Manufactured Home Insurance: Coverage, Cost, and Carriers

A standard homeowners policy will not cover a manufactured home. That single fact catches more first time buyers than any other, and it sits underneath every other decision on this page. Manufactured homes are built to a different code, sit on a different kind of foundation, and carry a different risk profile, so they need a different policy. The good news is that the product exists, it is widely available, and once you understand the few things that actually move the price and the eligibility, the rest is straightforward.

This guide covers what manufactured home insurance is, the 1976 line that decides who will write you a policy, what a standard policy covers and where it stops, what it costs in 2026, and which carriers are worth a call. If you are buying rather than insuring a home you already own, browse manufactured homes on Prefab Market first, because the home’s age and HUD status shape your insurance options before you ever request a quote.

What manufactured home insurance is

Manufactured home insurance is a specialty policy, usually written on the HO-7 form, that covers factory built homes a standard homeowners policy will not. It protects the structure, your belongings, your liability if someone is hurt on the property, and your living costs if the home becomes uninhabitable. Carriers price it as a higher risk product than site built coverage because manufactured homes use lighter materials, are not anchored to a permanent foundation in the way a stick built house is, and are more exposed to wind and fire. Fewer companies compete for the business, which keeps premiums up. A manufactured home is often about half the size of a site built house and can still cost roughly twice as much to insure per square foot.

The words manufactured and mobile get used as if they mean the same thing, and for insurance purposes most carriers treat them that way. The technical line is the date. A home built after June 15, 1976, is a manufactured home, built to federal standards. Anything older is a mobile home, built before those standards existed. That date does more than settle terminology. It decides who will insure you.

The 1976 line that decides who will insure you

The National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act, known as the HUD code, took effect on June 15, 1976. Every home built after that date carries a HUD certification label, a small metal plate on the exterior, plus a paper data plate inside, often in a kitchen cabinet or a bedroom closet. That label is the first thing an underwriter looks for.

Homes built before 1976 had no federal construction standard. Insurers read them as higher risk because of older wiring, lighter framing, and materials that would not meet current code, and many major carriers simply will not write them. State Farm, Progressive, GEICO, and Allstate generally decline pre 1976 homes. The carriers that consistently will are Foremost, which covers homes of any age and has been writing this coverage for around 70 years, and American Modern, which takes older homes in fair condition or better. Aegis Security and Tower Hill round out the specialist options.

There is a catch even when you find a willing carrier. Replacement cost coverage is rarely offered on a pre 1976 home, so the policy pays actual cash value: the depreciated value at the time of the claim, not the cost to replace the home. For anyone shopping for an older home, the practical move is to check for the HUD label and data plate before you buy. A home missing both is a red flag that can make it close to uninsurable through any standard carrier, and that affects what the home is worth to you.

What a standard policy covers

A standard manufactured home policy bundles five core coverages.

• Dwelling. The home structure itself: roof, walls, floors, siding, windows. It protects against named perils such as fire, wind, hail, lightning, theft, falling objects, the weight of ice or snow, burst pipes, and explosion.
• Other structures. Detached garages, sheds, carports, fences, and decks. This matters more for manufactured homes than people expect, because park sited homes often have attached awnings, skirting, and outbuildings.
• Personal property. Furniture, clothing, electronics, and appliances inside the home.
• Liability. Bodily injury and property damage if someone is hurt on your property or you cause damage to someone else’s.
• Loss of use. Hotel and food costs while the home is being repaired and you cannot live in it.

From there, the useful add ons are where a policy earns its keep. A replacement cost endorsement upgrades the dwelling payout from depreciated value to full rebuild cost. Trip collision covers the home while it is being transported, which a standard policy excludes. Water and sewer backup is one of the most common claims and is almost always sold separately. Equipment breakdown covers home systems, and scheduled property raises the limit on jewelry, art, or anything that exceeds the standard caps. Flood is its own category, covered below.

Where the coverage stops

The exclusions are where owners get hurt, so read them before the glossy coverage list.

Flood is the big one. No standard manufactured home policy covers rising water, storm surge, or an overflowing river. You buy that through the National Flood Insurance Program as a separate policy. Manufactured homes sit disproportionately on rural land, coastal counties, and floodplains, so this gap is not theoretical. Earthquake is excluded too and needs its own coverage. Wear and tear, rust, mold, dry rot, and pest damage are all out, because insurance covers sudden events, not slow deterioration. So is damage while the home is in transit unless you bought the trip collision add on, and any business use of the home.

Wind is the exclusion that varies by geography. In Florida, policies in hurricane prone counties often carve out named storm damage or attach a separate hurricane deductible of 2% to 10% of the insured value. On a $150,000 home, a 2% deductible is $3,000 out of pocket before the insurer pays a cent. In Texas catastrophe areas, the standard policy excludes wind and hail entirely, and you buy that coverage from the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association on top.

The quieter gap is depreciation itself. On an actual cash value policy, an older home pays out its depreciated value, not its replacement cost. A home with a 30 year expected life that is 15 years old has lost roughly half its value on paper, so a total loss might pay around half what a comparable new home costs. That is the mechanism behind manufactured home depreciation, and it is why the replacement cost question below is the most consequential one in the whole policy.

What manufactured home insurance costs

Most manufactured home insurance runs between $700 and $2,000 a year. Foremost, the largest specialist, reports an average near $1,267. Industry estimates put the typical range at $700 to $1,500. The number that breaks the pattern is the coastal one: a home in a hurricane zone can run $1,500 to $3,000 or more, and in the hardest hit Florida counties may be hard to insure at any price through a standard carrier.

Location is the single biggest lever. After that, the picture sorts by home type and coverage level.

Scenario	Indicative annual cost
Older single wide, basic actual cash value, rural non coastal	$300 to $600
Mid age double wide, standard coverage, non coastal	$700 to $1,100
Newer double wide, replacement cost coverage, non coastal	$1,000 to $1,600
Any manufactured home in a coastal or hurricane zone	$1,500 to $3,000+

Seven things move your premium: location, home age and HUD status, whether you carry actual cash value or replacement cost, square footage and section count (a double wide costs more to insure than a single wide), claims history, your deductible, and safety features. That last one is worth chasing. Tie down anchoring, full skirting, smoke detectors, and storm shutters can earn discounts, and in Florida the mitigation discounts for a properly anchored and skirted home are substantial.

Replacement cost versus actual cash value is the decision that matters most. Replacement cost adds roughly 10% to 25% to the premium and pays the full cost of rebuilding. Actual cash value is cheaper and pays the depreciated figure. For a home under 10 to 15 years old in good condition, replacement cost is almost always worth the difference, because the depreciation gap on a total loss dwarfs the premium saving. On a very old home, actual cash value may be the only option a carrier will offer. For the wider purchase maths, see what a manufactured home costs before you set your coverage limits.

Which companies write these policies

The market splits into specialists who lead with manufactured homes and national carriers who offer it alongside everything else.

Foremost, a Farmers subsidiary, is the default first call. Around 70 years in the market, homes of any age, and the carrier that GEICO and USAA quietly route their manufactured home customers to. American Modern, a Munich Re company, insures homes up to about $300,000 in replacement value with no firm age cap as long as the condition holds up, which makes it a strong second option for older homes. Aegis Security and Tower Hill cover non standard and older homes that the majors decline.

Among the nationals, State Farm offers manufactured home coverage in most states and has a solid claims reputation. Progressive writes it through third party underwriting partners. GEICO does not underwrite these policies directly at all; it brokers them to Foremost, American Modern, or Assurant, so the company managing your claim is the one whose name is on the policy, not the gecko. Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Farmers, and AAA all offer coverage in most of the country.

There is one carve out that buyers in the highest concentration state need to know. State Farm, Allstate, Nationwide, Liberty Mutual, GEICO, and Progressive do not write manufactured home policies in Florida. If you are buying there, the realistic options are Florida specialists such as Tower Hill, American Integrity Insurance, and Homefirst Agency, or the state backed plan. For homes that every carrier declines, every state runs a FAIR Plan as an insurer of last resort.

The honest summary by buyer type: new HUD home in a low risk state, take quotes from a national carrier and Foremost side by side. Pre 1976 home, start with Foremost and American Modern and expect actual cash value. Florida resident, skip the nationals and go straight to the specialists. High value double wide, prioritize a carrier that offers replacement cost and a high enough dwelling limit.

Florida, Texas, and the wind problem

Florida and Texas hold the highest concentration of manufactured homes in the country, and both run the most complicated insurance markets because of wind.

In Florida, Citizens Property Insurance is the state’s insurer of last resort and writes specific mobile home policy types. Its policy count peaked above 1.4 million in 2023 and has since fallen below 400,000 as private carriers took on hundreds of thousands of policies through 2025. State law makes insurers offer hurricane deductibles of $500, 2%, 5%, or 10%, and the mitigation discounts for tie down anchoring and full skirting are worth claiming. In Texas, homes in designated catastrophe areas require a windstorm exclusion on the main policy, with wind and hail coverage bought separately through the Texas Windstorm Insurance Association. The Texas FAIR Plan stays busy: as of March 2026 it had taken in 9,690 claims with estimated losses around $122 million.

The rule that travels across state lines is simple. Carrier availability and pricing swing hard by state, so confirm that a specific company writes manufactured home policies where your home sits before you spend time on a quote.

How to buy the right policy

Work the steps in order, because each one shapes the next.

First, confirm the HUD status. Find the exterior label and the interior data plate. A pre 1976 home or one missing both labels limits your carrier list before you do anything else. Second, decide on replacement cost or actual cash value, since that choice drives both the premium and what you collect after a loss. Third, get at least three quotes, including one specialist such as Foremost or American Modern and one national carrier if your home qualifies, because the thin competition in this market means prices vary more than they do for site built homes. Fourth, check the carrier, not just the price: look up the AM Best rating for financial strength and the NAIC complaint index for how the company actually handles claims, which matters most after a hurricane. Fifth, add NFIP flood coverage if FEMA’s flood map puts you in a special flood hazard area. Sixth, check the state specifics: Citizens or a private carrier in Florida, windstorm association status in Texas.

If you are still choosing the home itself, the easiest insurance is the kind you set up correctly from day one: a HUD code home from a builder with a clean record. Browse manufacturers on Prefab Market and start with a home that any standard carrier will write, rather than one you have to talk an insurer into.