Insurance inspections

[Frank Bombardiere]

Just curious, when those of you that do insurance inspections report to the agency,do you call out defects that you see or just state what type of wiring, plumbing, etc was present? I had an insurance company call to see if we would be interested in these inspections and they said that all they need is for an inspector to go out and document what tye of wiring or plumbing systems were present. Sounded like they do not care if there were double tapped breakers, undersized wiring etc.

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[Dom D'Agostino]

Sounded like they do not care if there were double tapped breakers, undersized wiring etc.

I give them exactly what they want or request, and nothing more. The bulk of the forms or requirements are simply looking for data (type, model, size, age if known, etc.)

Dom.

[mary gould]

Insurance inspection services is the industry I have worked in for 7 years and I work with a lot of different Property & Casualty carriers, and some insurance agents. When you referred to the "agency", I don't know if you mean an insurance agent or if you were referring to an inspection company and calling it an agency. As a general statement you could say the two basic reasons an insurance company orders an inspection are:

1. To calculate replacement cost to verify that the coverage is accurate.
2. To mitigate risk. They want to know of all potential liability exposures, from loose floorboards on the porch that could cause someone to trip and sue the homeowner, to wood stoves that lack proper clearances. And absolutely, if they order an interior inspection where you are to look at the electrical and heating systems, they do want to know if something is faulty, especially something that may result in an insurance loss.

However, insurance carriers do not like you to make recommendations to homeowners. That is the job of the underwriter after reading your report. You are the eyes and ears of the underwriter, but they make the decisions. So you photograph potentially adverse conditions, and comment on what you saw, but don't tell the homeowner that they need to replace their electrical system or anything like that. Simply photograph and make observations. Still, I would be uncomfortable leaving out commenting on problems in your report. They are a large part of what the carrier is paying for.

Notice I was speaking of insurance carriers, because those are primarily who I work with. I do work for a smaller number of insurance agencies, and they have always requested the same information as the carriers, including photos and comments of all potentially adverse conditions, liability exposures. I do not pretend to know your exact situation but I would be wary not to mention things you see that could result in an insurance loss. I find it hard to believe either the carrier or agent would not want to know.


Thanks,

Mary G.

[Frank Bombardiere]

The insurance agent is having his clients pay an inspector to come out and document what type of electrical system and plumbing system they have as most homeowners have no clue. The insurance agency is not paying for it. They just want to know if the older homes they are insuring have updated systems. I just think I would have a hard time saying they have this or that and not commenting on issues which are there with the panels, which the vast majority of older homes have.