Before getting homeowners insurance, will the insurer require a home inspection?

In order to provide you with the right insurance coverage for your home, the insurance company uses several sources of information. Your application is the first step, which includes checking your credit score, your CLUE report, and such things as a physical inspection of the home you want to insure. Because of the risks associated with home insurance, nothing short of a physical inspection will allow the insurance company to charge the correct rates.

Without inspecting your home, the insurance company has no way to verify the construction materials, location, age, and other characteristics of the home. This data is usually pulled from the insurance application, but that data has to be verified before the policy can be issued. Without the inspection, insurance companies would face huge losses based on people falsifying some or all of the information pertaining to their home.

The home inspection includes more than one type of inspection. The home has to be screened for termites or other signs of obvious infestation; it has to be checked for verification of the details of the home, such as the building materials employed the home construction and the current condition of the home. These inspections will include a thorough examination of the roof, the walls, and the floor joists if the home is not built on a solid foundation.

If the inspection of the home turns up a problem such as a mold problem or debris on the roof, you will be notified of the finding and instructed to correct the problem before the policy is issued. If you do not get the problems corrected within a specified period, usually 30 days or less, the policy will not be issued and you will need to search for coverage through another insurance provider.