Manufactured home insurance

– Liability coverage. This covers you if you cause damage to another person's property or someone comes onto your property and is injured.

– Property damage. If your property (mobile or manufactured home) itself gets damaged and requires repair, this is the coverage you will need. It is usually settled based on actual cash value or replacement value and will have a deductible. If you have other structures, such as sheds, garages, or barns, you may want those covered, too. Review with your insurance agent or company how best to cover detached structures.

– Personal property. This coverage reimburses you for personal belongings affected by a covered loss (theft, fire or inclement weather). It is important to keep an accurate inventory of your personal property so you have sufficient coverage, and it is documented in case of loss.

– Additional living expenses. Severe damage to the mobile home may create the need of finding a temporary home. If your mobile home is unsuitable for living due to a covered claim, you may need to live temporarily in an inn or a hotel. If you are covered for additional living expenses your insurance policy will pay some costs of temporary housing, meals, and essentials.

Refer to the Consumer Guide to Home Insurance for more information.​

Some manufactured homes may have greater risks associated with location, construction and foundation factors.  For example, a manufactured home may not survive a tornado, wind storm, hail, or hurricane as well as a stick built home.   

The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has regulated the building code for mobile homes since 1976, and at that point relabeled them as manufactured homes. However, homes made before this date have building and safety conditions that are unregulated, thus posing potential additional risk to insurers, and they worry there will be greater claims. 

Some manufactured homes lose value as they age. This is particularly true for older homes. For example, if you purchase a manufactured home built in 2001, the price of the home would be based on comparisons of other homes built in 2001. Because some older manufactured homes lose value, the homes are insured for the actual cash value because your insurance is not supposed to pay out more than the home is actually worth. If you purchase a newer manufactured home (for example, a 2015 manufactured home), it will be priced at the cost of a similar brand-new home. Often, a new home will be insured for replacement cost based on a new home of similar size and quality. Ask your insurance agent if your policy will move from a replacement cost to an actual cash value policy as it ages.​

​Actual cash value: Actual cash value considers depreciation; which is the age of the home, and wear and tear. If a manufactured home is expected to last 20 years, and it is destroyed when it is 10 years old, its actual cash value would be the replacement value minus 10 years of depreciation and wear and tear. It pays you for your loss, but often does not pay enough to fully repair or replace what was damaged. An actual cash value policy typically costs less than a replacement value policy because it will pay out less on a claim.

Replacement value: A policy that covers for replacement value will pay the actual cost to replace the destroyed home with a new home of like kind or repair a damaged home with materials of similar kind and quality. A replacement value policy is a higher cost policy because it will pay out more on a claim. 

The coverage amount available for any loss is subject to the coverage limits reflected on the policy declaration pages. You should review the coverage amounts annually. 

​Yes.​​​

Several factors may affect the cost of your manufactured home insurance policy. They include:

• Age and condition of your home
• Your location – some areas are more prone to theft, fires, hurricanes, tornados or wind damage than other areas
• Your coverage limits
• Your deductible – higher deductibles may mean a higher upfront cost if a loss occurs, but are likely to reduce your premium
• Whether you qualify for discounts such as multiple policies, military service, or having a home security system

Your claims history​​

Compare quotes: Shop around to get quotes from multiple insurance companies.  Compare the same coverages with each company so you are making a true apples-to-apples comparison, rather than an apples-to-oranges comparison.

Bundle: Bundling means you have multiple policies, such as your auto insurance, RV insurance, and manufactured home insurance, with the same company. Sometimes, companies will provide discounts for bundling.

Safety: Make sure the insurance company knows about any special safety features, such as smoke detectors or a security system, that your mobile or manufactured home has. They may get you discounts.

Deductible: Increasing your deductible may lower your premium.  

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A deductible is the money you pay before insurance coverage kicks in. For example, if you have a $500 deductible and a fire destroys $5,000 worth of furniture, the first $500 is your responsibility and your insurance company will cover $4,500.

Manufactured home insurance deductibles are generally specified as a dollar amount, which can be found on the declarations page. Typically, the larger the deductible, the lower your insurance premium will be. One way to save money on your premium is to get the highest deductible you can afford. ​​

Yes. Insurance companies periodically review your insurance policy to determine if they should continue insuring you. State law limits the situations in which insurers can nonrenew policies. Typical situations include claim frequency or claim severity, but they could also just be getting out of that line of business. If a company is not renewing your policy for any reason other than your not paying the premium, they must give you a 30 day written notice and the reason.

When an insurance company is first determining if it will sell you a policy, it goes through a process called underwriting. It has 60 days in the underwriting period when it can decide not to insure you and cancel the policy. If a company is canceling your policy because of something it determined during underwriting, it must give you at least a 10-day written notice.

If you are late with your premium payment, the insurance company can cancel your policy for nonpayment. You will get a 10-day notice of cancellation.

It is your responsibility to keep the insurance company informed of your mailing address or email if you have chosen to communicate electronically, so make sure to inform the company if your postal address or email changes. ​​

An independent insurance agent can shop your policy to multiple companies. If you are having difficulty getting coverage through the standard insurance market, other options may be available, including surplus lines companies or the Oregon FAIR Plan.

Surplus lines: Surplus lines insurance protects against a financial risk that a regular insurance company will not take on. Surplus lines insurance is generally more expensive than regular insurance because the risks are higher. 

Oregon FAIR Plan: The Oregon FAIR Plan is a nonprofit insurance provider of last resort. The coverage is limited and provides only the basic perils of fire, extended coverage (which includes windstorm or hail), explosion, riot or civil commotion, aircraft, vehicles, smoke and volcanic eruption, and vandalism and/or malicious mischief.

Self-insure: If you are under insured, cannot get coverage you can afford, or have a high deductible, you may decide to self-insure. That means put aside money in a savings account to help you if a loss occurs. You may start it up with funds from a tax refund, a yard sale, or a year-end bonus, then try to add money to it each month to build it up.

Force-placed coverage: This is coverage put on by your lending institution when you do not provide evidence of insurance. Force-placed insurance will cover only the amount due to the lender, which may not adequately protect the home in the case of a loss. Also, these policies usually do not include personal property or liability protection. It is usually extremely expensive, compared to standard policies. The insurance premium is rolled into your monthly loan payment. ​​

Mobile and manufactured home insurance rarely cover special issues, such as flooding, earthquakes, water/sewer backup, and mold or mildew. Flood coverage is available from the National Flood Insurance Program and a few private insurers. You can get earthquake insurance as a separate policy or have it added as an endorsement to your policy, depending on where you live and if your insurance company offers the endorsement. ​​​

Yes, there is renters insurance available if you are renting a mobile or manufactured home. The policies are comparable in price and coverage to an apartment renters policy. Refer to our consumer guide to renters insurance for information. ​​

Many mortgage companies and mobile home communities specifically stipulate that owners of older mobile homes must carry adequate mobile home insurance.​​​

Today, manufacturers place a HUD certification label to indicate a manufactured home's date, but that isn't always the case with older mobile homes. Without this tag, you will need to check your mobile home's sale documents to determine its age. You can find this information at the Oregon Building Codes Division.​​

They are all considered prefabricated homes – built in a factory or controlled indoor building center. The term mobile home is used for homes built before June 15, 1976. They are built to remain on the chassis and wheels it is moved to the site. Mobile homes were built before the federal building standards put in place by Housing and Urban Development (HUD) on June 15, 1976. They are considered moveable and are insured using a mobile or manufactured homeowners policy.

A manufactured home is built after June 15, 1976, and follows the HUD building standards for manufactured homes. They are built on a chassis, moved on the chassis, and then the chassis is usually attached to a foundation. They are considered removeable and relocatable and are insured using a mobile or manufactured homeowners policy.

A modular home is built in a controlled building center, and follows local building codes. It is not built on a chassis. It is installed with a crane and is permanently fixed to the property it is on.  It is not considered moveable and is insured using a standard homeowners policy. ​​