Homeowners Insurance for an ADU, Casita, or JADU in California
A casita, an accessory dwelling unit, a junior unit, or a converted garage on your own lot changes the house the policy was written for. Call 209-670-1556. Se habla español.
A casita, an accessory dwelling unit, a junior unit, or a converted garage on your own lot changes the house the policy was written for. Call 209-670-1556. Se habla español.
A detached casita on your own lot is commonly listed as an other structure, and that limit is tied to the dwelling limit on the declarations. An attached ADU, or a junior unit inside the house, is commonly part of the dwelling itself. Read Coverage A and Coverage B on your declarations before you assume the new unit is already included.
People call the same building a casita, a backyard cottage, an in-law unit, a garage conversion, or a junior ADU. The name on the approved plans, and whether the unit shares a wall with the house, matters more than the nickname. Insurance City Agency, LLC, CA Lic #6003045, places homeowners coverage from Stockton, San Jose, and San Rafael, and by phone at 209-670-1556.
The California Department of Housing and Community Development's Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook (March 2026) says Senate Bill 477 (Chapter 7, Statutes of 2024) changed the numbering of the Government Code sections on accessory dwelling units and junior accessory dwelling units. The handbook says those sections now run from 66310 through 66342, updated from the earlier sections 65852.2, 65852.22, 65852.23, and 65852.26. Section 66313, subdivision (a), as the handbook quotes it, defines an accessory dwelling unit as an attached or a detached residential dwelling unit that provides complete, independent living facilities for one or more persons, on a lot with a proposed or existing primary residence, including permanent provisions for living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation. Section 66313, subdivision (d), defines a junior accessory dwelling unit as a unit of no more than 500 square feet of interior livable space, contained entirely within a single-family residence. It may include separate sanitation facilities, or it may share them with the existing structure. The handbook's account of section 66310, subdivision (d), says the Legislature found that allowing ADUs in zones that allow single-family and multifamily uses is an essential component of the state's housing supply. The HCD accessory dwelling unit page is the department's front door to that handbook.
Other structures, often called Coverage B, is the part of a homeowners policy for buildings on the residence premises that are not the dwelling. A detached garage, a shed, and a freestanding casita are the usual examples. The declarations print the limit, commonly a figure tied to the dwelling limit. The form says whether a finished ADU still belongs in that section.
Bring the declarations, not a memory of a percentage from a different house. The limit printed on Coverage B is the one in force. If that figure would not rebuild a finished apartment with a kitchen and a bath, the casita can sit inside the other-structures line and still be short of a rebuild. The next question is whether the company will schedule the detached building or move the new square footage into the dwelling limit. A shed the policy contemplated years ago and a permitted dwelling unit with cooking and sanitation are not the same building, even when both stand apart from the house.
An attached addition that shares roof or foundation with the house is the other direction. Companies commonly treat that square footage as dwelling, Coverage A, once it is living space. A junior unit created inside the existing house, including inside what used to be an attached garage, is the same direction: it is already within the residence. How the replacement-cost limit should track new square footage is on the replacement cost and actual cash value page.
ADU homeowners callback. Leave a name and a phone number. A licensed agent at Insurance City Agency, LLC, CA Lic #6003045, will call about a casita, ADU, JADU, or garage conversion on a California lot. Or call 209-670-1556.
Tell us before construction starts. A homeowners policy written for a finished house is a poor fit for an open job. The usual request is a course-of-construction endorsement or a builder's risk form for the work itself. Ask the contractor for a certificate of general liability and, when the crew is employed, workers' compensation. Those certificates insure the contractor, not the new building.
Send the plans, the permit status, and the date work is set to begin. An open wall, a roof that is off, and a crew on site are construction facts. They belong in the file before the first day of work. The guide that walks through a contractor's own policy and the Contractors State License Board conversation is the 2026 contractor insurance page. The contractor hub is where that contractor's policy is quoted. Your homeowners file is the building you will own when the work is done.
Once family moves into a finished ADU, homeowners liability for the premises usually still follows the property you own. Their furniture, clothes, and electronics are not your personal property. A renters policy in that person's name is the ordinary way to cover those belongings. Tell us who will live there so the occupancy on the policy matches the house.
A parent in the casita, or an adult child with a separate household, is occupancy you should name. Two kitchens on one lot is a fact underwriters ask about, and it is also what separates a guest room from a dwelling unit. Your contents coverage follows the household the homeowners policy describes, which is commonly the household in the main house. The person in the ADU who owns a bed, a refrigerator, and a laptop can carry a renters policy at the unit's address, in that person's name. Liability for an injury on the lot you own is still a homeowners question. Say who has a key.
Renting the ADU is a different use from housing family. A homeowners policy is written for the owner who lives on the property, and a tenant changes the occupancy a company wants to see. The rental conversation is on the landlord insurance page and the landlord-versus-homeowners page. Tell us before the first lease, not after a loss.
Start with landlord insurance in California and landlord insurance versus a homeowners policy. This guide stops at the handoff. A lease, a tenant's belongings, and rent you depend on are that other conversation.
A detached ADU, an attached ADU, a junior ADU, and a garage conversion do not sit in the same place on a homeowners policy. Detached buildings are commonly other structures. Units inside or attached to the house are commonly part of the dwelling. A garage that becomes living space may need to move from one section of the policy to the other. Your declarations control.
State law describes combinations a city must allow, and the insurance form describes where the finished unit sits. The HCD handbook's explanation of Government Code section 66323 says local agencies must allow, on a single-family lot, at least one ADU built from existing space, one junior ADU, and one newly constructed detached ADU. For a junior unit, section 66333, subdivision (d), treats an attached garage as part of the single-family residence. A detached new-construction ADU in the section 66323, subdivision (a)(2), category has a maximum size of 800 square feet in the handbook's account of that subdivision. The handbook also says a local government may be less restrictive than the statutory minimum, citing section 66325, subdivision (b). The square footage on your approved plans is the number to insure. The ceiling for one statutory category is not a guess at a unit a local ordinance allowed to be larger.
| Unit | Where it sits | How it usually sits on the homeowners policy | What to tell us |
|---|---|---|---|
| Detached ADU | Its own building on the lot, with living, sleeping, eating, cooking, and sanitation | Commonly other structures, Coverage B, with a limit tied to the dwelling limit on the declarations. A scheduled structure is the request when that limit is short of a rebuild | Plans, distance from the house, and whether it has its own kitchen and bath |
| Attached ADU | Shares a wall, roof, or foundation with the house | Commonly part of the dwelling, Coverage A, once it is living space | The added square footage and what is shared with the main house |
| JADU | Inside the single-family residence. The handbook quotes a maximum of 500 square feet of interior livable space | Usually part of the dwelling, because it is already inside the house, including an attached garage the statute treats as part of that residence | That it is a junior unit, whether it has its own bath, and who will live there |
| Garage conversion | An existing garage turned into living space. A detached garage can become a detached ADU. An attached garage can become part of a junior unit | The garage may have been an other structure or part of the dwelling. Living space can move the limit from one section to the other | That it is no longer a garage, the new use, and the finished square footage |
Move from approved plans, to a form that fits the construction, to the certificate of occupancy, to an updated limit for the new square footage. Call before the work starts, and send the certificate when the city issues it. If the lot is in a high fire-hazard area, use the wildfire and FAIR Plan pages linked in this section before you bind the updated policy.
Declarations first. A detached casita on an other-structures line and a junior unit inside the dwelling line are different rows. The handbook's size figures describe statutory categories. The plans describe your unit.
Already have plans or a certificate of occupancy? Leave a number and Insurance City Agency, LLC, CA Lic #6003045, will call. Or call 209-670-1556.
La guía para quien busca aseguranza para casita en el patio, seguro de casa con ADU, un cuarto adicional o un garaje convertido.
A detached casita on your own lot is commonly listed as an other structure, and that limit is tied to the dwelling limit on the declarations. An attached ADU, or a junior unit inside the house, is commonly part of the dwelling itself. Read Coverage A and Coverage B on your declarations before you assume the new unit is already included.
Other structures, often called Coverage B, is the part of a homeowners policy for buildings on the residence premises that are not the dwelling. A detached garage, a shed, and a freestanding casita are the usual examples. The declarations print the limit, commonly a figure tied to the dwelling limit. The form says whether a finished ADU still belongs in that section.
Tell us before construction starts. A homeowners policy written for a finished house is a poor fit for an open job. The usual request is a course-of-construction endorsement or a builder's risk form for the work itself. Ask the contractor for a certificate of general liability and, when the crew is employed, workers' compensation. Those certificates insure the contractor, not the new building.
Once family moves into a finished ADU, homeowners liability for the premises usually still follows the property you own. Their furniture, clothes, and electronics are not your personal property. A renters policy in that person's name is the ordinary way to cover those belongings. Tell us who will live there so the occupancy on the policy matches the house.
Renting the ADU is a different use from housing family. A homeowners policy is written for the owner who lives on the property, and a tenant changes the occupancy a company wants to see. The rental conversation is on the landlord insurance page and the landlord-versus-homeowners page. Tell us before the first lease, not after a loss.
A detached ADU, an attached ADU, a junior ADU, and a garage conversion do not sit in the same place on a homeowners policy. Detached buildings are commonly other structures. Units inside or attached to the house are commonly part of the dwelling. A garage that becomes living space may need to move from one section of the policy to the other. Your declarations control.
Sources, October 21, 2026: HCD Accessory Dwelling Unit Handbook (March 2026), quoting Government Code sections 66310, 66313, 66323, 66325, and 66333.
Insurance City Agency, LLC, CA Lic #6003045. Call 209-670-1556 or use the form for a casita, ADU, JADU, or garage conversion on a California lot.
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