r/Insurance • u/msummerse • Aug 13 '26
Home Insurance Home insurance cancelled
my 94 year old grandpa was paying about $300 monthly for home insurance. he got a letter saying they are dropping the house due to roof. no other place will take him. the house is a total fixer upper & he is trying to sell as is. he can not afford a roof, it’s a 2 story house & quite big. any advice? are we ok with no insurance since home is on market and in such bad state? roof is 70 years old btw.
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u/Benjammin172 Aug 13 '26
No, you’re not OK without insurance if you already can’t afford the monthly payment or a roof replacement and proper maintenance on the property. How would you plan to fix any catastrophic issues that came up if you can’t pay out of pocket?
Reach out to an independent broker who may be able to find an option for you, though it may be necessary to find a company that would offer coverage excluding the roof.
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u/Mikey3800 Aug 13 '26
Or, god forbid, someone gets hurt on the property. Especially since the house doesn’t sound like it’s taken care of. It’s more likely to be unsafe and cause injury than a house that is maintained.
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u/BrennerBaseTunnel Aug 13 '26
If he can't afford a rood then no lawyer is likely to take a case to go after someone with very few assets.
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u/Sure_Tbird Aug 13 '26
Ask for a roof exclusion although with a roof that old I absolutely imagine no company will touch that. Good luck
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u/txirrindularia Aug 13 '26
Can you do this? In CA you cannot…curious about other states
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u/whateverdom_ Aug 13 '26
70 year old roof is wild. I’m surprised they’re only cutting him off now. He must have been overlooked by underwriting every single renewal period for years and got lucky. As others have mentioned you’ll have to look at high risk insurers but even then 70 years on a roof begs the question about the state of the rest of the house that is gonna make most insurers, even high risk ones nervous.
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u/FindTheOthers623 P&C Licensed PL Underwriter Aug 13 '26
I'm curious what kind of roof has lasted 70 years? 🤔
Its a personal decision whether or not you try to seek insurance. You won't be able to find coverage in the standard market and non-standard carriers will be very expensive.
If it were to burn to the ground and you had no insurance, what would your options be?
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u/TheHykos P&C Compliance Aug 13 '26
Only thing I can think of is slate or tile.
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u/FindTheOthers623 P&C Licensed PL Underwriter Aug 13 '26
Possibly metal... but idk if they were making standing seam panels back then
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u/elmland1 Aug 13 '26
So, if the roof is 70 years old, what else is wrong? You said “fixer upper”, maybe it’s a “tearer downer”.
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u/FlyNavy03 Aug 13 '26
I live in Texas with a 20 year old roof that no one will insure except for USAA. If he qualifies for them it might be worth giving them a call.
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u/Popular_Monitor_8383 Aug 13 '26
As a USAA employee I can confirm USAA quite literally doesn’t care about roof age, I’ve written policies for them since 2019 and have never seen a roof age decline, it isn’t a thing and it’s bizarre.
That being said they won’t insure a house currently listed for sale
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u/Single-Finance620 Aug 13 '26
Does USAA covers single wall house with upgraded electrical and plumbing and a metal roof two weeks old?
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u/DrShanksALot Aug 13 '26
Check foremost insurance. They’ll do high risk properties. I had them on a home a long time ago for the same old roof reason. I eventually replaced the roof but had foremost for a couple years. You can contact a Farmers insurance agent for this. Foremost is part of the Farmers Insurance Group.
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u/christophturov Aug 13 '26
You will have to contact an independent agent and look for a surplus lines policy. With the condition you described there may be many exclusions including a roof exclusion.
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u/Icy_Huckleberry_8049 Aug 13 '26
to sell the house, you'll need a new roof or there will have to be a concession for not having a new roof.
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u/Snoo-10030 P&C Agent 21 years Aug 13 '26
A broker should have access to Lloyd’s programs through their wholesalers that will be able to write it, for a higher cost and with limitations/exclusions as mentioned.
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u/LordNewning Aug 13 '26
Is the house a fixer-upper? Or is the value in the land and the house is a tear-down?
My lot in Austin would be worth more if my shack burned to the ground than it is with the shack still on it. And it's uninsurable because of that.
I don't play with matches around here. And I don't leave Chinese-made gadgets to charge unsupervised.
Good luck.
4
u/adjusterjackb Aug 13 '26
Does he have a will? Somebody picked to inherit the house?
At 94 that should be his priority if he might not live long enough to get it sold.
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u/Excellent_Speech_901 Aug 13 '26
If he's been there 70+ years then entire value is capital gains. He arguably shouldn't be selling it at all since the cost basis will reset upon death. It might be worth his heir(s) chipping in to let that happen.
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Aug 13 '26
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u/AlexSanchez929 Aug 13 '26
There are several creative options. Reverse mortgage, heloc, traditional financing are all economic models that could work. Self-insuring/going without is always an option and you just take your chances. Fire sell the house for below market pricing and just be done with it, but this may be really tough with an elderly man. Without knowing all the options I would recommend a heloc or reverse mortgage to bring the property up to livable standards and then when he passes the debt is cleared.
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u/Tassey Aug 13 '26
You are supposed to replace your roof before it “needs it”.
Most roofing manufacturers “guarantees” are extremely limited.
No matter what the sales person tells you.
Most roofs (not metal, clay, slate, etc) are rarely going to last 20 years.
Start getting quotes and budgeting for replacement before that.
I’m only saying this so you don’t wind up scrambling to find insurance if you get dropped.
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u/No_Engineering6617 Aug 13 '26
sell the house as is to an investor, for far below the market value if it was a good condition house
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u/Delicious-Adeptness5 Aug 14 '26
Shop it. Seriously different companies have different polices. Yes, the roof is a major factor.
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u/ChicagoNorth773 Aug 17 '26
Get a reverse mortgage or home equity loan to replace the roof, you are going to get it taken off the sale price anyway. Even worse than going uninsured is paying for a policy that has so many exclusions they won't pay for the damage when the roof leaks.
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u/fromhelley Aug 13 '26
You can ask an independent insurance agent for a State Fund policy to cover the property. Its crappy coverage, but covers fire.
What you absolutely need is a liability policy! That covers you if someone gets hurt on the property due to an unsafe environment (shoes on the floor, wonky floorboard...). You will have a lot of people going through the house. Its best your grandparents is protected!
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u/Old_Length_6883 Aug 13 '26
In CA it’s the California Fair Plan that would insure the property.
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Aug 13 '26
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u/TheHykos P&C Compliance Aug 13 '26
That’s completely reasonable for Florida. In cat wind exposed areas, you should be replacing roofs that frequently. It’s not the insurers job to do your maintenance for you.
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u/Aaaaaaandyy E&O/Cyber Broker Aug 13 '26
It makes sense - they’re constantly being hit with storms and roofs don’t last as long there.
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u/TheHykos P&C Compliance Aug 13 '26
High UV and salt in the air is also damaging to asphalt shingles, reducing their life span. You can get 25+ years off a quality shingle elsewhere, but not coastal Florida.
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u/Ingsoc40 Aug 13 '26
As long as there is no mortgage he doesn’t need insurance. Just try to seek it quick before anything happens.
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u/Lucky__Flamingo Aug 13 '26
If he has a mortgage and no insurance, his lender will charge him for expensive insurance that only covers their exposure.
Does he live in a state with an insurer of last resort? (eg Citizens in Florida). Not great coverage, but better than going bare.
There may be options to get a loan to cover the roof to remain insured while selling. It will be easier to sell a house with an insurable roof.