Yurt Insurance

[Jafo]

Having a hard time getting Yurt

insurance

.. I have a local agent looking around for someone to underwrite a policy but am not holding out much hope. If anyone knows of any companies that offer it, please post here in this thread!

[Jafo]

So far my local brokers have come up with nothing, but they are still trying.

I contacted Geico and had a good conversation with them. They were helpful, but in the end they considered it a "unique structure" and they could not cover it.

I had read somewhere online that someone had gotten a policy through Nationwide

insurance

, but when I tried, they balked at the roof. No go with them.

A friend of mine said that Mutual Insurance Services have found policies for yurts. I contacted them by email and they referred me to a wholesaler in New York: Risk Placement Services. I spoke with a Jerry Silver who explained that he only dealt with licensed brokers, but he believed they could insure yurts. He recommended I have my brokers contact them and they could talk it over. He said they have no minimums that brokers had to achieve as far as business, so it would be fine if this was just a one time deal. I will contact our broker tomorrow and see what they think.

[Jafo]

There is another post of at Juicy Maters about this:

» How to insure your yurt home

that has some good info too. That is where I heard about the guy who got a Nationwide policy.

The search goes on.

[Jafo]

My only progress today was handing off the wholesalers contact info to my broker. Still searching for yurt insurance!

[Jafo]

Ok, my broker called me and did find a policy though it will not cover wind or snow damage, which is fine for now.. The company she worked with said to her that the structures were just way too new to them to go that far. I am stopping in her office tomorrow to purchase the policy ($298 a year). Once I have it in hand, I will post the details here.

[Jafo]

OK, my agent Dawn came through and I have a yurt insurance policy in New York!!! They would not cover wind or snow load damage, but they cover fire ($25,000) and contents ($10,000) for $298/yr.

I asked Dawn if I could refer you all to her and she welcomed it. She said even if they can't do policies in your state, she can probably refer you to a broker in your state who uses the same underwriter. She asked that you contact her at her office here:

Dawn Wiedmer
WB Payne Co., INC.
46 Schuyler Street
Boonville, NY 13309
315-942-4434

She said you can email her too if you prefer at dwiedmerwbpayneco.com

[Jafo]

If anyone has contacted these guys and had no success, please let me know!

[HawaiiYurts]

As far as I know, we were the first to be successful in getting insurance for yurt owners statewide. Our contact here is Herb Spector, I'd have to dig up his information. They'll insure any permitted yurt here now, on the Big Island and Kauai. The angle we took was to find someone who is motivated and then present them with 40 potential yurt insurance policies (no names, just knowing that we have permitted that many), explaining that they're missing the boat... It didn't take long for him to get an underwriter to come around. You may look at doing the same thing, with this forum, you'll likely come across many people looking for the same things. If you go with a company that has done adequate engineering for snow and wind loads, and I mean PROVEN, stamped, etc. engineering, these should be minor obstacles as well.

Good luck!

Melissa

[Jafo]

I believe the biggest thing is finding a motivated agent. I mean, we are not talking about insuring a million dollar home or anything, but basically a $10,000 - $50,000 structure/contents policy. Since yurts continue to fall under the "unique structure" category, many agents may not want to do the footwork for such a small policy. Fortunately my agent will.

If you could post your info on your agent, that would be great!

[HawaiiYurts]

He is specifically for Hawaii only, he was clear about that, but maybe he can help other agents? I don't know. Yes, Jafo, it's not much money for them, exactly. That's why it may help to gather together as a group and dangle the bait!

Here's our guy: Herb Spector of the Royal Insurance Agency in Hilo at (808) 935-2766