What is “Pride in Ownership” when it comes to your Insurance Coverage?
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Did you know the condition of your home will play a factor into the cost to insure your home? Often the condition of the home is expressed using the term “Pride in Ownership”.
There are many factors in deciding the premium costs of homeowner’s insurance. Some factors are the age and condition of the home itself, the roof, the yard and the age of any updates to major systems of the home, such as heating and plumbing. When a home is in especially bad shape an insurance company will refuse to provide coverage at all. For those who buy older, “fixer uppers” this can be a problem. Some companies will allow for a 30 to 40-day restoration term for a new owner, however, many will not.
Pride of ownership is a psychological benefit most often derived from owning a home rather than renting. It is reflected in well-maintained property. A price cannot be attached to this subjective value, and its importance will vary from person to person. Pride in ownership may be hard to define but when you see a home that exhibits a high level, you know it when you see it!
When an insurance company sees that efforts have not been made to maintain and improve a home, underwriting action can be taken, such as requesting repairs and, in severe cases of neglect, cancellation of coverage. When an owner “let’s their home go,” the next owner has a lot to prove to get a good rate on their insurance. By putting real time and effort into a fixer upper and turning it into a home worthy of pride, homeowners can transform a hard to insure home into a “GEM” When that happens, their homeowner’s insurance policy deserves a second look, and often a lower premium.
Even if you don't have a lot of money, you can still show how proud you are to live in a house. All you must do is invest some time and effort, like good old-fashioned weekend work that results in making a home look its very best. Cleaning-up the gutters, or sweeping the front porch, or hammering back in the nail that fell out of the wood trim, etc... doesn't cost any money. General up-keep is usually the least expensive, but the most time-consuming work that there is around our homes and sometimes the easiest priority to let slip when our lives gets busy.