GUIDES: HOME CONDITION
Home condition: what underwriters read from the house
Insurers price the house as well as the location. The NAIC's consumer guidance names the age of the house among the main rating factors and notes that insurers may require updated heating, plumbing, wiring and roofing. In Florida, statute goes further and requires rate filings to include credits for verified wind-resistant features such as roof-to-wall strength and opening protection.
This section covers the physical facts that move a premium or a claim, and the paperwork that proves them. The roof guide explains why roof age and material sit near the top of every underwriting list. The wind mitigation guide walks through the Florida inspection form question by question, including the weakest-link wording that decides most results. The renovation guide covers the opposite risk: improvements that raise the cost to rebuild without anyone telling the insurer.
Install and repair costs belong on a building-cost site, not here; these guides deal with the insurance side only. Where a guide mentions a credit or a requirement, it names the state rule or the insurer document that sets it, so you can check it for your own house. Each guide states its sources and the date they were checked.
One habit ties these guides together: keep the paperwork for every change to the house. Permits, contractor invoices with dates, product approval labels for windows and roofing, and inspection reports are what an underwriter needs to rate the house accurately, and what an adjuster needs after a loss. A roof replaced without a dated invoice is, for insurance purposes, an old roof. A shutter system without its documentation may be scored as unverified. Store the records with your declarations page and update them whenever work is finished.
Information about underwriting and policy terms, not a quote and not insurance advice. Credits and requirements differ by insurer and state.
Wind mitigation inspection
The nine questions on Florida's OIR-B1-1802 form, the weakest-link rule, who may sign, and a break-even check on the inspection fee.
Roof age and material
Why underwriters care so much about the roof, how settlement terms change with its age, and the documents that help.
Renovation not reported
How a remodel raises rebuilding cost while the dwelling limit stays put, and the conversation that fixes it.
Four-point inspections
What the roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC sections record, which findings stop a policy, and Florida's roof-age rules.
Insuring a 20 to 25-year-old roof
Whether an insurer will write the policy, what a claim pays as the roof ages, and the roof-age laws in Florida, Virginia, Mississippi and Texas.
Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels
What Citizens' four-point form and the CPSC record actually say about these panels, and when replacing one costs less than a surcharge.
Termite damage
Why the HO-3 excludes insect damage, when a hidden-damage collapse is covered, and how retreat-only and repair termite contracts differ.
Pet damage
What HO-3 exclusion c.(6)(h) removes, what the water exception, fire and liability coverage still pay, and one chewed supply line priced three ways.
Septic system failure
Why the tank sits under other structures at actual cash value, the wear, roots and earth movement exclusions, the collapse route, and the EPA cost worked against the deductible.
For how these features show up at renewal, see the renewal increase decoder, and for the claim side of a damaged roof, the hail and roof claim guide. The full list is on the guides page.