coverages, and gets certificates to the mortgage company for sign-off before closing. If the existing coverage is already appropriate, it may just be an opportunity to move the policy to a better market. If it's inadequate, they'll take it over and place it somewhere better.
A new purchase takes more work. The team gathers everything about the property, including prior claims history (which can be hard to get), matches the coverage to what the mortgage company requires up front, and shops three or four carriers, including their own program. The client then picks the best option, and specimen certificates go to the lender.
Speaking of the program, Jeff said it's very competitive and usually the first place they look, with a second program as a backup. They go outside those mainly in two cases: a brand-new property that qualifies for better coverage elsewhere, or a challenged property, say, one that's 50% occupied with no updates since 1982, that requires a specialty market. On those tougher deals, claims history is the biggest driver of both price and whether coverage is even available, and the premium can run higher. The non-negotiable, though, is that the policy must carry the exact coverage the mortgage company requires.
Get an indication before you bid
Jeff's most practical advice for buyers: get an insurance indication before you make an offer. You can request one online at rameyking.com or by phone, and the team will review the T12, rent roll, and offering memorandum to put together an estimate, while also flagging anything that might make the property a challenge.
A pro tip he shared: ask the broker about prior claims. "They will have an idea," he said, even though brokers typically won't release a formal loss run until a property is under contract. Knowing the wind and fire claims history early gives you a real read on what insurance will cost.
On timing, indications can happen anytime, even before you send an LOI, and Jeff noted it's a numbers game. "It takes 10 of those to get one done." Once you're under contract, the clock is tight. A standard 60-day close needs every one of those 60 days, because insurance is just one of many items alongside inspection, survey, and appraisal. As James joked, part of his job is conducting the orchestra to get everything to close on time.
Key Takeaways
Insurance spiked and is now easing. Premiums ran from around $200 a door up to $1,200-$1,500 at the 2023 peak, and are back near $600-$700 today, with property rates down nearly 50% from the top.
A capacity crunch drove the spike. A major carrier lost reinsurance, others raised rates, and many pushed toward newer properties, squeezing owners of 1960s-1990s assets.
Watch the deductible, not just the premium. Above a 3% wind/hail deductible, you're effectively self-insuring most storm claims.
Liability is the new challenge. With agencies no longer waiving requirements, general liability and umbrella coverage must be locked in.
Insurance affects your loan. A lower premium can boost refinance proceeds, so always re-shop rather than auto-renewing.
Get an indication before you bid. Ask the broker about prior claims and start about 60 days out.
The bottom line
After a brutal few years, multifamily insurance is finally moving in owners' favor, with property rates down significantly from their 2023 peak. But Jeff's deeper point is that price is only half the story. The deductible you accept, the liability coverage your lender demands, and the claims history of the specific asset all shape both your premium and your risk. The owners who treat insurance as a strategic line item, and get an indication before they bid, are the ones who protect both their deal and their downside.
Underwriting a deal and want to see how today's insurance rates affect your numbers and your loan proceeds? The Old Capital team can help you size it up. Reach out at oldcapitallending.com