Insurance companies that specialize in historic homes have an expression they like to use: You get what you pay for.

If you have an old or historic home with treasured features such as hardwood floors or 200-year-old doors, you can opt for a special historic home policy.  You will almost certainly pay more, than you would for a standard policy, but you’ll get more coverage.

The policies

There are several companies specializing in insurance for historic homes, including the Masterpiece program from the Chubb Group, and the Prestige Plus program from the Fireman's Fund Insurance Company. Such policies offer replacement cost.

Chubb started offering its Masterpiece program in order to address the insurance needs of the affluent. Collections of artwork, sports cars, antiques, and jewelry are part of the target market for the program, which is also designed to provide coverage for historic houses.

Like its competitors, the Chubb program features several special elements including guaranteed replacement-in-kind coverage, restoration consultants, specially trained appraisers, ordinance and code coverage, unlimited loss-of-use coverage, and higher-than-normal limits in a variety of areas, for things such as jewelry and fine art.

The personal touch

You can generally iron out a standard homeowners policy over the phone or in your agent's office, but historic home coverage generally starts with a personal visit, and a thorough inspection.

"Our residential consultants can visit a home and identify one-of-a-kind features," says John Kozero, a spokesman for Fireman's Fund. "If you have one-of-a-kind wallpaper or a stained glass window with historic implications, we can advise homeowners how to protect things like that."

Those consultants or appraisers are specifically trained in things such as fine arts, architecture, and design, so they can recognize and identify unique features in the home.

"They help the customers think in terms of security and [of ways] to protect their homes from damage," says Mary Ann Avnet, worldwide marketing manager for Chubb. "We talk to them about preventive maintenance, and things like alarm systems for the early detection of smoke." If the homes are not located near a fire hydrant, these consultants can help homeowners identify access to a nearby pond or pool the fire department could use to access water quickly.

Claims, codes, and special needs

Insurers often pay extra attention to the repair or replacement process, once a claim is made on an historic house.

Knowledge of local, state, and federal building codes can also be part of an insurer's expertise. When historic homes are damaged, often the repairs must bring those homes up to current codes. "Code requirements are something our people are well versed in," says Kozero.

If the house is on the Historic Register, or part of an historic district, other organizations such as historic-district committees have extensive control over how those repairs are made. If a home had a slate roof, for example, such organizations can require any roof repairs use slate. They can even require the use of slate from the same region as the original. An historic home policy would pay to have the roof replaced with the specified slate. In addition, the insurance company would help to find the slate, and, if needed, a contractor trained to install it. The policy might pay for the homeowner's contractor of choice.

As with other home policies, there are provisions for additional living expenses, if the home is uninhabitable. Unlike a standard policy though, the historic home policies have few, if any, limitations on what those additional living expenses can be.

"When you have a contract with an insurance company like ours you have certain expectations," says Kozero of Fireman's Fund. "We provide unlimited funds for additional living expenses."

The historic home policies also tend to have higher limits for things such as cash, jewelry, debris removal, computers, and fine art. They also tend to include extra benefits the standard home insurance policy does not offer, such as sewer back-up coverage, lock replacement, and a replacement-value cash option.

The bottom line

There's no denying you will pay more for an historic home insurance policy. How much more is a matter of debate.

"It really depends on the individual case and whether you have extensive artwork or a considerable number of specialty items," says Kozero. A home might have been purchased for $200,000, but given the cost of repairing or replacing special and unique features, the home could be assessed at a much higher amount. That would mean the cost of premiums would be higher, too.

In addition, because many historic homes are "fixer-uppers," insurance companies recommend homeowners reevaluate their policies regularly.  Policyholders should consider any repairs or upgrades, which increase the value of the home.  That could lead to higher premiums.