Homeowner Insurance Policy When Renovating

Hello,

For those of you that did gut renovations, did you do anything to alter your homeowner insurance policy before the renovations?

Second — how about after the renovations, when the value of the home went up? Did you get it re-assessed at a higher value in order for the coverage to go up?

-soundhoner

soundhoner

in General Discussion 6 years and 9 months ago

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murph | 6 years and 9 months ago

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Say nothing. Deny everything.

JenKG | 6 years and 9 months ago

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Try the Brownstone Agency. We have found their prices to be quite good and they provided construction insurance when we moved out for our Reno (renters insurance as well for our temporary place). I have used them for 14 years and can highly recommend.

ndupart | 6 years and 9 months ago

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We hope to do so but we are still in the midst of the renovation…

Guest User | 6 years and 9 months ago

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PierreMarron, did you go back to CHUBB after renovation? They’re expensive, but they tend to cover without a whole lot of hassle CityKitty, good point and thank you for the info – will be reaching out to them.

citykitty | 6 years and 9 months ago

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They don’t care if you’re nearby. If the home is vacant, they will insure it as such. When we did it, it did cost more than regular but I had the peace of mind that if something went wrong we were covered. Though I must say, they’re asking you for a bit much. Definitely shop around. I used City Building Owners Insurance Program
Stuart E. Cohen Ltd t/a Somers Agency
phone: (877) 576-5200
email: insure@stucohen.us

ndupart | 6 years and 9 months ago

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We have Chubb for our standard home insurance but under construction the cost went very high so we ended up with American Zurich Insurance. They did ask for no smoking signs and extinguishers throughout the site. They also asked for stamped and approved drawings for the structural work and ask for additional paperwork when we had to extend our policy period.

Guest User | 6 years and 9 months ago

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Soundhoner, we are staying very nearby during the construction and will be be present almost every day. Hopefully that will help.

soundhoner | 6 years and 9 months ago

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jhcovert, will you be home at all or periodically checking in (i.e. daily) during the reno period? Surely that must help the argument.

slopefarm | 6 years and 9 months ago

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If you have homeowner’s coverage and you don’t tell them about construction, you run the rtsk of disclaimer if something goes wrong. When we did renovated, our premiums were really high as they were adjusted for the additional risk, but only for the reno period and you can convince them to drop back down to regular homeowners coverage as you get down to punchlist items. We did not take out a separate builders risk policy.

Guest User | 6 years and 9 months ago

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It boggles the mind. We are not conducting a gut renovation, and yet, they are treating it as though our doors and windows will be wide open throughout the process. I’m about to begin talks with them in earnest and will report back as to how it shakes out.

soundhoner | 6 years and 9 months ago

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Wow. I’m glad I asked, jhcovert. I’m through Amica (which I don’t think is big in NYC). I’m nervous to even call and ask, but it looks like I most likely will. I’m confused at the idea of a temporary fire alarm or burglar system – what’s temporary about installing equipment and paying a service fee? Shudder.

Guest User | 6 years and 9 months ago

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We’re in the middle of dealing with this as well. We are currently insured through CHUBB and it ain’t cheap… they’re also telling us that when the reno well and truly begins the costs will go up for the duration of the construction (possibly 25%).

They’re insisting that we have a temporary fire alarm system installed as well as a temporary burglar alarm system ($?). They’ve also mandated that we install a LeakDefender system on our main water line ($3-5K including labor) in order to maintain coverage.

That’s all to say that yes, it would seem that doing things by the books will almost certainly (in our case) cost a lot more money.

I’m curious if these are demands that are commonly made by all or most other insurance companies. If so, it’s certainly a lot of money that we may not have budgeted for in the scheme of things. Life in the big city!