Insurance - Question

[GSPDOG]

So I was thinking today about insurance not for any special reason other than I am going to look into insurance beyond my current home insurance which no longer extends to the farm once I build any type of building on the property.   In my search for previous topics on the subject I came across DaBlacks wonderful build that went bad due to what sounds like a lighting strike.  His reality is a thing that keeps me awake at night.  I can only imagine the horror of pulling up on that scene and it concerns me as it would anyone here knowing the level of dedication work and money that goes into these builds that I would pull up to find my build burned to the ground or a call from the neighbor that it is burning.

So here is my question what are the experiences with insurance on the builds.  Considering my understanding of two recent points.

Insurance companies will not insure during the build process, and that some of you like me may find yourself looking for alternative insurance once you have built something because your current home owners policy no longer covers the property and only considers your coverage for your primary residence.

Curious to here what others have come across.

[rick91351]

I have went in to this before in some detail.  Now the dust is settling on the build I will say we are lucky we have an outstanding agent who watches out for us.  There is a little known branch of Farmers called Farmers Alliance that he has called upon several times and they have met our needs very reasonable. 

But I think the best thing I have found is not so much companies but agents.  We stick with the same one.  Been with this one now for about ten years the one before that about thirty and Farmers booted him and a handful of agents here.  Our policies were turned over to someone we had no knowledge of.  I contacted a agent we knew and had great knowledge of his competence and willingness to work for us.  He stays in contact with us.  He knew we were going to build contacted us and told us get a hold of his office the day before we turned the first shovelful of dirt.  Our construction policy would go into effect.  He even had a rider for all our personal possessions in storage during construction.  I told him straight out I was hiring an uninsured labor for a framer I was going to have a lot of exposure there.  He told me he had him covered but any subs or other labor do not even allow then on property unless they had their own insurance.  He could cover my framer.

Now we are close to final and he was up here taking photos and setting up that policy.  Sidebar in between agents we tried a couple internet insurance quotes.  I we were doing okay until they found out we had two fourwheelers.  Their underwriters did not feel warm and fuzzy  and would not even issue a quote.

[Patrick]

We just called our state farm agent they couldn't do it because the build is in a different state, so they gave us an agent in WI. It wasn't a big deal at all, They didn't care it wasn't finished they wanted to know square footage and what all the finished materials would be siding,heat,flooring etc. and valued the policy with those considerations 150k on the struture.And the liability is the same between both homes bobcat,trailer all my tools everything is insured as long as its on either property its another 30 dollars a month for the policy.

[jsahara24]

I currently have insurance on a cabin build project.  It took my agent a bit to find someone to cover me but the price is reasonable at $600/ year.   

I also had a small cabin and barn on the property so I previously had insurance.  Every milestone I up the insurance on the new build and they have been good to deal with so far.   

I even called them to add a wood stove to the policy and it wasn't a big deal and no premium change. 

I have another place that is sitting vacant and they are trying to charge me 1800$/year for insurance.   

Its possible and I believe it depends on the location and finding a good agent that is actually looking out for you.   

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2

[Dave Sparks]

It is not a good experience to try insure Offgrid in most cases.   It is a huge challenge to get financing.  It usually ends in my many experiences in the owner self-insuring the structure, building in phases, and getting liability coverage from an independent agent. 

Being Offgrid and in a remote beautiful location is a very desirable lifestyle, in my opinion.

[GSPDOG]

There is some good information here.  I think I am going to have to look for someone like you had Rick, local agent who will be willing to work with me.  It iis valuable to see and here from a wide variety of experience builders have had.

[GSPDOG]

It is not a good experience to try insure Offgrid in most cases.   It is a huge challenge to get financing.  It usually ends in my many experiences in the owner self-insuring the structure, building in phases, and getting liability coverage from an independent agent. 

Being Offgrid and in a remote beautiful location is a very desirable lifestyle, in my opinion.

I agree Dave on both point desirable and hard to get insured.