‘The road to true artist development is still a long one. Tenacity wins long-term.’
When RAYE released Escapism as an independent artist in October 2022, the song’s pan-European radio campaign was handled by UK-headquartered plugging specialist Propeller Communications.
Within months, it was charting in more than 20 European territories, before going on to hit No.1 on the UK Singles Chart in early 2023.
Three-and-a-half years later, Tom Rose’s company, now officially rebranded as GRAPE.VN (pronounced Grapevine), is still RAYE’s radio team across Europe.
And in 2026, with the now-superstar’s hit single Where Is My Husband! (Human Re Sources/The Orchard), GRAPE.VN delivered one of its most ambitious pan-EU results yet: Top 10 airplay in 18 markets.
“This would have previously been a huge investment and coordination job [for a distributor] to service that many markets,” Rose tells MBW. He explains that GRAPE.VN is “labelled as disruptive” because the firm doesn’t have “people on the ground in each country”.
Instead, GRAPE.VN employs “a team of polyglots,” who, according to Rose, “speak pretty much every language in Europe across our small team”.
He adds: “We still pick up the phone and try to visit every major station at least a couple of times per year, but we rely on great systems, clear communication of story, data that matters, and building respect with our connections to deliver results that previously were perhaps only attainable with on-the-ground promoters.”
After a decade of trading under the Propeller name, Rose is relaunching the company as a multi-service independent music business offering radio, PR, management, brand partnerships, and label services under a single roof.
“We’re much more than a radio company,” says Rose.
The radio arm, once the whole business and now one of five verticals, remains the engine.
Led by Head of Radio Espen Blödorn-Mentzoni, it delivered more than 300 placements in the top 200 airplay charts across 30 European countries in 2025, running campaigns for Gorillaz, Wunderhorse, MOLIY, WizTheMC, Sonny Fodera, Zerb and Swedish House Mafia. This year has already seen chart success for RAYE, The Neighbourhood, Justé, Sam Feldt and Prospa. Among the new clients are UK indie band Blossoms (for both radio and PR).
The company’s roots run back to 2014, when Norwegian indie label Propeller Recordings launched its UK operation with Rose at the helm. Two years in, while overseeing international marketing for the label, Rose grew frustrated that Propeller’s artists had music with genuine pan-European appeal, but that hiring top-tier radio pluggers in each individual market was expensive.
His response: over the course of a year, he and a small team scoured the European Broadcasting Union’s network of public radio stations and cold-built relationships with music heads, one by one. That contact base became the foundation of everything that followed.
By the time Rose exited as MD of Propeller Recordings in 2018 to launch his own label and management business, the radio arm he’d built had quietly become a pan-EU powerhouse. “People were tired of being ripped off by ineffective pluggers at the bottom end of the market and sky-high prices for effective pluggers,” he says.
The 2026 rebrand is, in essence, the formal unveiling of an operation that’s been quietly expanding for a couple of years already.
The new PR division is led by Michael Cleary (formerly of Beggars/XL, Sony/Columbia and WMA), and has already run campaigns for Jason Derulo, Blossoms, grandson, Master Peace, Claire Rosinkranz, and Island [Records UK]’s Westside Cowboy.
The management roster includes ADMT, who releases his debut LP From Good To Bad And Then Back Again via BMG on May 15 and is currently supporting Louis Tomlinson on a UK/European arena tour. Also on the roster: St. Lundi, co-managed in North America with ex-RCA Co-President Joe Riccitelli, who has amassed over 200 million streams. Dance/pop producer Marcus Wiles has also just been added.
On the label side, Finola Doran (Head of Rock and Alt on the radio team) now leads new imprint Fly Tip Records, whose recent signings include London trio Dead Air, fresh off a UK headline tour and a support slot with Skindred.
And through a JV with Lars Bendix Düysen, (a former VP of Partnerships at Sony Music GSA), who has overseen deals for the likes of Tate McRae and 21 Savage via his Bendix Entertainment business, GRAPE.VN is now offering pan-European artist brand partnerships. The first deal is set to go live in June, alongside “some huge seven-figure global deals in negotiation”, according to Rose.
The team has also just been bolstered by two appointments: New hire Lewis Cleaver, formerly of Sony Music, joins Rose on the management side, while long-time Propeller exec Kevin Benz continues to lead business development in his role as Director of Partnerships.
“WE’RE 100% INDEPENDENT, OPERATE ON OUR PROFITS AND ARE WELL KNOWN FOR OUR SPECIALISM. BUT WE’RE AMBITIOUS. OUR GOAL IS TO BE A BIG PLAYER WITHIN THE WIDER MUSIC SERVICES MARKET.”
TOM ROSE, GRAPE.VN
Here, Tom Rose tells MBW why now was the right moment to rebrand, why “disruptive” radio promotion in 2026 looks very different to the old plugger model, why PR still matters in the streaming age, and more…
PROPELLER HAS BEEN A KNOWN NAME IN EUROPEAN RADIO PROMOTION FOR OVER A DECADE. WHY REBRAND NOW, AND WHY GRAPE.VN?
We’ve discussed rebranding since 2018, but our focus is always on the services we offer first and foremost. Over the last 12 months, we’ve come a long way in the variety of services that we offer, working alongside some of the most reputable artists globally. It felt like an apt time to relaunch.
As for the new name, I like people questioning how it’s spelt, and it feels fun. It sums up what we aim to achieve: ‘I heard it through the grapevine…’
THE COMPANY ORIGINALLY GREW OUT OF PROPELLER RECORDINGS, THE NORWAY-BASED LABEL. HOW DID THE JOURNEY FROM LABEL OFFSHOOT TO STANDALONE, MULTI-SERVICE COMPANY UNFOLD, AND AT WHAT POINT DID YOU REALISE THE OLD NAME NO LONGER FIT?
We started as an offshoot of Propeller Recordings, but I left as MD of the label in 2018 to start my own label and management business. Although the CEO of Propeller Recordings is still a shareholder in the radio part of the business, we operate as totally different entities.
I was managing Au/Ra at the time and had a successful couple of years overseeing the release of Panic Room with CamelPhat and Darkside with Alan Walker. We also took on Seeb for management and delivered brilliant releases with artists like Bastille, and remixes for Taylor Swift.
The radio business was fundamentally built to service Propeller Recordings artists, but it soon became clear that there was a big demand for a pan-EU radio services company. People were tired of being ripped off by ineffective pluggers at the bottom end of the market and sky-high prices for effective pluggers. Our goal was to test the market before investing in territory-specific promo. Fast forward 10 years, and we’re now equally effective compared to top-tier pluggers across most markets in Europe.
In 2024, we started looking at other services we could offer. We’ve added pan-EU PR, a brand partnership JV, and we also take on artists and labels on a consultancy basis when we find super-smart people with a monster hit on their hands who haven’t run a label before, or artists with amazing songs who are in need of creative guidance.
THE CORE PROPOSITION OF GRAPE.VN IS BRINGING RADIO, PR, MANAGEMENT, LABEL SERVICES AND CONSULTANCY UNDER ONE ROOF. WHY DOES THAT MATTER IN 2026, AND WHAT’S THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF BUNDLING THESE SERVICES?
The competitive advantage is the sheer breadth of our work and contact base. We work with pretty much everyone in one capacity or another. We see how hits are made, not six months ago, but today, and how artists are successfully developed. We’re aware of touring opportunities and are able to present appealing options both to and for our clients.
It’s clear that the road for true artist development is still a long one. You can make shortcuts with breakthrough songs and opportunity, but tenacity wins long-term.
WHERE ARE YOU SEEING THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES IN EUROPE RIGHT NOW, AND WHICH MARKETS ARE THE HARDEST TO CRACK?
From a radio perspective, Poland is often viewed as a wildcard, but it’s a really key market for us.
We’ve worked several No.1 airplay records over there in the last couple of years, and it always has a tangible effect on overall consumption.
“Things don’t happen overnight, but when you have enough of a story, things can really catch fire.”
France is often seen as a tricky market, as is the UK. However, French radio networks just need to be approached at the right time. Things don’t happen overnight, but when you have enough of a story, things can really catch fire, like we’re starting to see with RAYE in France currently.
HOW DO YOU IDENTIFY WHICH VIRAL TRACKS HAVE GENUINE POTENTIAL AT RADIO, AND WHAT’S YOUR HIT RATE?
For us, it’s the case of trial and error, informing our strategy moving forward. Some genres are very hard in Europe. As a rule, you need pace, a big moment in the first 60 seconds and a build throughout the song that leads the listener to want to listen again. Sometimes that can vary [if] the consumption data is so strong, or it’s a specialist record looking for tastemaker support. But for hits, it’s a bit of a formula.
“For hits, it’s a bit of a formula.”
We’ve worked some hugely successful songs that have attained hundreds of thousands of spins, and sometimes it just doesn’t work. Radio networks do a lot of testing, so we can start strong in a market by selling wider consumption data, and then the song tests badly on a playlist.
We’re honest about expectations. People can always send us music and we’ll give our best input on the record. We say no to a lot of songs. We value our contacts on both sides, so we only take on music that we believe has some sort of commercial potential across our network.
THERE’S A LONG-RUNNING DEBATE ABOUT WHETHER RADIO STILL MATTERS IN THE STREAMING AGE. WHERE DO YOU STAND, AND WHAT DOES THE DATA TELL YOU ABOUT RADIO’S ROLE IN BREAKING RECORDS ACROSS EUROPE TODAY?
It’s all important. PR was seen as becoming irrelevant, but tastemakers help build tribes around artists, and this affects streaming, as algorithms scan press to identify artists’ true popularity. Radio is the same. If you get one or two plays on a college radio station in Germany, you won’t see any impact. But if that’s all you’re getting, there’s a chance that the music is not connecting anyway.
“PR was seen as becoming irrelevant, but tastemakers help build tribes around artists, and this affects streaming, as algorithms scan press to identify artists’ true popularity.”
If you have multiple mainstream radio playlists on networks across a market, this will build awareness of the song and artist. It will send people to consume on other platforms, help those revered algorithms and have a tangible effect on live within the market.
Across Europe, it’s part of the mix and has value. A prime example is Europe’s biggest market, Germany. Their airplay chart is where a lot of hits start across most genres outside of domestic rap. Likewise, having your song in high rotation at VRT Studio Brussel will lead to mainstream recognition and sold-out shows in Belgium. Fact.
THE PR ARM IS RELATIVELY NEW. YOU’VE ALREADY WORKED ON JASON DERULO’S PAN-EUROPEAN TOUR, THE NEW BLOSSOMS CAMPAIGN AND EMERGING ACTS LIKE WESTSIDE COWBOY AND CLAIRE ROSINKRANZ. WHAT GAP IN THE MARKET DID YOU SEE THAT MADE YOU WANT TO BUILD THIS IN-HOUSE?
We were asked time and time again about PR. If an artist is playing a summer run of festivals, there will be press opportunities in every market, and we can help to maximise awareness.
If you’re a cool indie band with buzz in your market, there are outlets to bring along to your first shows. A good example is Island’s Westside Cowboy, who had a great press run into their most recent EP, then supported Geese, and there’s now a lot of anticipation towards their debut LP.
There are of course many artists that don’t fit into the press landscape in Europe. There are fewer outlets in each market. With a huge amount of international experience, we’re well-positioned to tell teams what will work and won’t, and we pass on as much as we take on.
It took us a while to find the right person, but we partnered with Michael Cleary, formerly of Beggars/XL, Sony/Columbia and WMA, to lead the PR business. He understands the craft of building a story and how to communicate it.
ADMT IS RELEASING HIS DEBUT LP IN MAY AND SUPPORTING LOUIS TOMLINSON ON A UK/EUROPEAN ARENA TOUR. TELL US ABOUT THE A&R JOURNEY WITH HIM.
I discovered ADMT at one of his first shows. He wrote a song called Man Now, a powerful record about not having a strong father figure in his life. We released his first record in the first month of lockdown in 2020, and it’s been a long road to where we are now. We’ve had a few false starts, but we licensed his music to Jamie Nelson [SVP, new recordings] at BMG [in the UK].
We work with their team a lot and I love their attitude towards artist development. It’s a can-do approach that sometimes feels rare in larger companies, especially if you want to be international with your artists.
They live up to their promises and have really invested in upping the game for ADMT. I can’t wait for his debut album to drop next month. Our own EU tour in May/June will be sold out over the next week or so, so it’s exciting times for sure.
ARE THERE OTHER MANAGEMENT SIGNINGS IN THE PIPELINE? WHAT DOES THE IDEAL GRAPE.VN MANAGEMENT CLIENT LOOK LIKE?
Another priority is St. Lundi, who we’ve been developing since 2020. We’ve worked in the indie space with him and amassed 200 million streams. Whilst we’ve not had a ‘hit’ yet, we’re building nicely and have partnered with Joe Riccitelli, ex-President of RCA, for management in North America.
He’s about to record three EPs in three cities over the next 18 months, in LA, Nashville and Stockholm, embedding himself in the creative communities of each. He just sold out 18 of 20 shows on his recent UK/EU tour last month, so there’s great momentum on his side as well.
We’ve also set up Fly Tip Records with Finola Doran, our Head of Rock and Alt, and have a brilliant band called Dead Air just starting to tour Europe, plus a talented dance/pop producer called Marcus Wiles, who’s managed by our Director of Partnerships, Kevin Benz.
We’re looking for talent that has no ceiling, and we’re willing to invest the time needed to build a business around each artist. As such, we can’t take a lot on, but we’ve just appointed Lewis Cleaver, ex-Sony, similarly tenacious, with a good amount of experience in emerging markets, to work with me on the management department.
We’re definitely up for expanding the roster under his oversight and also partnering with non-UK/EU managers who want to make deep connections into Europe for their artists.
YOU’VE RECENTLY PARTNERED WITH LARS BENDIX, SVP OF BRAND PARTNERSHIPS AT SONY GSA, THROUGH BENDIX ENTERTAINMENT, TO OFFER PAN-EUROPEAN ARTIST BRAND PARTNERSHIPS. HOW DID THAT RELATIONSHIP COME ABOUT?
I met Lars on a promo run in Germany. He’s got 20-plus years of experience in the cultural marketing space with brands, and the company he’s building is unique in offering an empirical solution to artist and brand partnerships. I’d not seen something like this before.
That, and the fact he’s got real gravitas in the space (having overseen huge global partnership deals for artists like Tate McRae, 21 Savage and many others) really excited me. He’s also a warm character and fun to work with.
We’re growing a powerful network of connections in the brand and agency space. Our first partnership with a Red Light artist and pan-EU brand is set to go live in June, alongside some huge seven-figure global deals in negotiation. We’re unaffiliated with agencies and labels, so we focus solely on the right artists for each project with no bias. Between Lars and I, there’s no barrier to conversations on both sides of the table.
WHERE DO YOU WANT GRAPE.VN TO BE IN TWO YEARS’ TIME, IN TERMS OF ROSTER SIZE, REVENUE AND REPUTATION?
We’d like to grow our revenue without taking on a million and one new artists. We’d like to build scale by building the careers of our artists.
Maybe a couple more signings, and some partnerships with larger artists wanting a UK/EU home. We want to form more relationships with innovative service providers that can add to our offering. There are some projects in other spaces that are just starting out as well, so our reputation and revenue will continue to strengthen.
IF THERE WAS ONE THING YOU COULD CHANGE ABOUT THE MUSIC BUSINESS IN 2026, WHAT WOULD IT BE AND WHY?
Inequality, and the lack of opportunities for artists from limited means. Whilst there are breakthroughs and viral sensations, for an artist to invest the time and money needed to build a business for themselves, it feels harder and harder to do so when you’re from a less wealthy background.
To take time off work to tour, the sheer cost of recording and marketing your music properly is not for the faint of heart. It must be next to impossible for anyone on a lower income level to feed themselves while making the investment to break through.
This is bad for music because talent isn’t solely an attribute of wealth.
There are some initiatives that we’ve benefited from in the UK, such as the BPI‘s amazing MEGS scheme, which supported St. Lundi. He left his hometown at 21 with just £50 in his bank account and built a life from scratch on his own.
I’d like to see some of these schemes properly means-tested for generational wealth. I’ve no idea how that could happen, but the reality is it takes a lot more than £50k to fully nurture talent. There are a lot of things I could mention, but financial inequality for artists is at the top.
Music Business Worldwide
The New Demands of Optimal Execution
In traditional markets, institutional order flow is largely anonymized. Large positions are not directly visible, and while other participants may infer activity, they usually cannot observe exactly where a position becomes vulnerable.
Decentralized finance changes this. On some blockchain-based trading platforms, positions, leverage, and liquidation thresholds can be visible in real time. In effect, other market participants can see where forced buying or selling may occur.
That transparency creates a more adversarial execution environment. A trader who identifies a large position near its liquidation threshold has a clear incentive to push prices toward that level, trigger forced liquidation, and profit from the resulting order flow. In most traditional markets, conduct of that kind would raise obvious manipulation concerns. In decentralized markets, however, it can arise directly from the market’s design.
The same problem also runs in reverse. A trader executing a large order must consider not only their own price impact, but also whether their trading could trigger liquidation cascades in other positions, moving the market much further than intended and worsening their own execution.
In stress scenarios, a third layer of risk appears. If exchange insurance funds are exhausted, loss-allocation mechanisms such as auto-deleveraging can force healthy counterparties to absorb losses from positions they did not initiate. Execution in that setting depends not only on modeling one’s own impact, but also on understanding the incentives of other participants and the rules by which the venue redistributes risk under stress.
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You should pick your credit card perks like Warren Buffett picks his stocks, TD Bank exec says
If you’re a Boglehead like myself, you can talk endlessly about the compounding powers of the three-fund “lazy portfolio”: some bonds, some domestic stocks, and some international ones. Set it and forget it; never look at it again until you need to. If you don’t feel comfortable with the three-fund portfolio, you might want to get a financial advisor who can pick specific stocks for you for an AUM. The opportunity cost is in your head: For a low-expense ratio, you can have some ETFs that fit the three-fund portfolio, or you can shove all decision-making onto an advisor who will charge more to manage your portfolio.
If you’re a Warren Buffett aficionado, you’ll recognize this as his ever-touted “circle of competence,” in which you stick to what you know and leave what you don’t know to those, well, who know. Invest in what you understand and on things that have long-term value, and leave the frequent trading and market volatility to those who know what they’re doing.
It seems as if the king of compounding’s philosophy might not just work for investing but also for picking credit cards—and the perks you get with them.
At least that’s according to Chris Fred, TD Bank’s head of credit cards and unsecured lending, who said sometimes, points chasing (or “churning,” as those in the know call it) might prove too difficult for the average person.
“Just like Warren Buffett says to buy the index fund, a good flat‑rate card often wins out over all the fancy bonus categories,” Fred told Fortune.
The concept is simple, à la Buffett: If you know what you’re doing, you are fully encouraged to open several cards, each with various amounts of points or cash back per category. If you don’t, you should stick to the “circle of competence” and opt for a blanket cash-back card so you’re not trying to day trade at the checkout counter.
Churning, as a concept
Churning, although a fairly new (within the last three decades) concept with regard to credit cards, might be as old as personal finance itself. You might remember the App-O-Rama days of the aughts, in which people tried to fool financial institutions by opening multiple credit cards at once so as not to tank one’s credit score with each pull.
In 1999, David Phillips brought churning to the mainstream by taking advantage of a pudding promotion to earn over 1.25 million frequent-flier miles. (For what it’s worth, credit card perks had just started—take a blast from the past and go though the 2003 web page of Amex’s offerings to see the beginnings of credit card perks). In the 1900s, banks would encourage folks to open savings accounts with a free $100 or so deposit. And even in the 700s and onwards, people were purchasing silver coins at face value and turning them into the mint in England for new coins, worth more than their initial purchasing price.
Long story short, churning, in various forms, has been around for a while. In the credit card world, the r/churning subreddit boasts nearly 30,000 weekly visitors, and even has a whole FAQ section about dissuading the average person from engaging in churning, offering several reasons that Fred agrees with.
“People think, ‘I can always beat that 2%.’ On average, they don’t,” Fred said.
Fred referenced TD Bank’s three credit card offerings, which include 2% cash back on everything, and another base 1% cash back on everything in addition to 2% to 3% cash back on select categories. When compared with other card issuers that have cardholders deliberating over which card to use at the pump versus the restaurant table, Fred said, the mental math just isn’t worth it for the average consumer, especially when they never end up beating the blanket 2% cash back they are guaranteed to get with other cards.
Take, for example, a premium card that offers 4x on dining but only 1x on pharmacies and basic goods. It offers 3x on groceries, 1.5x on travel, but not transportation. The points on dining and groceries may very well exceed the 2% cash back from other cards, but it would be offset by the 1x and 1.5x elsewhere. Then add in those with multiple cards, and you have cardholders who, Fred joked, would need to constantly refer to a spreadsheet to ensure they are getting the most bang for buck—when a blanket 2% cash back would leave the cardholder without a care in the world knowing they’re getting the most they’ll get.
Add in the annual fees
That’s just the points/cash-back debate. Add in the exorbitant annual fees, and it really becomes a race to use all of your cards’ perks.
“The higher the fee, the more benefits you tend to have,” Fred said. “It’s a dangerous proposition: You’d better start using those benefits, or it’s going to be really hard to justify the fee.”
Some of these cards can cost nearly $1,000—but are marketed as being worth thousands more in perks, only if the cardholder remembers to use it accordingly. Use one card and get a monthly takeout or rideshare credit; use another and get a semiannual hotel bonus or early access to restaurant reservations or exclusive sporting events.
These are designed in a way to discourage using them, Fred said. There’s a reason you have to opt into an offer on your credit card’s portal instead of it being automatically applied as a bill credit. And it’s also the reason that keeps customers coming back.
“Those customers are sticky. They know they’re spending a certain amount each year in annual fees, so they’re vested,” Fred said.
A recent Merry Money Survey by TD Bank found 79% of consumers are actively seeking coupons, sales, and deals, while 72% of credit card users planning to use a card for holiday spending expect to apply rewards toward those purchases. Those offers, Fred said, might be how some even budget their credit card spend.
It gets complicated by the third-party partners who also offer perks to cardholders, which then is how card issuers and cardholders justify the high annual fee.
“They believe they’re going to get a good deal if they keep that card and use it—and that’s what makes these ecosystems so powerful,” Fred said.
How the Walkman, Game Boy, Liquid Death, and Pokémon Became Surprise Hits
The best innovations aren’t always cutting edge.
Financial Advisors React to the BEST and WORST Tax Advice
Death and taxes, everybody’s favorite subjects, right? We react to the internet’s best and worst tax advice, from W-4 withholding formulas to Monopoly kids crying about taxes and more.
Discover why becoming a real estate professional offers incredible tax advantages, how cost segregation really works, and the critical difference between tax avoidance (Okay!) and tax evasion (NO way!). Plus, we break down what happens when you don’t file taxes for 8 years and why the IRS will eventually come knocking.
Timestamps
0:00 Introduction: Internet Tax Advice
0:19 W-4 Withholding Strategy
2:46 Monopoly Kid Crying About Taxes
3:39 Never Pay Tax Again Strategy
5:44 Cost Segregation Paper Loss Strategy
7:36 Work Call-In Joke
7:43 Tax Refunds Aren’t Free Money
9:00 Business Owner vs. W-2 Employee
10:26 Sheltering 66% of Income
12:21 Not Filing Taxes for 8 Years
🔗 2026 Tax Guide →
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🎓 Brian Preston (CFP®, CPA) and Bo Hanson (CFA®, CFP®) share professional insights to help you own your financial future.
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What to Do When Your Carrier Drops You in 2026
So you open the mail, and there it is: a letter from your insurance company, letting you know it won’t be renewing your landlord policy. There’s been no claims, missed payments, or drama. Just a polite notice that come renewal, you’re on your own.
If you’re investing in real estate in 2026, this is becoming the new normal. Premiums are up 20% to 40% in key investment states like Florida, California, and Texas. Major carriers are quietly exiting entire ZIP codes. And investors who have been with the same company for a decade are suddenly being told to find coverage somewhere else.
At this point, most investors make a huge mistake: they panic and scramble to replace the policy as quickly as possible, usually with whatever carrier their agent throws at them first. They match the old coverage limits, pay the higher premium, and move on without asking a single question.
That’s a mistake. Nonrenewal is a forced opportunity; it’s the insurance industry telling you that the coverage you had was probably wrong for your rental anyway, and that now is the moment to fix it.
I’ll break down exactly why carriers are dropping landlords right now, the 30-day action plan to follow the second you get the letter, and how to use nonrenewal as a chance to come out with better coverage than you had before.
Why carriers are dropping investors right now
To fix the problem, you first need to understand why it’s happening. This is less about you and more about an entire industry going through a massive reset. So what’s driving it?
Climate risk is getting priced in for real
Carriers used to spread catastrophic loss exposure across huge books of business. Now, after back-to-back years of record hurricane damage, wildfire losses, and brutal hail seasons, the math has changed. The reinsurance companies that back your insurance company are charging dramatically more, and those costs are cascading straight down to you.
Reinsurance costs are up significantly
When reinsurance premiums jump, carriers have two options: raise rates or stop underwriting in high-risk areas. In 2026, they’re doing both.
Older housing stock is getting flagged
Properties built before 1980 are getting scrutinized hard right now for items like aging roofs, outdated electrical, polybutylene plumbing, and knob-and-tube wiring. These trigger nonrenewals even if you’ve never filed a claim.
Generalist carriers are retreating
Big-name companies that sell homeowner’s, auto, life, and landlord policies are pulling back from investor properties altogether. They’ve decided rental properties are too complicated, risky, or too small a slice of their business to fight for.
Specialist carriers are expanding
While generalists run for the hills, investor-focused carriers are stepping in. They understand rental property risk because that’s all they do, and they’re writing policies in markets the big names won’t touch.
Getting dropped isn’t personal but rather a structural shift in the insurance industry. And it’s actually pointing you toward better coverage if you know how to respond.
The 30-day action plan after you get the letter
OK, so you’ve got the letter in your hand. What now? The next 30 days matter a lot. Here’s exactly how to handle it.
Day 1 to 3: Confirm what you’re actually dealing with
Nonrenewal and cancellation are not the same thing. Nonrenewal means they’ll honor your policy through the end of the term and just won’t renew it. You have time to shop. Cancellation mid-policy is much rarer and usually triggered by fraud, nonpayment, or a significant change in risk.
Read the letter carefully, and note the exact end date.
Day 4 to 10: Gather your paperwork
Before you call a single new carrier, pull together:
- Your current declarations page (shows your actual coverage limits)
- Your claims history for the past five years
- Your CLUE report, which is a loss history report that carriers pull to evaluate you
- Any recent inspection reports, roof certifications, or upgrade receipts
The more organized you are, the better your quotes will be.
Day 11 to 20: Get at least three quotes
Do not take the first quote your agent sends. Get quotes from at least three carriers, and make sure at least one of them is an investor-focused specialist, not just another generalist.
Pay attention to what’s different between the quotes, not just the premium. Coverage limits, deductibles, vacancy clauses, and liability caps can vary wildly, and a cheaper policy might have gaping holes.
Day 21 to 30: Bind before the gap
Do not let your current policy lapse before the new one starts. Even a one-day gap can trigger lender issues, void coverage for claims during the gap, and cause rates to spike permanently.
Bind the new policy with a start date that lines up with your old policy’s end date. Confirm in writing.
What not to do:
- Panic buy
- Let the policy auto-lapse
- Match your old coverage without asking whether it was the right coverage to begin with
The hidden upgrade opportunity most investors miss
This is the point where a lot of investors leave money on the table. When they replace a nonrenewed policy, they just try to match what they had before. Same limits, deductible, everything, just with a new carrier.
But the policy you had was probably wrong for a rental property in the first place. Many investors, especially those who’ve been in the game a while, are still operating under homeowner’s policies that were stretched to cover their rentals. Or they’re on landlord policies written by generalist carriers who don’t really understand how investors operate.
So what are they missing? Here are the most common coverage gaps.
Loss of rent coverage
If your property gets damaged and becomes uninhabitable, does your policy pay you for the rent you’re losing during repairs? A lot of policies don’t, or cap it at embarrassingly low limits. This is one of the most important coverages for an investor, and one of the most commonly missed. Loss of rent coverage is essential for landlords to ensure there are no gaps in income when something happens to their property.
Vacancy clauses that kill coverage
Many policies automatically void or restrict coverage if your property sits vacant for 30 or 60 days. If you’re doing BRRRR, flipping, or turning over between tenants, this can quietly wipe out your protection right when you need it most.
Ordinance or law coverage
If your 1970s rental burns down, your policy might pay to rebuild it exactly as it was. But current building codes require upgraded electrical, plumbing, and insulation.
Without ordinance or law coverage, that gap comes out of your pocket. And it’s not small. We’re talking $15,000 to $50,000 on a typical single-family home.
Replacement cost vs. actual cash value
A replacement cost policy pays to rebuild at today’s prices. An actual cash value (ACV) policy pays the current depreciated value, which can be 40% to 60% less. Many older policies default to ACV without the investor realizing it.
Liability limits that haven’t kept up with reality
If your policy still has a $100,000 or $300,000 liability cap, that’s probably inadequate given today’s legal environment. Consider bumping your liability coverage to $500,000 or $1 million, and look at umbrella coverage.
Nonrenewal forces you to shop. And when you shop with intention, you can fix years of accumulated coverage problems in one move.
How to protect yourself from future nonrenewals
Now let’s talk prevention. If you don’t change anything, you might just get dropped again by your new carrier in three years. Here’s what actually keeps carriers happy.
Manage your claims frequency
Every claim you file gets logged in your CLUE report for up to seven years. Small claims, especially ones under $2,000, often cost you more in premium increases and nonrenewal risk than they save you.
Save your insurance for major losses. Eat the small stuff.
Document proactive maintenance
Things like roof inspections, HVAC tune-ups, plumbing updates, and electrical upgrades all matter. Keep a folder of photos, receipts, and inspection reports for each property. When a carrier considers not renewing you, this documentation makes a real difference.
Consolidate with one specialist carrier
Scattering your properties across five different insurance companies feels diversified, but it actually hurts you. A single specialist carrier that insures your whole portfolio has skin in the game with you. It will be more likely to work through renewal conversations and less likely to drop you over a single claim.
Switch away from stretched homeowner’s policies
If any of your rentals are insured under a homeowner’s policy, fix that immediately. Not only are those policies cheaper because they don’t actually cover rental activity, but they can also be voided entirely the moment a carrier discovers you have tenants.
The goal is to build a coverage strategy that matches how you actually invest, then document your stewardship so carriers want to keep you around.
Why Steadily is built for this moment
So, where does Steadily fit into all of this? While generalist carriers are pulling back from landlord insurance, Steadily is leaning in. It’s a specialist carrier, which means landlord insurance is all it does.
That focus shows up in how it underwrites and writes policies. Steadily’s coverage is designed from the ground up for investors, not repurposed homeowner’s coverage with a few endorsements tacked on. It covers single-family rentals, multifamily properties, short-term rentals, and fix-and-flip projects across all 50 states.
The quote process is fast. We’re talking minutes, not days. You can get an online quote, upload documentation, and bind coverage without endless phone tag or paper forms. For investors juggling closings, renewals, and rehab timelines, speed matters.
It also handles coverages that generalist carriers routinely miss and that investors actually need, such as:
And Steadily is growing for a reason. It was named by CNBC as one of the best landlord insurance companies of 2026. It raised $30 million in Series C funding in 2025 at a valuation over $350 million, and it’s integrated with over 400 real estate platforms, including BiggerPockets, Roofstock, and TurboTenant. That growth is because investors are actively switching to it from the generalist carriers they used to rely on.
If you’ve just been non-renewed or your renewal quote just spiked 40%, this is exactly the moment Steadily was built for. Instead of patching together another short-term fix, you can use this transition to upgrade to coverage that was designed for how you actually invest.
Take action before your policy lapses
Don’t wait until your policy expires to figure this out. Every day you wait is a day your portfolio sits exposed.
Get a free quote from Steadily today and see what specialist landlord coverage actually looks like. A few minutes now could save you thousands in coverage gaps, premium hikes, and the kind of stress that comes with finding out your policy didn’t do what you thought it did.
Costco Visa: Vacation To Mexico & Costa Rica, Get 15% Back Costco Shop Card
The Offer
Direct Link to offer
- Use your Costco Anywhere Visa Card by Citi to book an eligible vacation package to Mexico or Costa Rica between 4/20/26 and 5/3/26 for travel through 7/31/26, and enter promo code CTMC26 at checkout to receive a Digital Costco Shop Card valued at 15% of your total package price. In addition, you can earn 3% cash back rewards on Costco Travel purchases by using your Costco Anywhere Visa Card to pay.
The Fine Print
- Not valid for cruises, rental cars, hotel (room-only) reservations, guided vacations or any other specialty vacation products.
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Our Verdict
Maybe someone will find this useful. Feel free to analyze in the comments below.
Hat tip to reader Rebecca