Vacancy and Construction, Renovation

 

The insured purchased a foreclosed home on March 4, 2011 and immediately took out a Non-Owner Occupied Dwelling “Home Protector” the same day. The insured had to do some significant framing work in the basement before being able to rent out the home. On March 6, 2011 the insured went to Lowes to purchase a new main support beam and posts for the home and has receipts to prove this. On March 8, 2011 the carpenter showed up at the home and found that the home had been vandalized sometime the night before or early morning as he stated he worked until 5:15 p.m. the night before. The carrier is denying the claim based upon the fact that the home was vacant for 60 consecutive days before the loss. We feel that there should be coverage as the policy states that ” A dwelling being constructed is not considered unoccupied.” Due to the fact that the home was under construction and that the policy had been taken out only 4 days before the date of loss we feel there should be coverage. What is your opinion?

Illinois Subscriber

The home was not being constructed, it was being renovated. Even if framing was needed in the basement the structure was standing and that's a far cry from building a house from the ground up. Construction and renovation are two different things, and anytime the house is already standing, work on it is renovation. However, the insured only owned the property for 4 days; it's not fair for the company to look beyond the start of the policy when the insured wasn't an owner as far as occupancy goes. Therefore the property was vacant only 4 days of the insured's ownership; the loss should be covered.

 

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