Chapter 15 of 17
Insurance preparation
What insurers ask about a manufactured home, and what to have ready before you need to claim.
1 min read
Manufactured homes are usually insured under a specialised policy rather than a standard homeowners policy, and the terms, deductibles, and exclusions differ from what people expect. Read yours rather than assuming it works like a house policy, particularly on wind, hail, and flood, which are commonly treated separately.
Insurers ask manufactured-home-specific questions, and the answers affect both premium and eligibility: the year built, the HUD label and its number, whether the anchoring meets the current standard for the wind zone, the roof type and age, whether the home is on a permanent foundation, and the plumbing and wiring types in older homes.
Several of those are things you can improve. Bringing anchoring up to standard, replacing an ageing roof, and documenting a permanent foundation can all affect what is available to you. It is worth asking your insurer what specifically would change your position.
Prepare for a claim before you have one. Photograph the home inside and out annually and after any improvement, keep the maintenance log and receipts, and store the HUD label numbers and data-plate details somewhere off-site. After a loss, the difference between a smooth claim and a difficult one is usually documentation.
If your home is in a flood-prone area, understand that flood is generally not covered by a standard policy and needs separate cover. Do not discover that afterwards.
Key points
- Manufactured homes usually need a specialised policy, not standard homeowners cover.
- Anchoring, roof age, HUD label, and foundation type affect premium and eligibility.
- Photograph annually and keep the maintenance log, that is your claim evidence.
- Wind, hail, and flood are often separate. Check yours.
Watch out
Assuming you are covered for flood because you have insurance is a common and expensive mistake. Flood cover is almost always separate.