What Kind Of Special Appraisal?

[JTip]

Another vote for 'Reproduction Cost'. Chubb may work but you may need to find a company that writes an HO-8 policy.

Warning: Watch out for local code compliance (window sizes, electric service, etc) on older historic homes, unless you are in a designated Historic District.

An 'unusual residence' is a wee bit vague.....

 

[Elliott]

Helmut,
While you may find the special appraisal that gives you the value you seek, please read your insurance policy. Virtually all home owner policies talk about good 'ole "market value." Some are written for "replacement cost" but even those are tempered by weasel words. Lloyds of London will write you a policy for whatever you want, but the premium will probably be sky high.

While you might be able to get 'reproduction cost new,' if you have a claim, they'll get you on functional and physical depreciation. There's no free lunch with insurance companies.

 

[TRESinc]

Helmut,
While you may find the special appraisal that gives you the value you seek, please read your insurance policy. Virtually all home owner policies talk about good 'ole "market value." Some are written for "replacement cost" but even those are tempered by weasel words. Lloyds of London will write you a policy for whatever you want, but the premium will probably be sky high.

While you might be able to get 'reproduction cost new,' if you have a claim, they'll get you on functional and physical depreciation. There's no free lunch with insurance companies.

exactly. same thing happens with classic cars. you can get a policy from any old insurance agency but when the time comes people typically run into a lot of problems.

 

[Helmut Forren]

Brother sells insurance, including home insurance. For certain clients he says Chubb is the only way to go, when protecting special properties.

https://www2.chubb.com/us-en/individuals-families/home.aspx

(((gregb, can you please give me contact info for your brother, if he can sell Chubb in Georgia? Thanks.)))

To all, thanks for your input. I quit getting email alerts of your additional posts, so I didn't find them until now.

I never found the "adjective" I remembered, but I just spoke to an appraiser in detail and came up "reproduction cost". Then I saw here that this term was mentioned from the beginning. Sorry for not putting two and two together.

So now, about Chubb. I was indeed with Chubb at first. But Chubb sold the business to Fireman's Fund, who sold it [was bought by] ACE. So now I'm with ACE.

Chubb sent a guy out in 2011 and he came up with a "replacement cost" that matched my own real costs perfectly. But now that's three companies and five years down the road.

I thought Chubb was no longer in this business, or my business wouldn't have been sold to Fireman's Fund. Or maybe my segment of the market got dropped. Whatever. I need to start from the top, not through the same broker I've been with through all that, and see if I can insure with Chubb.

-Helmut

 

[gregb]

Brother says he can write you a policy for your Georgia property. As a new member the forum will not allow me to send you contact information.

 

[Russ Kitzberger]

You are likely looking for insurable value. This requires legal understanding, appraisal understanding, construction understanding, and an ability to coordinate/ascertain what is part of the coverage in the event of a loss and what is not. It isn't a typical appraisal project and might include coordinating between multiple experts. We have worked on several of these projects, it is important to correctly craft the scope of work. I might also add that it may not require a local appraiser or a license/certified appraiser.