Why won’t anyone insure my coastal home?

Someone will. But if you own a house near the water on the South Shore — Hull, Scituate, Cohasset, Hingham harbor, Humarock, Marshfield — you have probably already heard “we don’t write that close to the coast” from at least one company. Here is what is actually going on, and what to do about it. We have been placing coastal homes from our office in Hingham since 1979.

What the insurance companies are worried about

One storm. A nor’easter or a hurricane that damages hundreds of houses on the same day is the kind of loss that gets an insurance company’s attention, so many of the standard companies limit how many homes they will insure near the ocean, or draw a line at a certain distance from the water and stop there. It is not about you or your house. It is about how many houses they already insure on your stretch of coast.

The questions you will be asked

How far from the water

Measured in feet, sometimes in miles, and different companies draw the line in different places. A house that one company will not touch is a perfectly ordinary risk to another. That is the main reason an independent agent is useful here: we know where each company’s line is.

The roof

Age and condition, more than anything else. A roof near the end of its life is the most common reason a coastal application is declined, and a new roof is the single change most likely to open doors.

Wind and hurricane deductibles

Most coastal policies carry a separate deductible for wind or named-storm damage, and it is often a percentage of the amount your house is insured for rather than a flat dollar figure. On a house insured for several hundred thousand dollars, that is real money. We will show you the number in dollars before you buy, not after a storm.

Flood is a different policy

Homeowners insurance does not cover flooding from the ocean, a storm surge or a river. That is a separate flood policy, usually through the National Flood Insurance Program, and if you have a mortgage on a house in a mapped flood zone your lender will require one. We write flood insurance and can tell you whether your address is in a zone that requires it.

Construction and age

Older shore houses — the cottage that became a year-round home, knob-and-tube wiring, an oil tank, a foundation that is really posts — raise questions a website quote never asks. Answer them once with us and we will carry the answers to every company we approach.

What we do

We represent a number of insurance companies, and they do not all say no. We shop the ones that write on your part of the coast and bring you the choices. When the standard companies all decline, there is still the Massachusetts FAIR Plan, which exists for exactly this situation. We write it every week. We will tell you plainly whether it is the right fit or simply the only one available this year, and we will check again at renewal, because a new roof or a change in a company’s appetite can move you back to the standard market.

What to have ready

The year the roof was replaced. The year of the house and any major renovation. Whether the heating is gas, oil or electric and roughly how old it is. The distance to the water if you know it. Your current policy’s declarations page. That is enough for us to start.

Towns where we do this most

Hull, Scituate, Cohasset, Hingham, Weymouth, Marshfield and Duxbury.

Ask us about your coastal home  ·  Already a client? Request a certificate or proof of insurance.