Are you living in a house you currently own during construction? We were able to add a Builder's Risk endorsement to our current homeowner's policy relatively inexpensively, to cover the new build. Or, you or your builder can purchase a standalone Builder's Risk policy, but in our experience, that would have cost significantly more.

We have just started looking into this and so far our agent has one quote of 10,500 for a year. He says because we are paying cash for our build that companies are reluctant to insure as they take (seeking insurance) as a sign we are running out of money. Say what? Anyway need to do some more research.

We're renting while we build so we opened a home owners policy on our new construction. They put in the documents a clause that we were under construction. We couldn't find any agencies that would do builder's risk where we are. Good luck!

I will be looking into this tomorrow. Suellen let me know what you find.

We're renting while we build, we're owner/builder and we're doing a cash build so lots of variables coming together. We were able to tag onto our umbrella policy to get the builder's risk but more importantly, liability coverage, although that's not required in our new state which I find bizarre.

We have a "rental policy" with USAA--essentially a builder's risk with a poorly chosen name. Don't get it confused with a renter's policy. $205k rebuild cost, $1000 deductible = $450 annual premium.

We did a course of construction policy. Total cost was $452 for a year for $428K construction cost (does not include lot of course). This is for fire damage or theft.

Builder covers materials stolen from the site, including all of my door hardware from kwikset which I'm sure was NOT cheap for 26 doors! I know other things have been stolen from neighbor's sites.

Call and ask for a builder's risk policy. Ours included liability. We are with State Farm but I don't like them right now so I won't recommend them. Give me a couple of months and I will like them again. It was $85 a month and then when we moved in, they transferred it to a regular homeowner's policy.

zuritch has a year term, and also renew its policy in case takes longer than one year. Their premium is not that bad. I have it right now, which is in 11 months. Hopefully my home will be finished by then

I called my insurance company this morning and told them that I would like to insure a home to which we plan to move soon, as soon as construction is over. They asked about all the work done, since we left some foundation. Asked sq footage, total bathrooms, etc. and gave me insurance $897/yr. Told me once we move to call them and switch it to my primary residence.

We are doing cash as well but got Builders Risk Insurance for $452 a year. $10,500 is robbery!!!

First, I never, ever pass up a chance to say that you should NEVER do business with Liberty Mutual. My husband and I had our first (and only) mortgage with them, and it was a nightmare:

Two months after we moved in, they notified us that they needed more downpayment; we were newlyweds and genuinely didn't have it -- they didn't care. Why'd they need more downpayment? Because they'd done the paperwork ASSUMING we were in a different county (it's not like we hid the address from them), and the program through which we were buying allotted a lower amount for our more rural county.

They collected escrow for taxes and escrow ... but they didn't pay our bills. Even when I called them, they didn't pay! They did, however, increase our escrow for no particular reason.

At every turn, they were incompetent and unwilling to listen. However, a silver lining does exist: We were SO IRRITATED with their constant foolishness that we vowed to become aggressive savers so that we would never again need to borrow. We borrowed for that house and the first three cars we owned as a couple, but after that NOTHING.

Second, WHY would an insurance company assume that a person paying cash for a house is running out of money? I'm missing something.

We paid $1100 for a Buidler's Risk policy which also covers liability. They didn't give us the option to pay monthly, we had to pay it all upfront.

I just had my auto insurance broker find me a company that had builder's risk.

After talking to ins guy again yesterday still looking at the same price for ins. Only one company even willing to look at us. And not the one that insures our house now. He says it is because we are almost 7 months into the build and that they take (our looking for insurance) as a sign we are running out of money. Really. My husband is making the next call......

Maybe put the money with an escrow agent. That way they know it's there.

It's bizarre.

We had a policy through Zurich (the policy was written by an Allstate agent) for $500. Liability was actually covered by our current homeowner's policy. If you read the fine print, it states if you are building what will be a primary residence and own the land, it is covered just like the current home.

Luckily, we just moved in and never needed either policy during the build :)

Wow…that is good to know Chellefnp! It just like car rental.

That quote sounds insane to me. Unless your building a $2mil+ house?

The insurance policy (USAA) for our build is slightly over $5,000 and was required by the bank. It would have been slightly cheaper to go with the insurance company recommended by the bank, however they would only issue the policy if we transferred our auto policy to them and given that we have a 35-year history w/USAA it just wasn't worth it.

Jonnygun

Actually our budget did come in at just under 2 mil including all site work and solar but not land, landscaping or architect costs. DH is speaking with insurance guy today. We will see if anything else comes from this.

4K sounds right but not 10k for 2 mil insure

Depending on your area it could be realistic. The value of what you are insuring grows the closer to completion your build gets. At the start your risk is low. As the house nears completion you are assuming more risk than the builder because you are insuring all the "built" stuff. They may quote you an annual polucy cost but then prorate when the house is completed and issue a refund.

I still don't "get" the insurance would not like someone paying in cash thing. Since we're cash-payers, I'd like to understand this.

I am cash payer, and still purchased builder risk insurance for your peace of mind in case.

I am paying cash as well and had no issues getting insured.

Oh, I agree that insurance is a wise choice. What I'm not understanding is that some people say that insurance assumed you were running out of money.

Jonnygun, I'm glad to hear you didn't have trouble.

I would guess the OP and her DH would not have had difficulty getting a reasonable rate if they had gotten their policy before they had started construction, rather than looking for something now that they are 7 mos in. I believe our construction insurance would not prorate less than a year (second year they did prorate)?

As to the insurer's remark about concerns the OP might be running out of money, insurers are good at imagining all kinds of risks :-) for example there is a 30-day waiting period for flood insurance.

Yes Dh's conversation with agent went just like mine as I thought it would ;-)

10,500 for a year. If we finish before the year is up we would get money back for months not used. We are suppose to be finished in June but I am not holding my breath. They want the entire 10,500 up front, no monthly payments. Yes if we had gotten the insurance before we started it could have been cheaper. Live and learn an expensive lesson. Seeing as I doubt we will ever build again I hope someone else benefits from our mistake.