Cob: Insurance

[Cheryl]

I know there are a few companies that insure alternative homes.  I found
them just with a search on google (this was a while ago and I can't remember
any of the pages at the moment).  The bad news is, there are very few and
coverage may be limited depending on the structure or your location.  Most
regular insurance companies won't cover it because they don't know what it
is and don't really want to find out to change their policies.  I'd be
willing to bet that you can find one but it will take some serious digging.

On 8/20/02 9:24 PM, "Darel Henman" <henman at it.to-be.co.jp> wrote:

> Dona,
> I can only recommend a quick call to your insurance agent.  Tell him
> the details and you should get a quick enough answer.   There are many
> kinds of policies.  But, I would be careful, of escape clauses in the
> insurance contract that might say, something to the effect that items
> lost due to faulty or illegal buildings shall not be covered", or some
> legalese to that effect.  Just tell the insurance agent all the details
> and see what he has to say.  You might call more than one to get another
> opinion.
> 
> However, to insure the structure itself, I agree with you, it would
> almost have to be a properly licensed structure.
> 
> Darel
> 
> DONA ENGELHARDT wrote:
>> 
>> Hi all,
>> Thanks for your helpful comments on cob and cold temps.
>> 
>> I currently have home owners insurance which covers my house and its
>> contents.  Does anyone know how this is handled when owning a cob home?  I
>> can't imagine the insurance company not putting up a fight to insure the
>> structure and its contents.  I'm assuming I'd just have to insure the
>> contents and rely on the fact that I built the cob house well enough so as
>> not to worry about it.  This comes up for me as it seems the West is on fire
>> and the East is underwater!  I know cob is stronger than conventional
>> housing as well as fireproof, but I'm sure the forces of nature could send
>> something my way that it couldn't withstand and I'm still a little too
>> mainstream to feel comfortable without insurance coverage!  Does anyone have
>> any knowlege or experience in this area?
>