Scottsdale home insurance
Scottsdale breaks the usual rules twice: the houses cost more to rebuild than a per-square-foot average assumes, and north of the 101 the desert is fuel.
- Monday – Friday: 6:00 AM – 7:00 PM Pacific Time9:00 AM – 10:00 PM Eastern Time
- Saturday: 6:00 AM – 5:00 PM Pacific Time9:00 AM – 8:00 PM Eastern Time
Ask about writing home and auto together — most carriers discount both.
Prefer to send it in writing? Scroll down →Top three things to consider on a Scottsdale house
- 1
A custom house cannot be insured off a tract average
Stone, steel, millwork, specialty glass, a tile roof and a finished casita rebuild at a different cost from a production home of the same square footage. A dwelling limit generated from an average figure is the most common underinsurance in this city. Ask what per-square-foot cost the quote assumes, ask whether it reflects the actual finish level, and ask what the extended replacement cost cushion is as a percentage above the limit.
- 2
North of the 101, brush is the underwriting question
Around the McDowells, Pinnacle Peak, Troon and the DC Ranch foothills, carriers score the individual parcel: slope, native vegetation, engine access, roof material, and what sits in the first five feet around the walls. A wet spring produces a heavy fuel load by June. Clearing that five feet, moving anything combustible off the patio and limbing back from the roofline are the cheap changes that move a score — and they matter more than the address.
- 3
What is in the house needs scheduling
Jewelry, watches, art, rugs, wine, firearms and instruments all carry internal sub-limits far below the overall personal property limit, and several are limited more tightly for theft specifically. In a Scottsdale house the gap between what is inside and what the sub-limits cover is usually the largest uninsured number on the policy. Scheduling the individual items is inexpensive and is the only thing that fixes it.
Wash flooding, and the greenbelt that exists because of it
The Indian Bend Wash greenbelt was built as flood control after the city learned what a desert wash does in a monsoon, and the lesson generalizes: flood is excluded from every homeowners policy, and Scottsdale water arrives down a wash or a street rather than out of a river. North Scottsdale is laced with washes that are dry 360 days a year. A property can take water and never appear on a mapped high-risk zone, which is why the question is the ground around the house.
The pool, the casita and the guest house
A pool is near-universal here and is the most consequential liability item on the property — carriers ask about a fence with a self-latching gate, and many decline diving boards and slides outright. A casita or detached guest house falls under other structures at a default percentage of the dwelling limit, which on a finished casita is usually well short. If anyone stays in it for money, that is a rental exposure and a different conversation entirely.
Short-term rental and the months the house is empty
Scottsdale has a great deal of short-term rental activity, and nightly or weekly rental is a commercial exposure that most personal homeowners policies exclude outright. Separately, a house occupied three months a year is a different risk from one lived in year-round: a supply line that fails in July is found in November, and some policies restrict coverage on a dwelling left vacant past a stated period. Say which of these describes the house.
HOAs, and what they do not insure
Most of north Scottsdale sits in a planned community governed under Arizona planned-community law rather than the condominium act. In a planned community you own the house and the lot, the association maintains the common areas, and the association insures nothing of yours — so that is a homeowners policy, not a condo policy, however much the gate and the guard suggest otherwise. A patio home or a lock-and-leave attached unit may be a condominium instead. The recorded declaration settles it.
What the underwriter will ask about a Scottsdale house
- Year built, square footage, and the honest finish level
- Roof type, and when the tile underlayment was last replaced or foam last recoated
- Age of the air conditioning units, the water heater and the electrical panel
- Pool or spa, and whether it has a fence with a self-latching gate
- Diving board, slide or trampoline
- Casita, guest house, ramada, block wall — with a replacement cost for each
- Defensible space, if the property is in the foothills
- High-value items to schedule: jewelry, art, rugs, wine, firearms
- How many months a year the house is occupied, and whether it is ever rented
You can bundle home and auto on the same call
Most carriers write home and auto together and apply a multi-policy discount to both when they do. Renters and auto bundle the same way, so you do not have to own the place to get the credit. Ask what the discount comes to on each policy before you decide, and ask to line the two renewal dates up so you review everything once a year instead of twice.
If a vehicle sits in the garage unused for months while you are out of state, say so on the same call — there are better arrangements than full coverage on a car nobody drives, and worse ones than keeping comprehensive on it through monsoon season.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I insure a Scottsdale house for?
For what rebuilding it would cost at its actual finish level, which on a custom house is well above a tract per-square-foot average. Ask what figure the quote assumes and whether extended replacement cost can sit above it.
Is north Scottsdale harder to insure because of brush fire?
It is scored on the parcel rather than the city, so slope, native vegetation, engine access and roof material matter more than the postcode. Mitigation work is usually what keeps a foothills property in the standard market.
Is my casita covered?
Under other structures, usually at a default percentage of the dwelling limit — frequently short of what a finished casita would cost to rebuild. It can be raised once somebody prices the building.
I rent the house out on a nightly basis in the winter. Is that covered?
Generally not on a standard homeowners policy. Short-term rental is a commercial exposure most personal forms exclude, and it needs a policy written for it.
Do I need a condo policy for a patio home with an HOA?
Ownership decides it, not the gate. In a planned community you own the house and the lot and need a homeowners policy. If the association owns the building and you own the interior, that is a condominium and an HO-6. Read the recorded declaration.
Request a quote for Scottsdale
Prefer the phone? Call 866-347-8683 instead. Or send your details below.
Get the small-business insurance newsletter
Plain-English coverage tips, comparisons, and offers — no spam, unsubscribe anytime.