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April 8, 2009
Renovate and homeowner insurance
So we will be starting renovations shortly of our top two floors. We currently have insurance through the Brownstone Agency but it comes up for renewal in June.
What do people recommend here regarding what we should do with our insurance - I presume we tell BA about our renovations?
I suspect this means they will jack up rates or charge us extra during the renovations.
I just want to avoid any renewal problems or them claiming we didn't tell them about a condition that would affect our renewal.
If people have suggestions of alternatives, greatly appreciate it.
Comments
I did this a few times but not in NYC. The key usually is whether or not you will still be occupying the house (actually living in it) or not. How extensive are the renovations going to be?? Are you doing cosmetic work & replacing a kitchen or bath, or, are you completely gutting the two floors.
In the end you have to ask BA. You could start also by getting quotes from others as well. I had great service from Sylvia at State Farm (718)692-2500 when I switched from Chubb. I didn't talk to BA because I was switching multiple homes, some outside NYC, and wanted them all under the same carrier.
Posted by: daveinbedstuy at April 8, 2009 8:24 AM
Sunspot you want to make sure the contractor is carrying insurance for the duration of the construction too, specific to your project.
Posted by: Smokychimp at April 8, 2009 9:57 AM
Thanks for the responses. The contractor will be fully insured. The only issue is about my own insurance.
I just want to ensure I don't get into a quagmire here when my policy comes up for renewal.
I will be continuing to live in the full house. Just redoing the upper two floors which have not been updated for decades to bring up the electrical and other elements.
Posted by: sunspot19 at April 8, 2009 11:44 AM
Being under renovation should not affect your renewal status at all, especially if you're living there. You definitely do want to notify them of the work because there is an increased risk of fire and water damage during a reno, and they could deny the claim if something happens and you did not tell them you were doing work. They will probably charge to endorse the policy for the reno, but you can mitigate the upcharge if you agree to a higher deductible while the work is going on.
Chubb charged us a significant additional premium when we moved out during our reno, but as soon as we moved back in the additional charges were waived as of our move-in date, even though the work was/is still going on.
Posted by: zeebee_in_bklyn at April 8, 2009 1:41 PM
Make sure that you don't have any gaps in coverage...either in the amount of coverage, or in the scope of coverage. Some homeowner's policies exclude damage during construction because of the increased risk that construction can entail. You may need a builder's risk policy, or other additional coverage.
Also, you should really make sure BA actually looks at this thoroughly. I had a client a while back who used them, and added extra coverage. Then during construction the insurance company came by and said to the owner "this work is more extensive than brown. agency told us, and you're not covered. Pay us more or we'll cancel the extra coverage (but keep the premium you've paid)." That was despite the fact that BA had been sent complete plans and a very clear scope of work. Not a happy surprise for the owners.
Posted by: jcarch at April 8, 2009 9:42 PM
Echoing what others have said - check your policy and ask your broker. A lot of (most?) homeowner policies do not provide coverage during periods of construction (and how that is defined may vary policy to policy). I happened to be looking over my coverage this morning, and it does not provide construction-period coverage (though I don't know how they define that - since we aren't under construction, its moot). We got defined construction-period coverage when we did our renovation (through Pollack & Sons on Van Brunt).
Posted by: WBer at April 10, 2009 9:47 AM
What you're looking for is called Builders Risk insurance. Depending on the policy, it covers the structure during the renovation, and/or also the building materials waiting to be installed. I never heard of this until the bank doing our renovation loan required that we get it.
You'll have to call around for it because not every insurance company offers it. I contacted all of the biggies in my area (State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual) and none of them did Builders Risk insurance. Try Erie or Zurich.
Posted by: fromphilly at April 14, 2009 3:38 PM
I have a pending whole-house renovation and have just had this conversation with my insurer, which has been Brownstone Agency for the past 30 years. This is what they told me:
1. My policy is due for renewal now, so we should renew at the previous level of coverage until ...
2. Renovation is about to begin (in about 4 months), at which time they will issue a Builder's Risk insurance policy for the duration of the renovation. Then ...
3. When renovation is complete, we will revert to our previous insurance policy. That would be a good time to examine our coverage and see if it is adequate.
I also asked about level of coverage (replacement policy). They said they generally recommend coverage of $200/sq. ft. for non-landmarked buildings and $300/sq. ft. for landmarked buildings. I'm currently at the $200/sq. ft. level, will probably increase after the reno to a higher level, even though we aren't landmarked.
Policy does NOT include the land, which is generally valued at 10 percent of the property in the event of a whole-house loss.
I'll also be looking at other house insurance companies because I want to compare rates. Would appreciate suggestions from people who have had good experience with their insurers (this would be just house insurance -- we don't own a car or need other types of insurance).
Posted by: Silvermax at April 21, 2009 1:06 PM
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