Does insurance cover non-conforming unit?

[Eugenia K.]

I'm weighing putting in an offer on a duplex that has an additional non-conforming unit in Seattle. I'm wondering how home insurance (and for the renter, renter's insurance) works on the non-conforming unit. Would it be covered?

[Austin N.]

I was recently discussing this with an insurance broker. It depends on the company, I recently went with Statefarm and they said they DO cover non-permitted units. I would call a few insurance providers to double check and ask about your property specifically, it might vary by county, construction type, etc.

[Andrew Wicklow]

@Eugenia Koo

The short answer is yes. But the long answer is that you need to have a coverage called ordinance or law. Specifically coverage A of ordinance or law. That covers an undamaged portion of a building that requires a code upgrade. So for example if a fire happens somewhere in the building other than the non conforming units and the city doesn’t allow the nonconforming unit to exist any longer because of its nonconforming status, this coverage would handle a situation like that.

Let me know if you have other questions or this needs more clarification.

Andrew

[Johann Jells]

@Andrew Wicklow, I'm curious, is there a difference between coverage of legally grandfathered non-conforming and plain "Zoning violation" non-conforming? Around here there's tons of grandfathered non-conforming that could not be rebuilt in the event of a total loss without a variance.

[Andrew Wicklow]

@Johann Jells

I suspect they would cover “legal non-conforming” but probably not a blatant zoning violation for a coverage A ordinance situation.

Andrew