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About

Group Home and Sober Living Insurance

A group home or sober living house is a home to the people who live there and a business to the person who runs it. A standard homeowners policy does not cover business activities conducted in the home. We help you tell the insurer how the house is really used, so the policy fits the facts of your residence.

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Your Business, Part by Part

An illustrated building. No people.

  1. 1 of 4

    The Building You Rent Out

  2. 2 of 4

    Water Rises Near Your Building

    Your standard policy does not cover flood, whether you are the landlord or the tenant.

    Ask AboutFlood

    Coverage depends on the policy terms.

    A new flood policy usually takes 30 days to start. The main exception is when it is bought with a new or refinanced mortgage. Do not wait for a storm forecast.

  3. 3 of 4

    Your Lender Sets Requirements

    In a special flood hazard area, a federally regulated lender requires flood insurance.

  4. 4 of 4

    Your Sober Living Residence

    In Connecticut

    A residence with six or fewer residents is an R-3 occupancy, and one with more than six is R-2. Smoke alarms are required in every sleeping room.

Insurance for Sober Living Homes, Recovery Residences and Group Homes

You might run one sober living house with eight residents, several recovery residences under one company, or a group home where staff provide care. The facts decide how each house is insured: who lives there, whether anyone receives care, how many residents sleep there and who owns the building.

A sober living home is a home where unrelated adults in recovery choose to live together, with no formal treatment on site, as the state facts below describe. A group home with care staff is a different risk. Write the facts down as they are, add any notice you received, and send them with your quote request.

A property owner at a kitchen table with a stack of folders, on the phone, leaning back with relief.

Residences We Insure

Tell us how each house runs, day and night. These are a starting set.

Sober living homes.
Peer run houses with house rules and no treatment on site.
Certified recovery residences.
Homes certified by a recognized body, as the state facts below describe.
Group homes with care staff.
Houses where staff provide care or support around the clock.
Owners who lease to an operator.
You own the building, and someone else runs the program.
Several houses under one company.
A portfolio with one owner and many addresses.
Houses changing use.
A family home becoming a residence, or a residence becoming a rental.
Don’t see yours here? Tell us what you need covered.

Group Home and Sober Living Insurance Coverage

Property Insurance for Group Homes and Sober Living

A space heater in a bedroom starts a fire that closes the house. Property insurance on a rental dwelling covers physical damage to the structure from fire, wind, hail and other covered perils. Commercial property does the same job for business buildings.

General Liability Insurance for Group Homes and Sober Living

A resident’s visitor falls on the back stairs and is hurt. General liability pays damages your business is found liable for, up to the policy limits, plus the cost of your legal defense and medical bills for people hurt on the premises.

Professional Liability Insurance for Group Homes

A family says the care their relative received fell short. Professional liability covers businesses that provide physical care or represent the needs of others, and pays judgments and legal defense costs. It matters most where staff provide care.

Flood Insurance for Group Homes and Sober Living

Water rises through the basement where residents keep their belongings. Standard policies do not cover flood, and flood is a separate policy from the National Flood Insurance Program or a private insurer. Lower levels and bedrooms below grade deserve a look.

Workers’ Compensation Insurance for Group Homes

A house manager wrenches a back moving furniture, or a care worker is hurt helping a resident. Workers’ compensation pays for medical care and replaces part of lost wages, regardless of who was at fault. Most employers are required to carry it.

Loss of Rent Coverage for Owners Who Lease to an Operator

After a fire, the operator moves out while the house is repaired and the rent stops. Most landlord policies cover loss of rental income while the property is repaired after a covered loss, for a set period of time.

Umbrella Insurance for Group Homes and Sober Living

A serious injury in the house can cost more than your liability limits. An umbrella policy sits over and above your other liability policies and responds once their limits are used up.

Hired and Non Owned Auto Coverage for Group Homes

Staff drive residents to meetings and appointments in their own cars. Hired and non owned auto coverage is the piece to ask about when vehicles the business does not own are used for its work.

Coverage Group Homes and Sober Living Houses Can Be Missing

Gaps often show up when an insurer learns how the house is really used, or when a claim arrives from a resident, a visitor or a staff member. A house can carry a policy and still have holes in it, because each policy names what it covers and leaves the rest out. These are the places to look, and each one is a fair question to bring to your quote.

A homeowners policy on a business.
A standard homeowners policy does not cover business activities conducted in the home.
The use the insurer was told.
Describe how the house is really used, and the true use is rated as it is.
Your staff.
General liability leaves injuries to your own employees out. That is workers’ compensation.
The operator’s certificate.
If you lease to an operator, a certificate does not make you an additional insured. The policy must provide for it.
Residents’ belongings.
A landlord’s policy does not cover the possessions of the people who live there.
Flood in lower levels.
Standard policies leave it out.

If an Insurer Has Said No

That is one insurer’s answer, not the last one. Insurers have different underwriting standards, and a decision by one company does not mean another will not offer coverage.

Hard to Place InsuranceNonrenewed or Cancelled Policies

State Facts

In Connecticut

  • Connecticut defines sober living homes as alcohol and drug free homes where unrelated adults in recovery choose to live together, with no formal treatment on site.
  • The Department of Mental Health and Addiction Services does not monitor, certify or oversee sober living homes. It lists certified homes as Public Act 18-171 requires.
  • A certified sober living home is certified by a NARR affiliate or another body the Department recognizes, such as the Connecticut Alliance of Recovery Residences.
  • A certified home with a resident diagnosed with opioid use disorder keeps at least two doses of an opioid antagonist and trains residents to use it.
  • The State Fire Marshal treats sober living homes as residential, not institutional, occupancies, because residents receive no care.
  • A sober living home with six or fewer residents in a single family home is an R-3 occupancy. More than six permanent residents makes it R-2.
  • Smoke alarms are required outside each sleeping area, in each sleeping room and on each story in R-2 and R-3 occupancies.
  • An insurer may cancel a commercial risk policy in effect more than sixty days for fraud or material misrepresentation. The same reason applies to homeowners policies.

Read more: Connecticut Sober Living Home Rules.

Source: Connecticut DMHAS, State Fire Marshal and General Statutes chapter 700.

Insurance in Connecticut

Frequently Asked Questions

Why is it hard to find insurance for a sober living home?

The facts that define the house, such as its definition, certification and fire code class, are set by state rules, as the state facts above describe. Insurers have different underwriting standards, so one company’s answer is not every company’s answer. No agency can promise a placement.

Will a homeowners policy cover my sober living house?

A standard homeowners policy does not cover business activities conducted in the home. Describe how the house is really used, and the coverage is matched to it.

What facts define a sober living home?

The definition, certification and fire code class come from state rules, and the state facts above list the definition, the certification facts and the fire code occupancy classes.

My policy was cancelled because of how the house is used. What now?

Start with the date your coverage ends, and send the notice with your quote request. See Nonrenewed or Cancelled Policies.

Does a business policy cover flood at the house?

Standard policies do not cover flood, and flood is a separate policy.

Do I need professional liability for a group home?

If your staff provide care, ask about it. Professional liability covers businesses that provide physical care or represent the needs of others.

I run a group home that is not a sober living home. Can it be insured?

Tell us how the house operates. Your account can be reviewed, and no agency can promise a placement.

Start With the Facts of Your Residence.

Write them down as they are, add any notice you received, and send them with your quote request.

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