I owned a business for many years, with my business partner. We eventually bought the building we were in.
In 2018 we sold our business but retained the building.
This has been a non issue until last year when our insurance company dropped us siting "non owner occupied" or something like that.
We got several quotes thru our broker and most of them were outrageous, 5X times or more than we were paying before. We eventually found one that was only 2X.
The biggest issue is that the building was built in 1938 and is essentially impossible to replace. It's brick and cement, cement floors, roof, cement pillars, etc. the company we were with for years insured us at "clean up cost". So if the building was hit with a direct drone strike the policy would pay to have the rubble hauled away.
Every new policy is at "replacement cost" which is in the neighborhood of 25x the actual value of the building and 70x what we owe on it.
I'm just looking for advice on things to explore to try and get the cost down. A different type of policy, specialized company, any advise would be appreciated.
Commercial Building Insurance Advise
byu/Downtown-Tomato2552 inInsurance
Posted by Downtown-Tomato2552
2 Comments
What state? Is the building occupied by a tenant? And is that tenant’s business similar to the business you ran from that building?
Regardless, the risk profile substantially changed when you became a lessor’s risk only exposure. All you can do is reach out to more independent agents and brokers for quotes.
Also, your blurb about insuring for clean-up cost doesn’t make sense if you’re in the US. Was your prior policy update when you purchased the building?
If the building burned to the ground tonight, what is your end goal? Sell the land? Rebuild it?