Just try looking at this as though you were the insurance company. An old roof can still be damaged and even if they were going to settle ACV, they would still have to have to pay out something. Companies today are just trying to reduce their risk and if they don't, it affects your rates and the likelihood of your getting insurance in the future. And yes, inspections are getting to be the norm and they can be tough. Generally there has to be some kind of red flag to reinspect a current policy holder. Most inspections happen at new business. Keep that in mind if your shopping your homeowner's insurance. They will be looking for trees over hanging the home and any other structures on the property. Roofs, gutters and soffets. Any liability exposures such as dogs, unfenced pools, trampolines uneven sidewalks (tripping hazards). Missing rails are a big one. For now the inspections are generally just the outside but with the flood of foreclosed homes on the market, they may move to inside inspections. You may ask why, simple. Foreclosed homes are often missing things such as copper piping, appliances, cabinets etc. Once new ownership takes place then comes the "vandalism" claim. We are seeing more of that and yes, they are being heavily scrutinized.

And remember that if you even call your agent about it, it can adversly affect your insurance policy. People on the 'net have been discussing how some insurance companies now use insurance scores to determine potential risk. This uses your credit score and the past history of making claims on your homeowners insurance - or previous owners of your home's past homeowner's insurance claims - to set your insurance rates. Every time you use your insurance, you risk having your rates go up or your policy cancelled. So always read your policy before calling your agent to find out if you are covered for a claim. Plan to use your insurance only for catastrophic claims and increase your deductible to at least $1000. Make it $5000 if you can afford to. Using your insurance for small claims will drive up your costs, so save money by having a high deductible and then have a savings account to use to make repairs under $5000 -or to pay the deductible on large claims. I had along-term leak in a roof that was fixed shortly after I moved into my last house. 10 years later, I had that part of the house remodeled and the ceiling was replaced. The contractor found that the roof rafters there were rotting. Two were rotted through - as was the header between this former porch arera and the kitchen. We were lucky that it had not collapsed. Since it was a long-term, slow leak, it was not covered by homeowners. The agent gave me this way to figure out if something is covered: If it happend slowly after time, it is a regular repair, no insurance involvement. If you can name a date in which an event happened (the August 12th windstorm), it may be covered. Best of luck in repairing your home. I hope you have the opportunity to do some updates (even just extra insulation) while you are tearing things apart.

Can you get a separate floater on your stuff, like renters' insurance? Can you get a policy that is pro-rated so the parts that aren't OK (siding etc.) wouldn't be replaced in the event of a loss. (As you can imagine the insurers wouldn't replace or repair something that was already value-less in the event of a fire.) What does your mortgage lender think about this? Many, if not all, loans come with the requirement that you obtain homeowners' insurance. You may have to pay really high rates while the work is being done, but you should be able to get a better deal afterwards. If you happen to have particularly valuable personal stuff, could you store it in a safe, insured, off-site location, and therefore reduce your casualty risk, which might make you more insurable? Beware of removing everything though, as you have already found out Builder's Risk policies can be expensive and most insurance companies want to know you are actually also at risk with your stuff on site. I know of someone who had a problem with insurance (just keeping it, not making a claim) when they moved out of the house for an extended remodel. Made the insurance co. antsy about an "unoccupied" building. I'd try to find an agent who will go to bat for you and I would be prepared with endless permits, grant proposals, drawings, plans, before/after photos, and such, and make a big showing of how you are really making a concerted effort to remodel not only to code but to good condition as fast as possible. I'm sure there are crooks and cheats out there who buy wrecks, insure them and then make make bogus claims, so ins. co.s have learned to be wary. Do what you need to do to separate yourself from the bad guys. Also don't skimp on liability insurance if you are having people come in to help you. Of course all contractors and subs need proof of their own insurance, but if you have friends or casual labor working there you need to have insurance in case someone gets hurt. Including, in some areas, worker's comp. insurance. You could easily lose your house if someone is injured while working there and sues you. (And they would!) Molly~

And just in case someone want to know how this is done for example... here: Damage in the family room .. wet half wall, connecting soffit , ceiling, exterior wall, and the water leaked into a fireplace and on other room side another part of ceiling, tornado damaged door, baseboards: The adjuster pays: R13 in the attic instead of R38, pays for a bogus 2" paint grade baseboards $1.40lf, exterior wall drywall, install carpet - lowest grade, OSB 4'x4'; re-nail interior door (as exterior door fix) What the adjuster did not pay: R38 insulation, 20'x14' ceilings, 3"-1/4 baseboards clear maple stain grade - $3.50/lf, stain the baseboards, new trim around the window and staining, the insulation behind the wet exterior drywall, paint the drywall [what bag pays for unpainted walls], remove/install/replace drapes next to the windows, half wall + soffit drywall and paint, repairs to the flooded fireplace, the carper removal [not just install], 20'x14' subfloors, and remove and replace exterior door + paint the exterior door + trim. Is that 20 cents on the dollar or 10 cents on the dollar? Best insurance - LibertyMutual.