Homeowners Insurance

[hitonit]

Hey all! Have been kicking around here for a couple days and am proud to report that my knowledge about insurance, generally, has increased drastically, from "less than none" to "slightly more than none."

My wife and I are under contract to purchase our first home. Our in-laws will also be living with us in an attached mother-in-law suite (which will have a wall blocking it off into fully separate quarters We'll be needing homeowners insurance, obviously.

Two questions:

1) The roof on the house, while watertight, is 16 years old and was rated poor. Will insurers generally require it to be replaced within X amount of days in order to become insured? Does that cause problems at closing?

2) Our goal is to protect against catastrophic losses (guaranteed replacement coverage to the structure) and liability lawsuits (my wife is a physician). What recommendations do you have there, beyond higher deductibles?


Thanks to anyone who replies, and thanks to all for the various discussions I've been able to learn from.

 

[fed up]

You need to find out from your carrier if they will cover the house right away or do they demand a new roof before coverage starts. Talk to your real estate agent and get the buyer to throw in money for the replacement of the roof. Dr. Jones needs to build a wall between her personal life and her professional life. Her professional insurance should cover any and all things she does as far as her medical practice. The house should be covered as her personal belonging in the homeowners policy. Not many home policies offer guaranteed replacement.

 

[InsCommentary]

A good agent should be able to advise you.

Make sure you have a good, high limit personal umbrella policy.

 

[adjusterjack]

Our in-laws will also be living with us in an attached mother-in-law suite (which will have a wall blocking it off into fully separate quarters

Good luck with that.

Make no mistake about this. They are tenants, whether they pay rent or not. Their personal liability and personal property are not covered by your homeowners insurance. They will need an HO-4 tenant's policy.

You will also need to notify your car insurance company that there are other residents/drivers in the household. They will also need to do that with their car insurance. There is always a risk that one of you will use a car belonging to the other even if you swear up and down that it will never happen. When it does and there is an accident and your insurance finds out you concealed or omitted the presence of other drivers, you risk having your claim denied and your policy rescinded.

 

[kevinjh]

This type of insurance is useful when you have a property and you want to protect yourself in case something happens to the housing. Most people now choose this path because a wide variety of insurance cases are becoming more frequent. But none of us want to lose money, right? That's why insuring your property is a very correct way. But it is also very important to choose a quality insurance company. That is why my choice fell on Youi , Thanks to this I now feel absolutely calm. Who is also planning to do this?

 

[marindependent]

1) The roof on the house, while watertight, is 16 years old and was rated poor. Will insurers generally require it to be replaced within X amount of days in order to become insured? Does that cause problems at closing?

What type of roof is it and how was it rated "poor"?
It could cause problems with the closing but its hard to say.

16 years can be considered old for Flat T&G roofs, but its often half life for a Comp Shingle.

You are in Floriday correct? That is a tough tough market right now. Go find yourself a good independent agent and speak with them about a solid insurer.

 

[adjusterjack]

M, the thread is from last July.

 

[marindependent]

Think the remodel [or divorce] is done yet?

 

[Markthebroker]

Hey all! Have been kicking around here for a couple days and am proud to report that my knowledge about insurance, generally, has increased drastically, from "less than none" to "slightly more than none."

That means he knows more than 90% of the general population, and more than half the agents that post on this site, lol.