Insurance on DIY house?

[MushCreek]

I figure there would be people on here who have literally built their own house from the ground up. I've heard it can be hard to get homeowner's insurance if you build your own house-true? I plan to do a lot of the work on my new place, if not build the whole thing, and we couldn't afford a total loss if something happened- we have to have insurance. What have your experiences been?

[RiverPines]

My MIL's house was hand built, father and son, from the ground up!
They have it insured for its retail value.
All they had to do was hire an assessor.

And the tax man has no prob finding value in the property either!

Heck, add a room to an existing house and you can have the value of that room added to your policy...without even needing an assessor.
You also pay more in your premium for more coverage.

[Jerngen]

All the insurance assessors I've had out ever do is measure the square footage, and walk through to make sure there's no obvious hazard/damage. Always here and gone within 5 minutes. No one has ever asked me how the house was built?

[Batt]

Can you still buy insurance in Florida? I was my own general contractor and architect, didn't have any problems with bank (they just wanted plans), tax assessor( they just wanted money) or insurance agent (see tax assessor). Insurance agent was here 10-15 minutes tops.

[halfpint]

We built our house 20 years ago, although we subbed a lot of the items out. At that time our county didn't have a building code, but we built it to exceed the codes of the county near us. We have changed insurance several times to get better rates, and a few of those times they have asked who the builder was, and have had to appraise it because we built it. However, every appraiser has commented on how well built it was, so we've never had a problem.

Our biggest problem was when our fire department rating was a 9, some of the insurance companies wouldn't even talk to us. When the fire department got upgraded to a 5 or 6 it was much easier to get insurance.

Dawn

[LisaInN.Idaho]

We built our house and barn completely by ourselves and we had no problem getting insurance thru our regular insurer, State Farm.

[MushCreek]

Thanks for the words of encouragement! Here in FL, it's hard to get insurance on anything, and they've found lots of creative ways to get out of insuring you, or get out of paying in the event of a loss. We won't be building in FL! Our property is in rural upstate SC, and insurance rates seem pretty low. I'm just paranoid, I guess. Being a tool maker by trade, my house will be solid and square! We'll be incorporating a lot of safety features, such as metal roofing, and Hardi siding, which will make it a lot less vulnerable to fire, and we're on (very) high ground, so flooding wouldn't be an issue. I guess I could call some insurers in our new area to make sure- or maybe I shouldn't say anything?

[kuriakos]

I would make sure they know you built it when you buy the policy. Otherwise, they'll find out after you have a claim and they'll try to use it to deny your claim. And they're pretty good at getting away with that.

[tiogacounty]

Our last three homes went like this.
house # 1. total gut remodel, tore it down to a shell and started again, new mechanicals, insulation, walls, flooring roof, etc... Nothing subbed out, all work done by us.
house# 2. Built by me from the ground up, subbed the excavating, concrete and well.
house#3 had a state-code modular delivered, finished it myself (had the property and needed a roof over the families head in SIX weeks, no time for stick building on this one) Later added 1500 sq. ft. of garage myself.

Twenty two years of swinging a hammer. twenty two years of paying homeowner's insurance. Several claims. No problems. The question of who built the homes was never asked by anyone, insurance company, agent or adjuster , it was and still is a 100% non-issue.

[GoddessKristie]

My DH is in insurance and he said it doesn't matter who built it, but what it's made of. He says if even if you build it and could rebuild it if it were a total loss you would still pay a premium based on what it would cost to have it rebuilt by a "pro" (not that you aren't). For example if you could build it yourself for 30,000, you may still pay a premium based off a replacement value of 90,000 because that's what it would cost to have someone else build it. That's not a bad deal because you would come out ahead if it ever were a total loss.
I wouldn't mention that you built it yourself, and they shouldn't ask.
Good luck!

[Shadow]

Where you get into a problem getting insurance and or loans is when it is not built by conventional methods. Get out of the box and you will have problems. Under ground, strawbuilt, solid concete, you name it if it is not what they are use to insuring or makeing loans on you will have to look hard and probably pay high when you find it. Just my opinion and experience.

[NYSaanen]

I would talk to insurance agents before you get started. Talk is cheap. You wouldn't want to get it done, and then find there is some type of problem once you get it done.

But to go one step further, while you are talking to them PRIOR to building, ask about securing a policy to cover you DURING the construction. Heaven forbid, and it has happened to people, but suppose you get half way done with construction, and the unthinkable happens.....lightning, faulty tool, etc., etc. You indicate that you could not handle a total loss, but would you be able to handle a partial loss??? Likely not. I had a policy in place when I built mine before the first shovel went into the ground, so to speak. Good peace of mind.

[bob clark]

i built my own home, but would never get insurance on it. i view insurance as immoral

[MushCreek]

I do plan to try to get insurance to cover it while I build it. My biggest worry is theft- building materials, windows, copper. I plan to live on-site for that reason.