10 Things that Can Lead to Higher Home Insurance Rates

Home-hunting season is upon us again! While you can buy any home you want for the price-range that you can afford, there is nothing wrong with making sure that you get your money’s worth by avoiding homes which will cost you a lot on maintenance and insurance fees. After all, even luxury home buyers are not just looking for beauty, they also want a home that would be a pleasure to live in! The last thing you want is to end up buying the wrong house.

What you should know is that home insurance rates are calculated based on factors that can render a home as non-ideal, non-safe, or problematic. These factors include the 10 house features below.

Old Wiring

Knob and tube wiring, as well as aluminum wiring are not in any insurer’s list of favourites. Aluminum wiring is prone to overheating and possibly causing a fire. Knob and tube wiring is just too old and have issues that make complete rewiring the best course of action to get insured

Wood Stove

A wood stove may place you in danger if not properly maintained or if your home isn’t properly ventilated. This is a fire hazard too.

Finished Basement

Because the majority of plumbing and pipes are in the basement, any leak or damage to the pipes can severely damage basements. Finished basements cost a lot more than unfinished ones to repair and restore.

Oil Heating

An oil tank leak is a huge danger to the environment in case of a leak. The cleanup is quite expensive too plus oil can damage the building if it seeps to the foundation.

Wooden Shingle Roof

Wood shake and shingle deteriorate so fast and are prone to damage due to leakage. Insurers refuse to consider insuring property with this because repair and replacement are almost always needed.

Trees and Landscaping

Storms and bad weather can damage landscaping and trees, not to mention that plants can be wiped out by diseases or by using the wrong chemical fertilizer. It takes a lot of risks for insurers to insuring trees and landscape and in a lot of places, there are policies that allow only 10-15% of home insurance to be used for trees and landscaping.

Wooden Frames

Concrete and brick frames are considered safer than wooden frames more so for huge buildings.

Swimming Pool

A swimming pool is perceived as an accident or a lawsuit waiting to happen so insurers require higher fees to cover the risks they’re taking. One way to possibly minimize cost in the long run is to fence your pool to make it safer.

Home Office

A home office is a fire hazard due to all the equipment stored in there as well as business materials. An insurer might require a home inspection before considering covering your home office for insurance.

Old Plumbing

Lead, galvanized, Kitec, or Poly-B plumbing pipes are considered old and may burst or cause heavy metal poisoning. It would be best to replace them to avoid high insurance costs as well as other problems.