insurer won't cover a house with galvanized pipes

[Anonymous]

I'm closing on a house in Arlington VA that was built in 1947. The house is in excellent condition, but it has galvanized pipes. As a consequence, the insurer that presently insures my condo is unwilling to insure the house. The fact that they viewed galvanized pipes as a risk that cannot be insured is a bit of a shock.

The pipes show no sign of corrosion. Should I be concerned nevertheless? Do I need to replace these pipes even though they look OK?

[Anonymous]

Different insurers have different risk tolerances. Call a few more and you will find someone to insure it.

[Anonymous]

Call other insurers. Travelers, Liberty Mutual and Erie all do a lot of business in NoVa and should be familiar with the old homes.

[Anonymous]

We live in DC in a 1921 house with galvanized pipes and had no trouble getting insurance. Call another company.

[Anonymous]

We have Erie in Maryland, and they didn't ask about the pipes at all. We haven't had any problems with our galvanized pipes so far, but would like to replace them eventurally.

[Anonymous]

Our previous company wouldn't cover our new house because they said the value was above what they insure (it's not that high for the DC area, well below $1M). I was surprised, and called around, and every other insurer was willing to write a policy. Sometimes certain companies are weird about particular things.

[Anonymous]

Can you get USAA? I have a house in Arlington that was coincidentally also built in 1947 with galvanized pipes and they covered it no problem.

[Anonymous]

I've owned two houses both of which had galvanized pipes and was never asked about them by our insurer.

Having said that they are a legitimate risk - we just spend a bunch of money removing the last of the pipes in our house because there was a lot of water condensation building up on them and 2 years ago we had a burst pipe that we luckily discovered immediately and were able to shut the water down before we ended up with any damage but the plumber who did that patch told us we should have all of the old pipes replaced immediately.

But our pipes were 100 years old so you could be decades away from needing to replace - but you would not be able to see any signs of corrosion - I believe dropping water pressure is the best indicator you've got a pending problem which was what prompted us to lay out the money to swap out the pipes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've owned two houses both of which had galvanized pipes and was never asked about them by our insurer.

Having said that they are a legitimate risk - we just spend a bunch of money removing the last of the pipes in our house because there was a lot of water condensation building up on them and 2 years ago we had a burst pipe that we luckily discovered immediately and were able to shut the water down before we ended up with any damage but the plumber who did that patch told us we should have all of the old pipes replaced immediately.

But our pipes were 100 years old so you could be decades away from needing to replace - but you would not be able to see any signs of corrosion - I believe dropping water pressure is the best indicator you've got a pending problem which was what prompted us to lay out the money to swap out the pipes.

Learn to use periods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I've owned two houses both of which had galvanized pipes and was never asked about them by our insurer.

Having said that they are a legitimate risk - we just spend a bunch of money removing the last of the pipes in our house because there was a lot of water condensation building up on them and 2 years ago we had a burst pipe that we luckily discovered immediately and were able to shut the water down before we ended up with any damage but the plumber who did that patch told us we should have all of the old pipes replaced immediately.

But our pipes were 100 years old so you could be decades away from needing to replace - but you would not be able to see any signs of corrosion - I believe dropping water pressure is the best indicator you've got a pending problem which was what prompted us to lay out the money to swap out the pipes.

Learn to use periods.

Learn to not be an asshole.

[Anonymous]

We have galvanized pipes in Arlington and USAA. I don't think the pipes ever came up as a concern at all.

[Anonymous]

If this insurer's practice were common policy, two thirds of houses in DC couldn't get insurance. You'll easily find another insurer.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can you get USAA? I have a house in Arlington that was coincidentally also built in 1947 with galvanized pipes and they covered it no problem.

+1

[Anonymous]

I have never been asked about this by an insurer. I own two homes in Arlington that have galvanized pipes. Contact State Farm or USAA.

[Anonymous]

Had this issue with our insurer and the solution was to list the pipes as an exclusion. Not worried about that as they are similar age to yours and no signs of corrosion.