When Your Insurance Company Sends an Inspector: What a Florida Underwriting Survey Looks At and What to Do Next
This page is for owners who already hold a policy and just heard that the carrier (your insurance company) is sending a surveyor, or who had the visit and now have a letter in hand. An underwriting survey is the insurance company's check on whether your home still fits the policy. All Corners Home Inspection is based on the west side of Spring Hill and inspects homes across Hernando County and its neighbors. Jay Sampson is a Florida-licensed home inspector and a State-Certified Building Contractor with 25+ years in insurance restoration.
- ✓ FL Licensed #HI8193
- ✓ State-Certified Building Contractor
- ✓ InterNACHI Certified
- ✓ Same-Day Reports
- ✓ 4-Point & Wind Mit Free With Full Inspection
4-point & wind mitigation: FREE with your full inspection.
Most owners on this page only need the two insurance forms, and both are booked on their own by phone. If you would rather know the whole house, the 4-point and wind mitigation come free with a complete full home inspection, done on the same visit.
The carrier's survey is not a home inspection
An underwriting field survey is a look at your property that the insurance company orders for its own records. At Citizens, the survey is done by a third-party field survey company, Citizens says it comes at no cost to the policyholder, and it can happen at any point while the policy is in force. The surveyor reports to the carrier. Nothing about that visit is set up to explain your house to you.
That is the difference worth holding onto. A home inspector is hired by you and writes for you. A surveyor is hired by the insurer and writes for the underwriter, the person deciding whether the risk still fits the policy. Both may look at the same roof. Only one of them hands you the photos.
None of this makes the survey something to fear. On a well-kept house it is a short visit and a form. It just helps to know whose paperwork it is.
Exterior survey and interior survey, as Citizens describes them
Citizens publishes two kinds of underwriting survey on its inspections page. The first sentence on each card follows Citizens' description. The lines after it are our own examples and prep tips, not Citizens' words. Other insurance companies set their own process, so ask your agent which kind your policy calls for.
Exterior survey
Per Citizens, the surveyor looks at the dwelling, any outbuildings and the roof, without entering the home. Our note: on a Nature Coast lot, outbuildings can mean a detached garage, a workshop or a pole barn, not just the house.
Interior survey
Per Citizens, everything in the exterior survey plus the electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems. Our tip: plan for someone to be home to open the door, and keep the panel, water heater and air handler easy to reach.
Citizens says it may require the policyholder to repair hazards or deficiencies the survey identifies. That is the part that keeps owners up at night, and it is covered further down this page.
Is the call or letter real?
Citizens says its assigned survey company reaches policyholders by phone or by mail. A stranger saying they are from your insurance company is still a stranger, so check before you set a time.
- ✓Call your agent. Use the number you already have, not one given in the message, and ask whether a survey was ordered on your policy.
- ✓Or call the carrier. Use the customer service line printed on your declarations page (the summary page at the front of your policy) or other policy documents.
- ✓Get the company name. Ask which survey company was assigned and match it to what the agent or carrier tells you.
- ✓Keep the paperwork. Save the letter or write down the caller's name and number. If repairs are requested later, you will want the whole trail in one folder.
Survey, 4-point, wind mitigation, full inspection: who each one works for
Owners mix these up all the time, and it matters, because each one answers to a different person and hands back a different piece of paper.
Carrier's field survey
Ordered by: the insurance company. Works for: the carrier. Covers: what that carrier asked to see. You get: whatever the carrier sends you afterward, often a letter.
4-point inspection
Ordered by: you. Works for: you. Covers: roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC on the standard form. You get: the completed form with photos. See what the 4-point form asks, line by line.
Wind mitigation
Ordered by: you. Works for: you. Covers: how the roof is attached and how the openings are protected. You get: the form your agent uses for wind credits, now on the new wind mitigation form.
Full home inspection
Ordered by: you. Works for: you. Covers: the whole house, structure to attic. You get: a narrative report with photos, plus both insurance forms at no extra charge.
Where the eyes go on a Nature Coast ranch
A lot of homes across Hernando, Pasco and Citrus are 1970s to 1990s concrete block ranches that have had one owner for decades. These are the spots a 4-point documents on that kind of house, and the same systems Citizens lists for its interior survey.
- ✓The roof covering. Curling or missing shingles, soft spots at the eaves, patched areas and signs of an older layer underneath. Each slope gets a photo.
- ✓The panel. Brand, amperage, whether it is breakers or fuses, two wires under one breaker screw (double-tapped), scorch marks and any wiring that looks added on by someone other than an electrician. The cover comes off for the photo.
- ✓Supply lines and drains. What the water lines are made of where they can be seen, plus active drips under sinks and at the water heater.
- ✓The water heater. Its age, read from the data plate (the maker's label with the model and serial number), the relief valve (the safety valve) and its discharge line (the pipe that carries water away from the relief valve when it opens), and any rust or seepage at the base.
- ✓Heating and cooling. The data plates on the condenser and air handler (the maker's labels with the model and serial number, where the age is read from), how the equipment is running, and the condensate line (the drain line from the AC).
- ✓What sits out back. Citizens lists outbuildings in an exterior survey's scope, so sheds, detached garages and carports are part of the property the surveyor looks at.
Owners in older Brooksville homes often have several of these at once: an original panel, a roof over a roof, and a workshop out on the acreage.
The carrier sent a repair letter. Now what?
Read the whole letter before you call anyone. It should say which items the insurance company wants addressed. Then call your agent with two questions: what is the deadline, and what proof of repair will the carrier accept. Some carriers want a contractor's invoice, some want photos, some want a new inspection form. Your agent knows which applies to your policy.
Hire a licensed contractor for the work itself, the right trade for the item: a roofer for the roof, an electrician for the panel, a plumber for supply lines or the water heater. Pull permits where the county requires them.
Jay does not do repairs on homes he inspects. Florida law, Fla. Stat. 468.8319(1)(f), bars a home inspector from performing or offering to perform repairs on a home the inspector or his company inspected, and that keeps the report honest. As a contractor with decades in insurance restoration, he can refer companies he trusts.
Once the work is done, ask your agent whether a fresh 4-point inspection or a wind mitigation inspection would help show the new condition. Only the carrier decides what it accepts.
A survey in the first weeks of a new policy
It can happen, and it is not a sign something is wrong. Many insurance companies verify a new policy's application early on, comparing what was written down about the roof, the systems and the outbuildings against what is really there. Florida law limits when a residential policy can be canceled once it has been in force a short time, and it sets written-notice rules for nonrenewal. Your agent has your exact dates. This page is not legal advice.
If you bought the house with a full inspection, pull that report out now. The roof photos and panel notes in it are a good guide to what a surveyor will see.
A contractor's read on the same four systems
Jay Sampson holds FL License #HI8193 as a home inspector and is a State-Certified Building Contractor. He is InterNACHI certified, has been inspecting since 2013, and spent 25+ years in insurance restoration, so he has seen how insurance companies read a roof, a panel and a supply line from the claim side. Read more about Jay's background in insurance restoration.
A 4-point from All Corners tells you, in plain words and photos, where those four systems stand today. Jay goes over the report with you after the inspection, and you'll have the full report the same day. What you do with it, and whether your agent wants a copy, is your call.
Four calm steps when the carrier wants a look
Confirm it
Check with your agent or the number on your policy documents that a survey was ordered and which company is doing it.
Read the scope
Find out whether it is an exterior survey or an interior one, so you know if someone needs to be home to let the surveyor in.
Know your house
Book your own 4-point or wind mitigation by phone. The report with photos is in your hands the same day. It shows the condition of the same four systems, so you can line up a licensed contractor within the deadline your agent gives you. Only the insurance company decides what it accepts.
Answer any letter
If repairs are requested, get the deadline and the accepted proof from your agent, then hire the right licensed trade.
Older homes across the Nature Coast
The carrier's inspection, answered
Why is my insurance company sending someone to inspect my house?
Carriers order underwriting surveys to confirm the condition of the homes they insure. Citizens, for one, says it may require an exterior or interior survey during the life of the policy. Your agent can tell you why yours was ordered.
What does a homeowners insurance inspector look at during an exterior survey, and do they come inside?
At Citizens, an exterior survey covers the dwelling, outbuildings and roof, and the surveyor does not go inside. An interior survey adds the electrical, plumbing and HVAC systems. Other carriers set their own scope, so ask your agent.
Is the insurance company's inspection the same as a 4-point or a home inspection?
No, the survey is ordered by and reports to the carrier, while a 4-point or home inspection is one you hire and the report is yours. The 4-point covers roof, electrical, plumbing and HVAC on a standard form. A full home inspection covers the whole house.
Someone called saying they are from my insurer's inspection company. How do I know it is real?
Confirm it with your agent or the customer service number on your policy documents before you set a time. Citizens says its survey company contacts policyholders by phone or mail. Ask for the company name and check that it matches.
The carrier sent a letter asking for repairs after the survey. What do I do now?
Call your agent for the deadline and the kind of proof the carrier accepts, then hire a licensed contractor in the right trade for the work. Jay does not repair homes he inspects, as Florida law requires, but he can refer companies he trusts.
Should I get my own 4-point or wind mitigation inspection before or after the carrier's survey?
Either works, because the point is to know your own house. A 4-point beforehand shows you where the roof, panel, plumbing and HVAC stand. Afterward, ask your agent whether the carrier will look at a new form once repairs are done.
We just closed and the new insurance company already wants to inspect. Is that normal?
It can happen, and a survey early in a new policy is not unusual, because many insurance companies verify a new policy's application early on. Florida law sets rules on cancellation and written notice for nonrenewal, and your agent has your dates. Keep your purchase inspection report handy.
Surveyor on the calendar? Know your house first.
Book a 4-point or wind mitigation inspection on your own home and have the report with photos the same day. Call Jay.
