Most inspection findings are negotiable. These five are not — they are the ones where carriers have made up their minds and no amount of explaining will change the answer.
An inspection report full of minor observations is normal and rarely stops a policy. What stops a policy is a specific, named product with a claims history behind it. Insurers do not assess these case by case — they have decided, at portfolio level, that the risk is not worth writing.
That distinction matters practically. Arguing that your panel has worked fine for forty years is not a strategy. Nor is finding a different inspector. The finding is the finding, and the only route to cover is correction.
What it is: Grey (occasionally white or silver) flexible plastic supply pipe, installed widely in American homes between roughly 1978 and 1995. Usually visible at the water heater, under sinks, or where it enters the manifold.
Why carriers refuse it: It degrades from the inside through reaction with chlorine in treated water, and it fails suddenly rather than seeping. The claims history is bad enough that most Florida carriers will not write a property that still has it, whether or not it has ever leaked.
The fix: A full repipe. Partial replacement of the visible sections does not satisfy an underwriter, because the failure risk is in the pipe you cannot see. Disruptive and expensive, and there is no cheaper answer.
If you are buying: Budget for it at purchase on anything built in that window. It is one of the most common unpleasant surprises for landlords buying 1980s Florida stock.
What it is: An electrical panel made by Federal Pacific Electric, installed widely from the 1950s into the early 1980s. Identifiable by the FPE badge and distinctive breaker design.
Why carriers refuse it: Testing has repeatedly found that Stab-Lok breakers can fail to trip under fault conditions — which is the one thing a breaker exists to do. This is a genuine fire risk, not a paperwork issue, and the market position has been settled for years.
The fix: Replacement. There is no repair, no retrofit breaker and no inspection result that makes an underwriter comfortable. It is permitted work requiring a utility disconnect and a building department inspection.
Worth doing at the same time: Bonding and grounding corrections, breaker sizing that does not match the conductor, double-tapped breakers, and missing AFCI or GFCI protection. All are far cheaper while the panel is already open.
What it is: Same era, different manufacturer. Often identified by the distinctive coloured breaker handles.
Why carriers refuse it: A similar failure mode — breakers that can weld to the bus bar and fail to trip. Same market response as Federal Pacific.
The fix: Replacement, as above.
What it is: Solid aluminium conductor used for branch circuits in homes built roughly between 1965 and 1973, when copper prices made it an attractive substitute. Distinct from the aluminium service entrance cable that is still standard and perfectly acceptable.
Why carriers refuse it: Aluminium expands and contracts more than copper, which loosens connections at terminations over time. Loose connections heat up. The risk is at every outlet, switch and fixture in the house.
The fix: Remediation with approved connectors at every device termination — the recognised methods are COPALUM crimps or AlumiConn connectors. Methodical rather than technically difficult, and far less disruptive and expensive than a complete rewire. Most carriers will write the property once remediation is evidenced.
Common mistake: Assuming a full rewire is the only option. It is not, and it usually costs several times more than the remediation carriers actually ask for.
What it is: Not a defect. Simply age. Asphalt shingle roofs become difficult to insure somewhere around fifteen years; tile, metal and concrete generally reach about twenty-five.
Why carriers refuse it: Roof claims dominate Florida loss experience. Rather than assess condition case by case, most carriers apply an age rule.
The fix: Sometimes none is needed. Options are a carrier with a longer threshold, cover on actual cash value terms for the roof, or replacement. A certification stating genuine condition and remaining useful life occasionally changes the answer, but not always — and no honest inspector will overstate remaining life to get a policy through.
The offsetting benefit: Replacement resets the age on record and is the best opportunity you will get to improve the wind mitigation position. Deck re-nailing and a sealed secondary water barrier are small additions to a job already happening, and both are credited on the state mitigation form.
Knob-and-tube wiring. Rare in Florida, but present in the oldest stock — particularly Jacksonville's Springfield and Riverside neighbourhoods. Ungrounded, brittle with age, uninsurable.
Fuse boxes. Anything still on fuses rather than breakers will be flagged, and the amperage is almost always inadequate for modern loads.
Cast iron drain lines. Not yet an automatic decline, but increasingly queried in mid-century homes where corrosion has narrowed the bore.
Unpermitted work. Not a product, but a recurring problem. Added circuits, converted garages and enclosed porches done without permits surface at inspection, sale or claim — and the liability lands on whoever owns the property now.
Look at the pipe entering the water heater and under sinks. Polybutylene is flexible grey plastic, usually about half an inch, often with copper or plastic crimped fittings. If your property was built or replumbed between 1978 and 1995, it is worth checking specifically.
For insurance purposes, yes — the market position on Federal Pacific and Zinsco is not open to argument. It is also a genuine safety issue: a breaker that does not trip under fault is a fire risk regardless of how long it has sat there quietly.
Only solid aluminium branch circuit wiring from that late-1960s to early-1970s window. Aluminium service entrance cable feeding the panel is still standard and is not a finding.
Yes, but the buyer will face the same insurance problem, and their lender will require cover before closing. In practice these findings get priced into the sale or fixed before it.
Whichever is currently blocking cover. If more than one is present, the electrical panel is usually the quickest and cheapest to resolve, and a repipe or re-roof can then be planned rather than rushed.
One call for the inspection, the repair, or just a straight answer about what applies to your property.