What Your Insurance Company’s Home Inspection Checks
If your insurer just asked for a home inspection, it is not questioning your honesty and it is not the same visit a buyer pays for. The carrier wants to confirm four things it cannot see from a policy application: how old your roof is, what kind of electrical panel you have, what your water pipes are made of, and how old your heating and cooling equipment is. Those four systems drive most of what a homeowner policy pays out, so the carrier verifies them before it will write, renew, or re-price your coverage.
This is almost always a 4-point inspection — named for the four systems it covers. It takes 30 to 60 minutes, produces a one- to three-page form with photos rather than a long report, and typically costs $125 to $300. Here is what the inspector is actually recording and how each finding lands on an underwriter’s desk.
The four systems, and what makes each a problem
Roof
The inspector notes the covering (asphalt shingle, tile, metal, wood shake), its approximate age, and its condition — curling, missing shingles, exposed underlayment, prior patch repairs. In hail-exposed markets like the Front Range, the roof is the single biggest claim driver, so carriers scrutinize age hardest here. Many will not write a policy on a shingle roof past 15 to 20 years without a separate roof certification, and an impact-resistant (Class 4) covering often earns a real premium credit. Wood shake draws the most caution because of fire and hail exposure.
Electrical panel
The inspector photographs the panel’s data plate and identifies the manufacturer and service amperage. A handful of panel brands — Federal Pacific (Stab-Lok), Zinsco, and certain Pushmatic and Challenger units — have documented histories of breakers that fail to trip, and many carriers flag them for replacement before coverage continues. Fuse boxes and 60-amp service are common flags on older homes. Aluminum branch wiring, used widely in homes wired roughly between 1965 and 1973, is another: the connections loosen and oxidize over time, which can overheat, and the NFPA and CPSC both treat it as a repair-or-replace fire hazard.
Plumbing supply lines
The inspector records the supply-line material and the water heater’s age. Polybutylene — a gray or blue-gray plastic pipe installed in many homes from roughly 1978 to 1995 — is a frequent disqualifier because of its history of joint failures and sudden leaks. Active galvanized-steel lines (which corrode shut from the inside) and lead service lines also draw scrutiny, as do stains or repairs pointing to past leaks. Copper and PEX are generally accepted without comment.
Heating and cooling
The inspector logs the furnace, air conditioner, and water heater by age and operating condition. A gas furnace generally lasts 15 to 20 years and a central air conditioner 15 to 20 as well, and the Department of Energy’s own service-life ranges are what most underwriting guidelines track. Equipment near or past those ages doesn’t automatically fail you, but it can trigger a surcharge or a request to plan replacement.
Why did the carrier ask now?
An inspection request is usually tied to one specific event, not a red flag on you:
- You just bought the home, or switched carriers — new coverage on a home older than about 15 years almost always triggers a first-time inspection.
- Your policy came up for renewal and the carrier is re-verifying an aging roof or system on a set cycle.
- You filed a large claim, and the carrier is confirming the property still meets its underwriting rules.
- The carrier tightened its criteria — for example, adding polybutylene exclusions or roof-age caps — and is re-checking existing policies.
What the underwriter does with the form
The completed 4-point form goes to an underwriter who compares your systems against the carrier’s eligibility rules. There are effectively four outcomes:
- Issued at standard rate. Everything clears; the policy prices normally.
- Issued with a surcharge. Coverage stands, but an aging roof or older HVAC adds to the premium.
- Conditional. The carrier writes the policy only if you replace or repair a flagged item — a Stab-Lok panel, polybutylene supply lines — within a stated window, often 30 to 90 days.
- Declined or non-renewed. The property falls outside the carrier’s risk appetite, and you shop elsewhere or fall back to surplus-lines coverage.
How strictly a carrier applies these varies. A long-tenured, claim-free policyholder is more likely to get a 90-day replacement window on a flagged panel than a brand-new customer, who may simply be declined for the same panel.
A passing 4-point form is not a clean bill of health
This is the point homeowners most often get wrong. The 4-point form only answers the carrier’s four narrow questions. It says nothing about foundation movement, a compromised beam, drainage, or hidden moisture, because those are outside its scope. A comprehensive buyer’s inspection — which runs 2.5 to 4 hours and produces a 30- to 60-page report — is a different product entirely, and a carrier will not accept one in place of the 4-point form. If you want the full picture of the property’s condition, see what a full home inspection actually involves. For how the two visits, deliverables, and price points compare, our hiring-a-home-inspector hub lays out the differences.
Who pays, and what to do next
In most cases you hire and pay the inspector, then submit the form to your carrier — clarify this before scheduling, because some carriers dispatch (and pay for) their own inspector, in which case that inspector represents the carrier, not you. Either way, use a licensed inspector with 4-point experience; most ASHI- or InterNACHI-credentialed inspectors perform them, and confirm the turnaround fits the carrier’s deadline.
The finished form is worth more than the single decision it triggers. You can shop it to competing carriers for comparative quotes (most accept a form completed within the past one to three years), and if it flags a system, use it to scope repairs and gather contractor bids. Refusing the inspection outright almost always ends in non-renewal — and since most carriers ask for the same thing, refusing rarely helps. Replacing a flagged Federal Pacific panel typically runs $2,000 to $5,000, usually less than the long-run gap between standard and non-standard premiums.
Front Range note
Front Range underwriting has tightened through 2024–2026 as hail and wildfire losses mounted. Expect roof-age verification on homes over 15 years, polybutylene checks on 1978–1995 homes, and — in Boulder, Jefferson, and the foothills of El Paso and Douglas counties — defensible-space requirements clearing vegetation 30 to 100 feet from the structure. Carriers increasingly pre-screen with aerial imagery, so a visibly clean roof and trimmed vegetation reduce the odds of a triggered inspection in the first place.
Frequently asked questions
Sources: NFPA — Electrical Safety in the Home; U.S. Department of Energy, Energy Saver — Heating & Cooling; ASHI Standards of Practice; FTC Consumer Advice — Insurance. Figures are general underwriting patterns; your carrier’s specific eligibility rules govern your policy.