Why Do You Need Special Insurance for a Historic Home?
Houses like yours that were built 50 or more years ago typically feature construction methods, building materials, and utility systems that are vastly different—and decades older—than those in contemporary homes. Consequently, after a covered loss, a standard Home Insurance Policy will rarely provide adequate financial support. Restoring a historic property to its original architectural, historical, and structural integrity, making mandatory building code upgrades, and replacing damaged valuables typically require enhancing your coverage with specialized insurance for a historic home.
The best way to secure coverage tailored to the age, condition, and special features of your distinct historic property is to work with a local, independent insurance professional. However, in most cases, homeowners will want to consider adding the following three specialized coverages and endorsements to their Home Insurance Policy to minimize potential gaps in protection:
1. Extended Reconstruction Cost Coverage: A standard homeowners policy typically only covers a rebuild of your home up to the Dwelling Coverage limit. This amount may fall short of what will be required to restore your historic home to its prior architectural integrity. By adding Extended Reconstruction Cost, you may secure as much as 25%-50% more coverage to help you fund the restoration of your home with historically accurate craftsmanship, design, and layout, and materials of like kind and quality.
2. Ordinance and Law Coverage: While a standard Home Insurance Policy may already include some Ordinance or Law Coverage to help pay for required home improvements after a loss, it is rarely enough to cover the cost of widespread structural upgrades that a home of 50-plus years may need. Adding an Ordinance or Law Endorsement may increase your coverage up to 100% of your Dwelling limit, helping you fulfill local and state requirements during the rebuild process.
3. Scheduled Personal Property Endorsement: Standard Home Insurance policies typically include Personal Property Protection for household items. However, limitations frequently apply to certain categories, like period-specific furniture, antiques, artwork, and other valuable items found in many historic homes. By scheduling these belongings, a homeowner can ensure they are insured up to their professionally appraised value for various losses, including fire or storm damage, theft, and accidental breakage. While there may be no way to purchase an authentic replacement for a historic piece, with a Scheduled Personal Property Endorsement, you will typically be reimbursed for the true market worth rather than a lesser depreciated amount or the cost of a modern substitute.
Several factors make historic homes far more challenging and costly to repair or rebuild than a standard house and, as a result, pricier to insure. If a covered event damages or destroys one of these long-standing properties, fully restoring it may require:
Additionally, homes that were constructed decades ago frequently have outdated home systems, such as knob-and-tube electrical wiring and galvanized plumbing, that do not meet today’s building standards. These older systems are also more likely to fail, potentially causing fire or water damage. During the restoration process, a homeowner may be required by town or state laws and ordinances to make expensive upgrades and replace out-of-code features.
It is not always easy to find a company that is willing to provide coverage to safeguard a historic property. One of the many advantages of working with an independent agent is that they will do the legwork to identify insurers, such as The Andover Companies, that may offer products and solutions to properly protect your special home. Reach out to a knowledgeable local insurance professional in your area to access all our Home Insurance Coverage options.
Click on the Find an Agent button to search for independent insurance agencies near you.
Contact the independent insurance agency you would like to work with by phone or email.
Leave it up to your agent to uncover the best coverage solutions for your valuable property.
