Has anyone ever heard of homeowner insurance canceling your policy due to bees under your siding?
We bought our house 2 years ago in Louisiana and last year, a swarm of honeybees from a neighboring beekeeper choose our home and made colonies. We’ve had 2 professionals come look and they say it’s likely we have at least 3 colonies based on the size of activity and 3 different entry points. So the suggestion was made to contact our insurance company to see if we could get help removing bees and honey and repairing siding that would need to be removed,which is practically the entire back and side of our home. I did, an inspector came out, took pictures, measurements and 5 weeks later we get a non-renewal notice of our policy. The reason, “high risk to structure due to bee infestation.”
I’ve read on multiple sites, including this one that state, “as a professional beekeeper/exterminator, there is no danger to the structural integrity because of the bees. Now I would love to get the bees out and into hive boxes but at present am unable to do so. Wondering if a statement from a professional stating that structure is in no danger would suffice to keep my policy? With all the concern about saving the honey bees, seems like they’d pay me!
Thanks for any helpful advice.
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Replies
May I ask which insurance company? Also, may I ask if you are in a floodplain?
Centauri Insurance and our property is not coded in a flood plain.
Is the insurance company paying the claim? If not, you should discuss it with an attorney. Regarding renewal, this would be a good time to shop around with other companies.
They denied the claim and shopping is in progress. They say honey bees are categorized under "insects" and they do not cover insects. They also told me that in the history of the company (8 yrs) they have never encountered such circumstances. And an Attorney might be worth consulting as a last resort for help.
You should talk to your state insurance commissioner. It may offer some protection for this type of situation. You also might want to investigate the bee owners liability. If he is operating a business, you may have some recourse with his insurer.
I will look into the State Ins Commissioner and as for the beekeeper and their business, they sold and have moved on in the last 6 months, I heard they divorced.
No expert here, but it's my understanding that bees can cause moisture and mold issues by chewing up air barriers and vapor retarders and filling your walls with honey and wax. And to my knowledge most homeowners insurance excludes insects and vermin. It will be written into the policy. Check your policy.
The rationalization I've read is that an infestation large enough to involve insurance should have been treated or prevented much earlier. (Think fleas, ants, mice, or bats.) Unfortunately, I don't think you're going to have much recourse with your insurer. You've shown them that you have an extra risk factor that they don't cover.
What kind of insurance do you people have??? Mine only covered wind,hail,fire, etc. Definitely not insects. If anything you should get your neighbor to pay for repairs to your house. The bees could be inside the walls and your house is due for a major repair bill. Your house as it is is not insurable right now.