What is the difference between a dwelling policy and a homeowner’s policy?

A home insurance policy will provide 3 types of coverage: structure, liability, and personal. The buildings on the property are protected against such things as fire and storm damage, liability coverage protects against injury claims or claims related to instance such as your tree falling on a neighbor's home, and personal coverage protects against the loss of personal property contained at that location. These three types of coverage are standard in a homeowner's policy, but not in other types of home coverage, such as a dwelling policy.

A dwelling policy is also referred to as Second Home insurance. It does not provide liability of personal property coverage, but simply insures the structures on the property against loss and damage. Liability coverage can be added cheaply to protect you from injury claims. Similarly, you want to look at landlord's insurance, which provides structure and liability coverage, but does not provide any coverage for personal property at that location. If the home should burn down, it will be covered but the property of your tenants would not, unless they had property insurance of their own.