We have bumped into a couple of start-ups innovating around this space. This ACE report suggests that based on data from BuildFax, a source of building permit data, the number of residential renovations his now at a similar level pre-crisis. However people are woefully underinsured.
“Owners of large, custom-built homes are especially at risk because the cost of rebuilding the home has a better chance of exceeding the amount of insurance carried by the contractor,” Bob Courtemanche, division chairman of ACE Private Risk Services noted in a statement on the report. “In one case, a contractor was at fault for leaving flammable rags on the job site that spontaneously ignited and caused the home to burn down. The amount of insurance carried by the contractor was only one fifth of the cost of rebuilding the home. That’s why it’s so important to have an agent verify that the contractor has sufficient liability insurance.