Year built
The year the home was manufactured, per the data plate. It is one of the strongest rating factors and sets eligibility cutoffs.
Year built is the year the home was manufactured, taken from the date of manufacture on the data plate. It is not the model year. Manufacturers assign model years the way car makers do, so a home built in late 1998 can be titled as a 1999 model. When the two differ, the data plate date is the one to use.
Insurers lean on year built more than almost any other fact about a manufactured home. It decides whether the home is a pre-1976 mobile home, whether it was built to the stricter 1994 wind standards, and whether replacement cost or only actual cash value is offered. A one-year difference can move a home across one of those cut-offs.
If the data plate is missing, the title, a past policy or the county tax record will usually show the year. As a last resort, the inside of an original toilet tank often carries a date stamp from the month it was made, which gives a close estimate of when the home was built. A replaced toilet will show a later date.
Common questions
How do I find out what year my mobile home was built?
Check the data plate inside the home, usually in a kitchen cabinet, a closet or by the electrical panel. The title also lists a year. If both are gone, the date stamp inside the toilet tank is a good estimate, provided the toilet is original.
Is the model year the same as the year built?
Not always. The model year can be a year later than the date of manufacture. Insurers rate on the year the home was actually built, which is the date on the data plate.
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