A very sizeable portion of homeowners don't pay for insurance either! Thank you, just hoping for some anecdotes about the claims process and if regularization is a factor.
I own 2 properties down here and I don't have insurance on either. I did have insurance on my home in Texas. In my opinion American homes are disasters waiting to happen. Wooden structures full of drywall mean that water, fire and termites can cause a lot of damage very rapidly. I have not found that to be the case down here in Patagonia. Tile floors don't warp from water, cement walls don't burn from electrical shorts, termites aren't prevalent where I am, and the homes hold up quite well against wind/hail damage.
Cement is pretty cheap and labor costs are reasonable. I haven't run into any damage that ever exceeded $500 - $1,000. The only insurance that I think would have value is perhaps a fire policy, but I'm quite suspicious of how to prove to the insurance company that it wasn't "neglect".
The first thing I would ask is the documentation requirements for each claim type and the exemptions. Some policies might require that all water piping be Termofusion, that all gas heaters be tiro-balanceado, that all A/C's have individual circuit breakers, that all oven range burners have individual Thermocouples, that there are receipts showing the heaters serviced annually, that the electrical circuits have grounding. Much of which would only be found in new construction.
In addition, they may have exemptions against water heated floors, in ground pools a certain distance from the foundation, etc. etc.