Cob: Re: Cob Insurance--a non-issue

[Ocean]

Why insure cob?

Did you build a cob house and want to insure it?  Or is this a 
hypothetical question?

Homeowners insurance is primarily a product of the building/mortgage 
industry, to protect inferior housing form the most likely calamity:  
fire.  And it is really there to protect the lender from losing 
their $$$.

If you built your cob for, say $5,000 to $10,000 and are debt-free, does 
it really make sense to pay hundreds or thousands a year for "insurance"?


On Tuesday, August 20, 2002, at 09:45 PM, Cheryl wrote:

> 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?
>>
>
>
>
Ocean Liff-Anderson

Steward of Ahimsa Sanctuary (check out our newly updated website!!!!!)
http://www.peacemaking.org

Owner/Manager of Intaba's Kitchen (best food and coolest cob ambiance on 
the west coast!)
http://www.intabas.com
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