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sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 3232
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 9:54 am: | 
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I am currently beginning the process of helping my parents to select and move into an assisted living community.
My father believes that if they leave the house, they will lose their homeowners insurance coverage immediately and, therefore, we must deal with all of the contents before they can move.
I believe that the best strategy for them will be to make a move, taking just the things that they want and need most at first, and then get settled into their new situation. After that we can deal with the house. I am told by people at the various assisted living communities that this is a strategy of choice for their residents who can afford to do so.
So ... just what does someone in this situation do about their homeowners insurance to ensure that their home and contents remain adequately covered during a transition like this?
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eb1154
Citizen
Username: Eb1154
Post Number: 472
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 10:05 am: |
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Your parents are right. I purchased a house last year that I was going to demolish in a couple of months and I couldn't find any insurance company to insure the house because no one was going to be living there.
There is an agent on SA that finally gave me insurance on the property and the house during construction.
Try him and see what he can do for you.
Alexander Small, 1733 SA in Maplewood. Good luck.
Eric |
fiche
Citizen
Username: Fiche
Post Number: 95
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 10:44 am: |
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It's possible, eb, that you couldn't get insurance on the home because you had just purchased it. Sac's parents may be in a different situation because it would be continuing coverage. Sac, you should check with your parent's insurance company. Often they will continue coverage, albeit at an increased rate, for a 3 or 6 month period. Usually, in my limited experience, you do not receive a rebate of any part of the premium if you cancel before the specified time period, but in the end it is a small price to pay for the luxury of a smooth transition. |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 3233
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 11:41 am: |
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EB - thanks for the referral, but they are in Texas (as am I at the moment), actually.
I'm hesitant to contact their insurance company until we have all the info we need because I don't want them to take some undesirable action based on an inquiry. (Not unheard of with homeowners insurance as many have probably experienced.)
What do people do if they go away for 2 months or 6 months or whatever and "close up their house" for the duration? Does the approach Fiche mentions apply in this case? Is there a maximum amount of time for such a surcharge situation?
I'm certainly willing to entertain an appropriate surcharge or engage periodic housesitting services or whatever it takes, but I ust want to know what my options are before approaching the insurance company on it. |
Spitz
Supporter
Username: Doublea
Post Number: 1531
Registered: 3-2003
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 12:19 pm: |
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sac- I have a house at the shore which I occupy during the summer. My insurance co. (NJM) won't give me standard homeowners insurance but does provide what is called Dwelling Policy Insurance. This is basically the same as homeowners coverage with the main exception being that vandalism is not covered. As far as cost is concerned, I think it's bascally the same. My suggestion is to contact the insurance co. and they'll probably make this switch. The bottom line is that I don't think you have to be concerned about contacting the insurance co. and in fact should do so. |
fiche
Citizen
Username: Fiche
Post Number: 96
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 1:00 pm: |
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I really don’t think you will have a problem if you contact your parents’ insurance agent, but if you feel you do not want to do so, you can contact the State of Texas Insurance division. They should be able to answer your questions.
http://www.tdi.state.tx.us/consumer/indexc.html#homeowners
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Joan
Supporter
Username: Joancrystal
Post Number: 7138
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 1:23 pm: |
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If you don't want to contact your parent's home owner's insurance company, is there a professional association of home owners' insurers you can contact who would be able to answer what is truly a generic question?
Could the people you spoke with at the various assisted living communities advise you as to how residents who chose to sell their house after they were settled into the assisted living community handled the problem of continuing their homeowner's policy for the time period between when they vacated the house and when they sold the property? |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 3234
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 1:45 pm: |
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Interestingly, when I asked the question of a couple of different assisted living contacts, they said that no one had ever asked that question before and they more or less suggested just not mentioning the fact of the vacancy of the house.
That approach would be completely unacceptable to my "by the book" parents (and probably to me) and I suspect that if there was a problem resulting in a claim, that the insurance company could then refuse to pay.
I'm glad to hear about the other type of policy and the other sources of info as well. I'm not planning to hide this from the insurance company at all, but I just wanted to educate myself on it before contacting them. We aren't at that point anyway, but I wanted to be armed with the information. (And take this potential objection to the move off the table.)
Thanks everyone for the suggestions, etc.! |
Jennifer
Citizen
Username: Jkohan
Post Number: 68
Registered: 8-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 4:01 pm: |
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sac--there is something called vacant house insurance--all you need to do is call the carrier and get the rider for it. and YES, you must tell them--if the pipes freeze, for example, and there is a flood and the insurance company finds out the house was vacant--it will void your coverage. Call the carrier--as a realtor, I can tell you that it is not an unusual request and somewhat common...call them. |
KRNL
Citizen
Username: Krnl
Post Number: 35
Registered: 9-2005
| | Posted on Saturday, March 18, 2006 - 5:43 pm: |
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If the house still has a mortgage it is also likely that the company holding the mortgage requires that you maintain insurance on the house.
Of course, this may not apply to your parents.
The vacant house coverage sounds like the way to go. |
sac
Supporter
Username: Sac
Post Number: 3235
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, March 19, 2006 - 6:58 am: |
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Please don't misunderstand me. There was never any intention to hide this from the insurance company. (except perhaps in the minds of some well-meaning but less-informed folks I talked to at a couple of the assisted living places.) I just wanted to know more about our options before contacting them.
Thanks everyone for all the info. Too bad it isn't this easy to get my parents to make this decision (to move) ... but we're working on it and I'm cautiously optimistic. |
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