All Forum Posts by: John Mocker

Adro,

If you have not moved in, check with your Insurance Agent to see what the Vacancy limitations are.  After a certain number of days vacant, coverage lowers for certain perils.  You may want to switch to a vacant dwelling policy if it will be unoccupied longer than the limit (ie. 30 days, 60 days, ...)

The other advise I would give is see what other uses the house is zoned for.  If it is grandfathered to a church or other business use, that could be good negotiating leverage with the town.  They may prefer it to go residentail and be willing to make exceptions to keep it that way rather than have the other uses of the property.  

Tim

Builders risk policies will less likely to  exclude theft but might require an alarm.  Vacant dwelling coverage can be written with theft coverage with a few companies but again they may also require safeguards.  

Garrett,

There are more and more agents that are licensed in multiple states.  Some, like our agency, are licensed in all 50 States.  An Agency that is in all of those states may not have access to all the markets.  There are regional Insurance companies that are licensed in just a few states.  It is more likely that a local agent will have access to them.  I would shy away from the direct writers (allstate, state farm, Farmers,...) at first.  They only have access to their policies.  In your situation it is much more likely that you will need multiple companies to properly cover the different properties.  I have found that, even in the same state, the company that is best for one property, is not the same that is best for another one.  Factors such as age, construction, fire protection of the town, how close to a coast, etc. can impact the rates and underwriting.  

California seems to be the state of your properties that will be hardest to place.  TX is second.  New York will probably be the easiest of the 3 states to place.  I would tackle them in that order.  See if you can get a Independent agent to quote the policies and compare the quotes to what you have now.  

Lastly, you should be able to get an umbella that will cover over all the policies.  There are some companies that will write a Stand alone (they do not have to write the home & auto) policies.  

Gage,

PM me more info (address, construction, etc).  I will see if I can suggest a market for you. 

Yana,

I'm guessing that this is a 1-4 family.   For that type of property the usual coverage is a Dwelling Fire Policy.  Sometimes, a commercial policy (businessowners or package) is used but generally that is more expensive.  Based on the Insurance Market in FL now, you may want to check on both options.

Those policies are designed to provide Property and Liability coverage together.  The umbrella policy is a different type of policy.  It was designed to provide additional Liability coverage if the underlying policy's limits are exhausted in a claim. 

Mike,

If you are not going to cover your belongings and the parts of the Building you ar responsible for, another avenue to try is to see if your Homeowners policy can add that location for Liability only.  Be upfront about the use of the building to make sure the AirBnB is acceptable.

Mike,

I don't know the terms of the AirBnB policy.  I would suspect that is not going to provide any coverage if someone, not a AirBnB renter, is injured in the unit (contractor, inspector, condo personel, etc.).  You should also check to see if they require you to have coverage, and if you do, which policy would be primary.

Marshall,

If you do plan on leasing to the new business (craft & tanning), you should check with your Insurance agent to see if that will still be eligible for your current coverage.  If not, what would the additional cost to insure your building with the new type of Tenant.  I would also suggest reviewing your lease with your Attorney.  If you will be doing a new lease, your attorney may suggest changes to better address the liabilities of the new tenant.  Lastly, discuss with your agent and attorney what Insurance requirements you will have for the new Tenant.  Things like 

- Additional insured with 30 day notice of cancelltion

- primary & non-contributory

- waiver of subrogation

- Extensive hold harmless and indeminification clause

Victor,

Many Mortgage companies have a clause that lets them place the coverage (called Forced Place in the industry) if you do not show proof of coverage.  Even if that is a possibility, I would continue looking for coverage for two reasons:

1. the Mortgage company generally only buys what is needed to coverage their interest in the property (not your equity you've built up)

2. Costs are generally 2-3 times what you could get on your own.

A good agent will need more info to be able to help you:

1. Is the Property & Liability (Package or BOP) coverage being cancelled or just the Flood

2. what were the dates, type of damage, and amounts paid on the claims

3. what has been done to mitigate the chance of this happening again

4. Have there been other, non-flood related claims in the past 5 years (if you can find out even farther back that would be helpful

5. Any other possitive factors

  - stable tenant base

  - alarm systems

  - regular checks on the property

  - no pets

  - Lead safe certification

  - newer roof, plumbing, electric, etc..

Anything to balance off the losses

Be prepared that it may end up in a non-standard (surplus lines) market for a couple of years.

If you did not have flood coverage before, see if they will continue the current policy if you get Flood coverage and increase the property coverage deductible. 

PM me if you have any questsions on the above.  

Robert,

Most Homeowners policies will include Liability coverage.  Most of them can cover up to $500,000 limits for Liability.   An Umbrella policy provides additional coverage if the limit on your Homeowners or Auto policy is exhausted due to a covered claim.  It also provides coverage if the limits on a Boat, Motorcycle, ATV, Classic car policy is exhaused.  Generally it is rated based on the # of properties, # of vehicles, and Limit (sold in multiples of $1,000,000).  Some also factor for the age of drivers, driving record, prior losses, etc.  Depending on your area and rating factors, it could be in the $150-250 range.  Not bad for an extra $1,000,000 in coverage.

Discuss with your Insurance agent and Attorney the recommendations on if the $500,000 limit is enough.  My guess is they will recommend getting it.