Commercial property insurance by state

Commercial property insurance is regulated state by state, and the building's exposure changes at the state line as sharply as the rules do. The same roof is a hail question in Kansas, a wind question on the Florida coast and a snow load question in Utah. Surplus lines rules differ from one state to the next. Whether the policy limit decides what a total loss pays depends on whether the state has a valued policy statute, and only some do.

So every one of the 48 contiguous states has its own guide. Each names the department of insurance that regulates property placed there and sets out the catastrophe perils underwriters price in that state, current market conditions, the surplus lines position and, where they apply, the lender and financing rules that affect what a policy has to say. The guides close with what we need to quote a building there and a short set of questions owners in that state ask.

The states are grouped by region below, because neighboring states tend to share perils, carriers and often the same owner's portfolio. The states listed first carry the deepest research: those are the markets where most of our submissions originate, and the guides for them go further on market conditions and financing. If your buildings sit in more than one state, read each guide, then send the whole schedule together; a portfolio is priced better when each location is described on its own facts than when all of them are rated as the worst of them. The four steps of a placement are the same in every state.