Ok....here is the scoop I got from the on line place.
If your house was built in say...1975 (30 year old house) it would need a plumbing update because you haven't updated the plumbing in the last 25 years.
So what is a plumbing update? It is new pipes through out the house. It is not that new water heater, new supply lines, etc...it is new pipes.
Can anybody guess what it costs to re-plumb a house? You don't even want to go there.
So to satisfy what "they" consider plumbing update, very few people could answer, yes.
How many places do you know that have replaced their perfectly good copper plumbing with new plumbing?
Ok here is my take on this issue. My Accord manual says about the improvement question: "indicate any building improvements have been made since the original construction. Check all applicable improvements and list the year the improvement was made after the improvement name."
I read that the words "update" were used and perhaps that is the on-line quoters version of improvements. IMHO updates and improvements are ambiguous and open for each person to make a decision. I know that we have no customers that have replaced their plumbing if it is 25 years old. We do have a lot of customers that have made improvements such as a new water heater, new faucets, new supply lines under the sink and others. Those are improvements from the original constructed house.
I read the post about answering yes. If it were our office, I think we would agree with you that, if you would have asked more questions, your customer said would have said new water heater, new supply lines under the sink, some new faucets....we could have without blinking answered yes.
I saw that one poster thought you meant not being truthful on the application. What I took from it was that if you would have asked more questions you could have answered yes and should have.
We have 45 people working in our office and my manager said, she has always considered improvements to be the same things that were mentioned above not an entire renovations project.
It appears that your underwriter is finding a new way to refuse to insure an older home, or to keep one on the books. Run, do not walk, and find another carrier and switch all of your business with that company. It is a lot of work, but you'll have fewer problems in the future.
I speak only for myself, in situations where I'm doing small commercial, and the insured is a tennant, and often doesn't even have any plumbing stubs in their rented space, then I tell the company/underwriters what they want to hear about updates. I don't think it's the duty of the tennant to be quizzing the building owner about the extent of improvements so long as there's no history of losses at the location.
On the other hand, when I'm insuring the building, I do ask and pursue those kinds of questions and answers because at least in my mind, I have a greater responsibility to present an accurate picture to the underwriter of the risk involved.
I have no trouble sleeping at night and don't worry about my E&O retention with these guidelines.
<!--QuoteBegin-robalfan+Feb 15 2005, 07:49 PM--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td>QUOTE (robalfan @ Feb 15 2005, 07:49 PM)</td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin--> It appears that your underwriter is finding a new way to refuse to insure an older home, or to keep one on the books. Run, do not walk, and find another carrier and switch all of your business with that company. It is a lot of work, but you'll have fewer problems in the future. [/quote]
It never made it to the underwriter. The online quoting agency did not even forward it to any companies for a quote. This is a beauty shop that she built onto her own home. She has an HO policy on the house and currently has a BOP on the shop.
It has nothing to do with moving business but it does have to do with not giving the online agency anymore apps. It has to do with someone that enjoys parsing words. My Accord Property form (140) has improvements not updates. So in my mind, a mind that 30 years ago worked for a contractor, would consider a water heater an update. Period, with all honesty I can answer yes, give a date .....end of story.
