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Without going into boring details, we have been living in a rural area for 4 years. I was “ok” with it until I had a difficult time get homeowner’s insurance for our completely paid for home. Seriously? Why is this such a difficult thing? Our house is made of steel. Roof and siding. Why is this an issue,
Ask the insurance company why, and contact others to see if they will insure you.
We got an absurdly high quote on fire insurance for a parcel (to build on) that we did not buy for various reasons. Yet the quote from another company was about half! The state I live in does not set insurance rates, so anything goes.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Perhaps the replacement cost is more than what they could collect in premiums? Steel costs are through the roof (pardon).
We just got notice of our new insurance rate, and it's $2,900 for the year. That's up $700 from last year, and they say due to the increased costs of labor, lumber and other materials.
Perhaps the replacement cost is more than what they could collect in premiums? Steel costs are through the roof (pardon).
We just got notice of our new insurance rate, and it's $2,900 for the year. That's up $700 from last year, and they say due to the increased costs of labor, lumber and other materials.
But aren’t home costs in general through roof? I don’t mind paying more, I’m simply having a difficult time getting insurance at all.
Homeowners insurance companies, in my experience, are looking for every reason, both reasonable and totally bogus, to avoid actually, you know, insuring. We had to get state mandated insurance-for-the-uninsurable when we moved to MA, because our dog bit someone who sued us, ten years before. Then when our dog died, they said we had to replace our roof. Before we could do that, our stable was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. They did do a moderate pay out on that. Then we replaced the roof, but they wouldn't reinsure us anyway because we had this big claim with the stable. What did they imagine, we were going to get our new stable struck by lightning again, because that's just the shiftless kind of people we are?
Gah. They also have a policy they can invoke, if they want, that they won't insure houses where you can't see your neighbors. We live on a FARM. In a FOREST. Nobody around here can see their neighbors.
My advice is to find an independent agency which will scout out a company for you. That's what we are doing and it does save some ulcers.
Homeowners insurance companies, in my experience, are looking for every reason, both reasonable and totally bogus, to avoid actually, you know, insuring. We had to get state mandated insurance-for-the-uninsurable when we moved to MA, because our dog bit someone who sued us, ten years before. Then when our dog died, they said we had to replace our roof. Before we could do that, our stable was struck by lightning and burned to the ground. They did do a moderate pay out on that. Then we replaced the roof, but they wouldn't reinsure us anyway because we had this big claim with the stable. What did they imagine, we were going to get our new stable struck by lightning again, because that's just the shiftless kind of people we are?
Gah. They also have a policy they can invoke, if they want, that they won't insure houses where you can't see your neighbors. We live on a FARM. In a FOREST. Nobody around here can see their neighbors.
My advice is to find an independent agency which will scout out a company for you. That's what we are doing and it does save some ulcers.
There are a few factors at work. Your first sentence states the obvious one. The second factor is that homeowner insurance companies have a captive market, since most homeowners have loans, and banks demand purchase of insurance that covers any possible loss to them as a lender. That makes for a type of servitude and fear of being dumped for making a claim. A third factor is the utter stupidity and carelessness of some homeowners, who create losses that affect all policyholders and cause rate increases. A fourth factor are the "professional" claimants, such as those who slip and fall intentionally at a pool party and then sue in hopes of a big payout.
Homeowner insurance is a relatively new product. Go back a hundred fifty years and it didn't exist. If a house burned, relatives and churches helped out those who had been decent citizens. With insurance, a good part of the rates get set because of the few policyholders who are making big claims or repeated claims. You, as a policyholder, are being held accountable for their stupidity and lack of foresight. (Build a house on a barrier island in hurricane country? Sure, why not? If insured and it gets destroyed, no big deal, right? )
Insurance is a for-profit business these days, now that the mutual insurances are about gone. Look at the potential for disaster from an actuarial point of view and, for some of us, homeowner insurance makes no sense. I dumped it completely when rates went up and an "act of g*d" clause got slipped in that eliminated my protection for loss from tornadoes. In effect, since I have my other bases covered, I would have been paying a policy premium with no reasonable possibility of the company helping if I did have a loss. I put the money I would have paid for premiums into security and fire protection. The state laws protect me against liability. If a tornado does take my place out I am actually AHEAD, since the insurance would not have covered it anyway, and I have all the thousands I would have spent on policies over the years.
Some people need homeowner insurance to protect their future from a financial disaster. Many of those, if not most, have purchased homes that are already a financial stretch and their largest investment, or are in situations that demand immediate reconstruction at whatever cost.
Without going into boring details, we have been living in a rural area for 4 years. I was “ok” with it until I had a difficult time get homeowner’s insurance for our completely paid for home. Seriously? Why is this such a difficult thing? Our house is made of steel. Roof and siding. Why is this an issue,
It has to do with risk. What's the risk there? There's a risk everywhere. In Dallas TX it's hail storms. In south coast areas, it's storms and hurricane disasters. On east coast, it's blizzards and hard freezes.
Or is that you are the risk? How many recent HO claims have you made?
So what's the risk? An ins. co. will insure anything, as long as there's not too much risk. Or do you mean there's insurance, but the cost isn't reasonable?
As for the house being made of steel, that's unusual. Maybe they don't have a way to estimate the cost of replacement, should something happen? Or their standard policies don't apply to anything but traditional brick & wood homes? What could happen that would seriously damage a steel house? Have you asked ins. cos. why they won't insure your home? Is it possible the cost of insurance would be greater than you replacing anything that could be damaged? My guess is they don't have a way to estimate replacement cost and assign a policy amount, and their standard policy language won't apply. But short of a tornado, would anything seriously damage your home?
Insurance companies often charge more for rural areas due to many having volunteer fire departments. Firefighting is considered less stable as the volunteers may not all be in town when something happens.
Check with other companies, see who your neighbors use.
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If insured and it gets destroyed, no big deal, right? 
