Ordinance or Law

COVERAGE DESCRIPTION: Homeowners insurance only pays to rebuild the home the way it sat immediately prior to the loss. This coverage will pay for upgrading your home to current building codes imposed during reconstruction if required by city, county or state building codes.

IS THIS OPTION RIGHT FOR YOU AND TIPS ON SELECTING A LIMIT: Most policies include only a token amount of coverage, but we have seen code upgrades as much as $40,000 to in excess of $100,000. We recommend the 100% of Dwelling limit option on older home where the highest likelihood of a claim exists, but codes can change rapidly to the point where they impact even newer homes.

CLAIM EXAMPLE: After a fire, a client’s home located in a coastal area was forced to upgrade the windows in his home to accommodate for current building codes that required hurricane code windows in the home. The cost of the upgrade was nearly $50,000.