Home Owners Insurance Inspections

Focus Home Inspection  -  Same peace of mind, one inspection at a time

Homeowners insurance is a crucial form of protection for what is often a person's largest asset. It safeguards the home and its contents from damage or loss due to unexpected events like fire, theft, or natural disasters, and provides liability coverage if someone is injured on the property. For most homeowners with a mortgage, it is a required part of their loan agreement.

However, obtaining homeowners insurance has become increasingly difficult in California, primarily due to the rising frequency and severity of natural disasters, particularly wildfires. Major insurance companies are pulling out of the state or no longer writing new policies, as they find it challenging to cover the high costs of these catastrophic events. This issue is compounded by state regulations, such as Proposition 103, which have historically prevented insurers from setting rates based on forward-looking risk models, making it difficult for them to price policies appropriately for the current climate risks. This has left many homeowners with limited and more expensive options, often turning to the state's "insurer of last resort," the California FAIR Plan, which provides more basic coverage.

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In 2024 I would have told you that we performed may two home insurance inspections a year. Now, we perform about two a week. More and more we see that insurance companies want to take little to no risk at all. Defects with the home that we would typically label as age and/or neighborhood appropriate have become points of contention with the insurers. Claims are getting denied and held up over items such as roofs that are to old, recalled electrical panels, recalled plumbing materials, and more. Older homes are encountering more and more hurdles in the state of California. You may find yourself having to make upgrades that you didn't anticipate, and we cannot predict what may be asked of you.

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We'll update this page more in time, but for now we want to get your thinking about those next steps and what could come up as a result of the age and condition of the home you're purchasing.

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