insuance problems in maine

[maineman]

Hi,I'm new to this site I just found it and I think it's great.I'm building a small house in western maine (oxford county) and I'm having a very hard time finding a Insurance co. that will insure a home owner acting as the genral contractore/builder has anyone had this problem?or is there anyone from maine that could give me a refural thanks,scott

[Cal]

Scott,

I bought land in Friendship, ME with only a three car garage on site.  The  Allen Ins. Agency Camden/Rockland said I need commercial insurance to cover the property.  That was fine for a few years but then the insurance company carrying the coverage decided it was no longer a risk they wanted (no claims).

The agency looked around and said they couldn't find coverage and told me to check with my home owners insurance.  My out of state home owners insurace didn't cover Maine, but gave me the number for the State Farm agent in Rockland.

State Farm only had a problem trying to establish valuation but we agreed on an amount that I was able to double last year as the place nears completion.

So I don't know if State Farm is easier to work with or if they helped me out because they insured other property of mine.

Good luck and keep looking,

Cal

[khalif_williams]

Hi Scott,

I'll be crossing this bridge soon.  I'm building in Brooksville (Hancock County, Maine) soon.  All I can say is that early in my planning stages of the cabin I'm about to build, I spoke with AAA Travelers in Bangor and the guy pretty much oked insurance over the phone for my un-built building with "me and some carpenter friends" planning to do the whole thing, and just a basic description of the house and square footage.  And wood heat back-up was no problem.  

Just a thought.  The office I spoke with was in Bangor.

Good luck and let me know what you find out!

Best,
K. Williams

[Amanda_931]

My insurance guy and I had a talk the other day.

Pier foundations add, with the companies he uses anyway, about 40 per cent per year to the insurance cost.  This could be an issue for me, if I spend all my money on the house, have to live on my pension (let's not even try it!).

Built in masonry stoves, fireplaces are OK, wood stoves are "eeeuuuu"

And he's got two companies that write insurance on in-process houses.  But I did forget to ask what all they cover.  

One, non-renewable, for one year is about $300.  The other, renewable, is almost that for six months or whatever.

We're not sure about straw bale.

But it looks like a heated flue bench is going to count as a masonry stove.  It's certainly massive enough.  

I'm not anywhere near Maine, but surely other people have some insurance questions and problems.

[DavidLeBlanc]

I'd love to know why a pier foundation increases costs so much!

[glenn kangiser]

With insurance companies, any excuse is better than no excuse

A guess though-- earthquake could shake off a pier foundation easier than a full foundation