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I am having trouble finding fire, casualty and liability insurance for a house that I own and that I am in the process of major renovation. This house is un-occupied and that seems to be the rub. I have tried the company that insures my personal home and several agents. Any suggestions?
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Daniel,
Could this be covered under a builder's risk policy? I'm no insurance expert but a BR policy covers buildings under construction (renovation too maybe?) that are essentially unoccupied.
Just a thought that you may approach agents with instead of calling it a "homeowners style policy".
Mike
*Daniel,I'm in the insurance business in Georgia. Most Builder's Risk carriers will not take a project like this, and it's very difficult to find coverage for a vacant house. The insurance company stands to loseit's shirt to vandalism, etc. Frankly, they'd be foolish to take it, from a business point of view.All this leads to the following . . . most states have "fair access to insurance" laws, commonly known as the Fair Plan. In Georgia, our state entity,The Georgia Underwriting Association, would write this for one year as a rehab. They will not renew a rehab policy for a second year. The rates are quite reasonable. Ask your Personal Lines agent about it, and if he doesn't know about it, call an Independent Agent that writes for several different companies.Good luck. Greg.
*Greg, thanks for the reply. I'll check it out. Can you or any one explain why a renovation is any different than a new home in terms of risk to an insurance company? I was a full time homebuilder for about eight years and I never had problems getting Builders Risk policies. I even had a spec home that sat completed, unsold and unoccupied for over a year. This project seems the same to me except that I am starting with a shell sitting on a foundation instead of a piece of dirt.
*> Can you or any one explain why a renovation is any different than a new home in terms of risk to an insurance company?For the fun of it, I'm just guessing here...Wouldn't an old vacant house constitute an attractive nuisance much more than a brand new as yet unsold house?Still seems weird though.Rich Beckman
*I also am renovating another house and Nationwide added it as a rider to my present policy. Fire and liability it's cheap.