The current exclusion (not present in the past) for damage to finished basements and contents in basements (which doesn’t include equipment like furnaces, hot water heaters) is in Flood Policies because people who knew they were going to get flooded, collected all their junk furnishings and put them in the basement, then filed claims. I was born and raised in Hoboken, Mayor, and have been in insurance my entire life. A great many of Hoboken’s 3 or 4 story row house dwellings have basements which are far below the street level. No one can afford to insure contents, or finished walls, floors, etc in these – illegal – apartments.
Maybe what you say about illegal apartments was true in the past. Since the mid to late 80’s, many of these 3/4story building have been converted to condo’s. Many have apartmnets in the “basement”. These have existed in urban NJ for years. They should not be treated any differently than apartments on above ground leve. The mayor is right on.
Born and raised in one of the three-four story brownstones, and having been in real estate, I can assure you that many if not most of the buildings I’m referring to had basements that were just that, with no access to the outside. Yes, many of these brownstone
residences have been coverted to condos, but the basements still did not have acesss to the street. “Developers” will create a residential unit in a closet if they can get rent or money out of it. The real issue is that you simply cannot insure a guaranteed loss – unless you charge extraordinarily high (read “unaffordable”)
premiums.
The current exclusion (not present in the past) for damage to finished basements and contents in basements (which doesn’t include equipment like furnaces, hot water heaters) is in Flood Policies because people who knew they were going to get flooded, collected all their junk furnishings and put them in the basement, then filed claims. I was born and raised in Hoboken, Mayor, and have been in insurance my entire life. A great many of Hoboken’s 3 or 4 story row house dwellings have basements which are far below the street level. No one can afford to insure contents, or finished walls, floors, etc in these – illegal – apartments.
Maybe what you say about illegal apartments was true in the past. Since the mid to late 80’s, many of these 3/4story building have been converted to condo’s. Many have apartmnets in the “basement”. These have existed in urban NJ for years. They should not be treated any differently than apartments on above ground leve. The mayor is right on.
Born and raised in one of the three-four story brownstones, and having been in real estate, I can assure you that many if not most of the buildings I’m referring to had basements that were just that, with no access to the outside. Yes, many of these brownstone
residences have been coverted to condos, but the basements still did not have acesss to the street. “Developers” will create a residential unit in a closet if they can get rent or money out of it. The real issue is that you simply cannot insure a guaranteed loss – unless you charge extraordinarily high (read “unaffordable”)
premiums.