Professional Curiosity.......

Goose · Mar 24, 2013

Those of ya'll who heat your houses with a wood burning stove, how does your homeowner's insurance company react?

When I do insurance inspections on houses, when I encounter a wood burning stove, I'm required to fill out a separate two page report on the stove and installation. Things the insurance companies want to know is the style of stove, manufacturer, type of construction, whether it's UL approved, installed to manufacturers recommendations, distance to surrounding walls, distance to the floor, are the surrounding walls and floor combustible, etc. Pretty thorough.

However, one client company just wants to know if a if a wood stove is present, yes or no.

I don't usually get feedback on my reports, I just report what I see at that point in time and let the underwriters do the rest, but I do know of at least two cases where homeowner's insurance was cancelled because a wood stove was not properly installed.

I got onto the subject of wood stoves with my own American Family agent a week or so ago, and she said American Family has a simple policy--they will not insure any structure that is heated with a wood burning device. Professionally installed fireplaces installed during the construction of the dwelling are OK, fireplace inserts or anything added since, no dice.

Just wondering what reaction some of ya'll get from your insurance companies.

TomH in PA · Mar 24, 2013

I called the agent before I installed the wood stove; they said it would require an inspection before use and a rider on the policy. Insurance rep came out, took a couple of measurements and a few pictures and said we were good to go. I think the rider is an extra $100/year, maybe less.

thesmoothedeere · Mar 24, 2013

She came out and measured that it was far enough from the walls and floors took some pics and was gone . I think its 35 dollars more on my policy .

Ted in NE-OH · Mar 24, 2013

I have Nationwide Insurance and they don"t ask and don"t inspect. When I put mine in I got a county building department permit and they inspected and approved the installation.

JayinNY · Mar 24, 2013

I have Erie insurance threw a local guy in town, all he did was ask if I had a woodstove. No problems with it, wrote me a policy and I have had the same one for 13 years now.

John M · Mar 24, 2013

Wait until your home catches fire, regardless of the stove or not. Youll have to hire a lawyer! One of my best friends went through all of the mess with Nationwide, and he didnt even use the woodstove!

Nathan (SD) · Mar 24, 2013

I helped my inlaws redo thier woodstove arrangement when they switched ins companies. Distance from the walls and fireproof sheet rock was about the only requirement. Then 1 pipe up, 1 pipe out, maximum on the chimney connection.

notjustair · Mar 24, 2013

I have American Family. I expressed an interest several years ago in a pellet stove. His only comments were that those were the worst to insure. He didn't say it was impossible, though. I hope a wood stove isn't, as I am hoping to put one in this summer!

Traditional Farmer · Mar 24, 2013

Farm Bureau Ins charges me $25/year for having the stove.

Oldiron29 · Mar 24, 2013

I do not have stat"s, But was in the fire service for 25 years. I saw more house fire from electrical problems than wood stoves. Will they hold that against you too!! Just another way for insurace companys to get out of paying.

rabbit-1 · Mar 24, 2013

Are insurance companies as touchy with back yard, free standing boiler type furnaces where the heat is transferred to house with water through tubing?

Was told that my company won"t touch any inside the house wood furnaces.

Nebraska Cowman · Mar 24, 2013

I had one company years ago that wanted a fire proof pad under the stove. I turned a throw rug upside down and took a picture of that. Everybody was happy. I don"t think my current provider ever asked.

Bryan inIowa · Mar 24, 2013

All My American Family agent asked is if it was my primary heat source . No since we have furnace . No problem .

NCWayne · Mar 24, 2013

Origional insurance company I had for nearly 15 years. No problems with them until they sent someone out to roam around my place and take pics, etc without me present. Even then their biggest problem was that I had the front porch off while remodeling and the drop to the ground was more than 2 feet. Nevermind that the front door was blocked off and it was "under construction. I told that the problem absolutely had to be corrected by a certain date or they would drop me. Needless so say they were told to kiss my a$$. I did some shopping around and found someone new. I told my agent everything, inclusing that I often supliment my heat with a wood stove and they said it didn"t matter. The old company being a$$holes cause me to shop around and ultimately saved me several hundred dollars a year, and I"ve got better coverage, so who am I to complain???

Years ago I had an Aunt that didn"t even have a fireplace in her house, and no chimney to see outside. Her insurance company sent someone out to take pics, etc. They got pics of the neighbors wood pile beside the drive (shared drive) and gave her a ration of crap about having a fireplace. Idiots couldn"t understand that she couldn"t have a fireplace without a chimney of any kind.... Never did hear what finally became of it all but I do remember she said it was a royal PITA for her to get the whole matter resolved.

T in NE · Mar 24, 2013

The previous owner of my place put a wood furnace in. State Farm was going to cancel his policy. I can see why after using it the first winter here, for this winter I eliminated 5 feet of single-wall pipe and a couple 90 degree bends, but it still needs proper hangars outside.

I would still prefer an outdoor boiler.

hadley · Mar 24, 2013

I put mine in about 6-7 years ago and when I told the state farm agent he just said "ok". When I went in to go over the insurance coverages for eveything about 2-3 years ago i mentioned that I had the wood stove in the basement and he said he didn't know that?!? I was like WTF??? He said I would just have to take some pictures of it and send them in which I did when I got home that same day and he said all was fine.

bobs old iron · Mar 24, 2013

reading replys,,,the only thing i would be sure of, if [any situition] the agent says/changes any thing verbaly, i tell them to send/write it on paper, in case any thing happens to them,[unknown], where is the proof they said about any thing, from then till now/needed.. told my agent i won't go on your word,, he knows that i will change companys if he can't back up anything he tell me.. my opnion

Texasmark1 · Mar 24, 2013

I have one and for a long time it was my only heat source. I think I had Germania at the time I built the house. About 10 years later I insured with SF and nothing was said about the stove. Still isn't and even though my house is bigger and I have other sources, it's still a non event with them. Oh, and after 35 years the house hasn't burned down yet.

Mark

Dan in Ohio · Mar 24, 2013

Have had Grange insurance for 30+ years. Used a combination wood/oil/coal boiler (in house) for 15 years until we had a chimney fire that ruined the furnace and wrecked the chimney. Insurance (100% replacement ) paid to have the chimney rebuilt as original.

Had to make a quick decision on the replacement furnace and went with an oil boiler.

Insurance agent pleaded with me to not use wood heat and put together a package deal if we stopped burning wood in the house that included converting both fire places to burn LP gas.

Since 2006 we have used an out door Central Boiler for heat and hot water and are really satisfied. So is the insurance agent.

Hal/ Eastern WA · Mar 24, 2013

Some years ago, I lived in a mobile home. I had properly installed a special, expensive mobile home rated Earth Stove, which I had inspected and approved. I never had any way, shape or form of a claim on my insurance.

A few years later, my insurance carrier cancelled me. They said the company had decided to no longer carry ANY mobile homes that were equipped with ANY kind of a wood stove. I went insurance shopping and found that lots of companies would no longer insure mobile homes with wood stoves. Since I had been cancelled by the first company, I ended up paying about 4 times as much per year when I finally found a company that would insure my mobile home.

When we built our conventional house, I did not build in any way to burn wood, and our insurance bill is reasonable. We also were able to hook up to the new natural gas line that went past on our road. Sometimes I miss having a wood stove--I always liked the radiant heat and it was nice to be able to get some benefit from the downed wood on our property. But gas is easier, cleaner and probably overall, cheaper.

Tony Vidlak · Mar 24, 2013

State Farm an additional $20.00 per year.

bill mart · Mar 24, 2013

Bryan,same with my company,as long as the wood was not the primary source of heat there was no problem. Bill

Goose · Mar 24, 2013

Thanks for all the replies. Like I said, I just report what I see at that point in time and seldom get any feedback on outcomes after I submit my reports. I was just curious as to how various underwriters actually handled wood stoves.

Overall, I would guess as long as the stove is UL approved and installed according to the manufacturer's recommendations there will be minimal issues.

Thanks again!

T in NE · Mar 24, 2013

With 2 single-wall elbows and 6 feet of single-wall pipe inside, with 4 of those feet horizontal, I bet they would say something. Creosoted shut last year twice, quit using it after the second plug, this year I cleaned pipes once and they didn't really need it with the single-wall pipe eliminated.

FarmerZeb · Mar 24, 2013

If my insurance company didn"t like me having a wood stove they wouldn"t have my business. I"ve had several houses and everyone has had a wood stove. I have two insurance companies USAA and Farm Bureau. Wood stove was listed on both policies for a nominal fee. The houses were not heated primarily with wood and had gas furnaces as primary heat source.

paul

IrvIA · Mar 24, 2013

Went to a yard sale while we were on a tractor ride and there was 5 pieces of double wall stainless pipe and a cap with a $5.00 price tag on top of one of them. I said "is that for one"? and she said "no for all of them". Done! Said her insurance agent told here to get rid of the wood stove in the basement or else. I told her I would have got rid of the agent instead.
Irv

W_B · Mar 25, 2013

HO insurance is probably going to be harder to get and more expensive. We'll all have to pay something extra to cover the storms, HO insurers have taken a hard hit and it wasn't a big money maker to begin with. Sandy is the third most expensive cat behind Andrew and Katrina now, something in excess of $20 Billion. I'd advise against being too cavalier about blowing off your current insurer, you might not be able to get coverage at all at some point.

Also, if you want to see how regulation and storm (and sinkhole and lightening) prone markets can really get messed up, look at Florida. No company can be forced to lose money for too long.

Professional Curiosity.......

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads