A homeowner in Maitland guts the kitchen and two bathrooms of her 1960s house, moves into a rental for three months while the work is done and never mentions any of it to her insurance company. Six weeks in, a subcontractor’s helper falls off a ladder in the garage. Two weeks after that, someone takes $9,000 worth of cabinetry that had been delivered and stacked in the living room. Neither claim goes well, and for different reasons: the house had been empty longer than the policy allows, the materials were not covered property and the helper worked for a subcontractor nobody had checked.
A renovation is a material change to the risk your carrier agreed to insure, and telling the carrier about it is not a formality. Central Florida’s older neighborhoods, from Maitland and Winter Park to College Park and Altamonte Springs, are full of mid-century homes being updated, and the same handful of insurance problems come up on those projects again and again. Most of them are easy to avoid with one call before the work starts and another after it ends.
If You Move Out, the Vacancy Clock Starts
The provision that surprises owners most is vacancy. Standard homeowners policies say that after a home has been unoccupied for a stated period, commonly around sixty days, though it varies by form, coverage for several causes of loss is suspended or reduced. The ones affected are typically vandalism, glass breakage, water damage and theft, which is exactly what happens to empty houses. A kitchen and bath renovation that runs three months with the family living elsewhere can cross that line without anyone noticing. The policy stays in force, but the coverage quietly narrows.
Policies also distinguish between unoccupied, where no one is living there but the furnishings remain, and vacant, where the house is empty of both, and vacant is treated more severely. A gut renovation with everything moved out is closer to the second. The fix is a conversation before the work starts. Depending on the scope, that means an endorsement on the existing policy or a separate placement, and our page on vacant home insurance covers the options for longer projects.
Materials on Site Are Not Covered Property
Cabinets, tile, flooring, fixtures and appliances that have been delivered but not yet installed are construction materials rather than household contents, and homeowners forms generally do not cover them. They are also the most commonly stolen items on a residential job, and a stack of cabinetry visible through a front window in a house no one sleeps in is an easy target. Builders risk coverage or a renovation endorsement covers the materials, the work in progress and, on some forms, the added value of the structure during construction. For any project beyond cosmetic work, that is the coverage the project needs, as our article on builders risk for renovations explains.
Verify Every Contractor, Every Time
Hiring an uninsured contractor does not save money. It means the homeowner takes on the contractor’s risk. Every contractor on the job should carry general liability, which responds if they damage your property or injure someone, and workers’ compensation, which matters more than owners realize. Florida requires workers’ compensation in construction once a business has a single employee, not four, and if a worker is hurt on your property and the contractor has no coverage, the claim can come back to you, where a homeowners liability policy is a poor substitute.
Exemption certificates are not coverage. A construction exemption covers only the business owner who filed it, not anyone else on the crew, so the question to ask is not whether the contractor is exempt but whether anyone working on the job is actually covered. Ask for certificates before work begins, confirm them with the issuing agent on anything significant and get them again for every subcontractor the general contractor brings in. Our article on Florida workers’ comp exemptions for corporate officers and LLC members explains what an exemption does and does not cover.
If You Pull the Permit Yourself
Florida allows an owner-builder permit for work on your own home, and it moves responsibility onto you. As the permit holder, you take on obligations the contractor would otherwise carry, including exposure tied to the workers on the property. It saves money on paper but changes your risk considerably, so it is worth talking with your agent before signing the permit application rather than after.
Unpermitted Work Causes Problems Later
Work done without a permit can become a claim problem long after the renovation is finished. A carrier investigating a fire or water loss that traces back to unpermitted electrical or plumbing work has grounds to question the claim, a buyer’s inspector will find it when you sell and an appraiser will not count it. Permits are inexpensive compared with what they prevent, and the permit record is also what proves the upgrade to a carrier later.
When the Work Is Done, the House Costs More to Rebuild
This is the step almost everyone skips. A renovation that adds square footage, upgrades finishes, replaces cabinetry and flooring or converts a garage or porch into living space raises what it would cost to rebuild the house, so the dwelling limit set before the work no longer fits. Policies reduce payment proportionally when a home is underinsured, on partial claims as well as total losses, so a kitchen fire in a house whose limit predates a major renovation can produce a reduced payment on a loss the owner thought was well covered. Call after the work is finished and update the limit. Our article on replacement cost versus market value explains how the limit should be set.
The Renovation That Lowers Your Premium
Some work has the opposite effect, and it is worth claiming. Impact-rated windows and doors or shutters earn credits, but only if every opening is protected, and the garage door is the usual gap. A new roof affects both the price and whether carriers will write the home at all. Replacing an outdated electrical panel is often the single change that reopens the market for an older Central Florida house, as our article on unacceptable electrical panels explains, and repiping removes polybutylene or cast iron from the underwriting conversation. Document all of it with permits and invoices, and get a new wind mitigation inspection after any roof or opening work, because a form filed before the renovation describes a house you no longer own. Our article on wind mitigation inspections covers what the inspector checks.
What Homeowners Should Confirm
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Has your carrier been told about the renovation and its scope?
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Will the home be unoccupied, and for how long?
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Are materials on site covered by builders risk or a renovation endorsement?
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Do you have current certificates, including workers’ compensation, from the general contractor and every subcontractor?
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Is all of the work permitted, and are you pulling the permit yourself?
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After completion, have you updated the dwelling limit and filed a new wind mitigation form?
Homeowners Insurance in Central Florida With Prestige Insurance Group
Prestige Insurance Group writes homeowners coverage across Orlando, Maitland, Winter Park, Altamonte Springs, College Park, Oviedo and the rest of Central Florida, as well as in Miami and across our nine-state footprint for clients who moved out of state and stayed with us, and we write builders risk for renovation projects. If you are planning work, call before it starts. If you have already finished it, call anyway, because the dwelling limit and the mitigation credits are both worth revisiting, and the credits often pay for the call several times over. Learn more on our Central Florida homeowners insurance and builders risk insurance pages. Call the office nearest you. Se habla español.
Orlando: 407-993-2331 Miami: 305-969-8776
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need to tell my insurance company about a renovation?
Yes. A renovation changes the risk the carrier insured, and moving out, materials on site and contractors on the property all affect how claims are handled.
Does homeowners insurance cover materials stored for a renovation?
Generally not. Delivered but uninstalled materials are construction materials, which builders risk or a renovation endorsement covers.
What happens if I move out during a renovation?
After a stated period of vacancy, commonly around sixty days, coverage for theft, vandalism and water damage can be suspended or reduced. Talk to your carrier before you move out.
Should I update my insurance after a remodel?
Yes. Raise the dwelling limit to match the higher rebuild cost, and get a new wind mitigation form after any roof, window or door work to claim the credits.
General information only, not legal advice. Vacancy provisions, coverage forms, endorsements and carrier requirements vary by policy and change over time. Florida permitting and workers’ compensation requirements are set by statute and rule and can change, so confirm current requirements with the applicable authority. Refer to your actual policy for the terms that apply to your home.
