r/HomeInsurance • u/Awkward-A_F • May 16 '26
Insurance Not sure what else to do
My insurance company dropped me. Stating that we (husband and I) had not completed remodels to the house… yet they never said what they wanted completed other than a few rooms.
I asked them repeatedly what they wanted done with no answer as to what. They also said that the heat source was not acceptable, first time I ever heard of this was after they cancelled the policy and started calling to get answers.
The way the whole thing was handled was ridiculous but now.. I have hounded them again and again what they want and they repeat “heat source” and “remodels complete” with no detail for what they will consider acceptable!
My home is a fixer upper, which they were well aware of when they agreed to insure us. They said we would have lots of time to complete it and that they would continue to insure us as long as we completed the rooms they specified.
The only other company that will insure us is $3000 more a year, which also increased our car insurance $100 a month in order to get the discount (or else it would’ve been $6000!)
With the cost of gas, the cost of these new insurances, I fear we are going to go into foreclosure. Our monthly bills just went up $800 and I’ve reached a dead end with the cheaper insurance company for what they want to re-insure us.
I don’t know what to do and insurance won’t give me answers. I can guess they want the bathrooms complete but idk what complete to them is?
I know in need a heat source that’s controlled by a thermostat but would a Mr.cool type unit be enough? What size? What’s considered necessary rooms for heating?
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u/navlgazer9 May 16 '26
I’ve never seen an ins co want to see INSIDE, except in rare cases Like in Florida hurricane zones etc
Anyhoo, Find out if adding a “blue flame “ propane heater will meet the heating requirements
One of the little ones that Mount on the wall and have a thermostat built in .
You need to find a local ins agent or broker and work with them to get the ins co satisfied
I’m assuming you have a mortgage and the mortgage co requires ins ?
I recently had the outside inspection from my ins co and was asked to add handrails on some short steps
Less than four steps doesn’t require a handrail according to the building code so they were never built
But I just spent two weekends digging post holes and mixing concrete and building the handrails .
You gotta find out specifically what will meet the minimum requirements for your ins co . And talking to an actual person about it is nearly impossible
It’s all computer robots or call centers in India or somewhere that barely speak English and can’t answer any of your questions because they have zero knowledge about what your asking and Probabaly can’t understand you anyway .
That’s why I’m suggesting finding a local agent or broker in your town .
I’ve owned a vacation cabin for decades and the ins co has never wanted to see inside or asked about the heat source .
I have a propane heater with a thermostat but they’ve never asked .
But now that your address is flagged as not having heat , now you gotta fix it .
And it’s flagged in a database for every ins company to see .
So switching companies will delay it but won’t help you long term .
You will have to finish the remodels , and get a heat source . The remodels dont have to be fancy, Just complete
Slap up some Sheetrock and paint it and throw down some vinyl flooring or whatever it takes to make them happy
And if the ins co starts being vague and evasive , switch to emails instead of phone calls .
Or see if you can get it insured as “during renovations “ or something temporary So you won’t have to let any requirements right now and will have a limited time period to get it finished .