Insurance

We have a policy with the local Farm Bureau, which is in reality TN Farmers' Mutual Ins. Co., and ours went up a little too for installing a stove.

State Farm added $5 to mine.

Liberty Mutual added nothing for mine!

All I care about is the bottom line. If they want to charge me $500/year for my woodstove, and the annual premium is the lowest
around, no problem. This year, my insurance company rebelled at having an insert and a wood stove in the house together. They
wouldn't do it. I shopped around and ended up carving $100 off my annual premium for the same coverage. There are fewer
choices when you heat with wood, but it still pays to shop around for the best deal for coverage. It's also a good idea to factor
in the strength of the company and its reputation for service.

Our premium went up $22 annually. Our electric bill went down $600. We still have the lowest rate available. My wife shops it every Aug.

EDIT to add: no inspection was asked for by our agent or company, we replaced a fireplace, and wood heat isn't our only/main heat ;-) .

They did ask for a picture.. so I sent them my linky in my signature, and they e-mailed me back with lots of compliments.. made me happy because I am sure they see way more of them then I ever will..

I did not know you had to inform your insurance company when you install a wood stove.
Do you think I would have any trouble for installing it myself following all the codes/ safety rules?

Wood Stove Man said:

I did not know you had to inform your insurance company when you install a wood stove.
Do you think I would have any trouble for installing it myself following all the codes/ safety rules?

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My philosophy is better safe than sorry . . . your insurance company may boost the rates or do nothing . . . on the flip side if there is ever a fire they could come back and deny or more likely delay paying a claim. My parents never told the insurance company that they were installing an outdoor wood boiler . . . which caught on fire and burned their house (too close to their house) . . . insurance company delayed the payment . . . and refused to pay the full replacement value of the home . . . instead only paid X amount . . . said they were within their rights to do so since my parents failed to notify them that they were heating with wood.

Wood Stove Man said:

I did not know you had to inform your insurance company when you install a wood stove.
Do you think I would have any trouble for installing it myself following all the codes/ safety rules?

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You might insert yourself into this conversation:

"Hello, insurance company? My house just burned down. I had a woodstove that you didn't know about. Am I covered?"

If you have any doubts about what your insurance company will say, then now, before a fire, is the time to call them and let them know.

I called our insurance company. We also had to have local inspection by our city. Our insurance company said as long as the stove install passed city inspection then the insurance company was satisfied.

By the way, our 'rate' did not go up when we installed the woodstove. We previously had a fireplace and were paying, maybe, $20 additional per year for that. The rate stayed the same but now that $20/yr. covers our woodstove instead of the fireplace.

I'm not sure, but maybe, if you tell your insurance company your woodstove is your sole source of heat you may pay a higher premium. We don't pay a higher premium because we still have 'central heat' (oil furnace), therefore we can heat with either. We happen to chose wood heat.

Shari

No change to my policy with Travelers . . . I did have to have the stove professionally installed, send in some paperwork and have the Fire Department do an inspection though . . . which didn't really bother me since I don't mind having someone second- or even triple-check the work.

im sure if something were to happen you might find out insurance companys have allot of excuses not to pay you, but still love to take your money each month.

I have USAA and they don't charge anything extra. I gave them the info on each wood stove I had.

joshlaugh said:

I have USAA and they don't charge anything extra. I gave them the info on each wood stove I had.

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how they treat u? i been thinking about switching to them

In my previous home with a wood furnace and current home with an insert the insurance company inspected prior to adding a small amount to the premium.

You guy's will probably think I'm crazy for what I did with my homeowner's insurance company. For years they had me listed right on my policy for living within 1000 feet of a fire hydrant. I called the agent a few times over the years and pointed out there are no fire hydrants anywhere in my town, They said not to worry, I was getting a better rate. Well, I read an article that said the insurance company can deny coverage if you misinformed them and got a lower rate. I had not misinformed them, but the error was in black and white on my policy. Who would the insurance company believe in the event of a fire, the agent who just wanted my business and lied on the policy to get me a lower artificial rate, or me who claims I pointed this out to the agent?

I forced the agent to fix the error, my rates skyrocketed, and I left that company. I now pay more ($150 or so) than I used to,but at least I can sleep at night!

Do most/all insurance companies punish woodstove owners? No.

I did my own install. My insu. co only wanted proof that the stove was inspected ( I pulled a permit, only $25). All I had to do was send proof of inspection and they were happy. No rate increase. :coolsmile:

If I were you I would shop around for a new insu. co.

fire_man said:

You guy's will probably think I'm crazy for what I did with my homeowner's insurance company. For years they had me listed right on my policy for living within 1000 feet of a fire hydrant. I called the agent a few times over the years and pointed out there are no fire hydrants anywhere in my town, They said not to worry, I was getting a better rate. Well, I read an article that said the insurance company can deny coverage if you misinformed them and got a lower rate. I had not misinformed them, but the error was in black and white on my policy. Who would the insurance company believe in the event of a fire, the agent who just wanted my business and lied on the policy to get me a lower artificial rate, or me who claims I pointed this out to the agent?

I forced the agent to fix the error, my rates skyrocketed, and I left that company. I now pay more ($150 or so) than I used to,but at least I can sleep at night!

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if it is not on the pollicy and not in writing, you are SCREWED.
this is a legal contract for them to insure the value of your home...
when i got my insert "professionally installed" i say it with quotes as the installers were baffoons and are coming out next week to fix some errors.
anyways, let them know in writing and tell them you want a written response on letter head as well.
keep this copy digitally stored as well as hard copy off site in a secure location(if your house burns down so does that letter.)
k

i got this response from my agent, i think i may need to say it is a stove, as it technically is a stove inside a fireplace insert right?
below is my agents response in a earlier email...

As far as the fireplace. A wood burning insert is something we will
note on your file. It's not something West Bend need to know as they
do not rate for a wood burning fireplace, only stoves.

Jotulf3cb said:

Liberty Mutual added nothing for mine!

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+1

They didn't mind the second stove, either.

I have Erie Insurance for all my insurance, car, home etc. USUALLY they are very strict, I called them recently to tell them I got a wood stove installed and to my big suprise, they simply just asked if it was professionally installed, asked who the installer was, and said we'd make a note in the system. Now granted, they knew we had a fireplace before and when I called I told them my fireplace was no longer operational as it was replaced with the wood stove. Perhaps my premium was raised a little from the get-go and they saw no real difference between the two...

mrfjsf said:

I have Erie Insurance for all my insurance, car, home etc. USUALLY they are very strict, I called them recently to tell them I got a wood stove installed and to my big suprise, they simply just asked if it was professionally installed, asked who the installer was, and said we'd make a note in the system. Now granted, they knew we had a fireplace before and when I called I told them my fireplace was no longer operational as it was replaced with the wood stove. Perhaps my premium was raised a little from the get-go and they saw no real difference between the two...

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Erie insurance as well, Let them know, they wanted manufacturer and model, and was it professionally installed, If there is a change it is minor since when ever there is a change in premium they inform me right away, I figure any change in home owners will be easily offset with change in heating oil bill. Always better that they know, god forbid anything happens and they come back and say you never informed us so you are not covered.

Mine was pretty standard too; called and the ins agent said there's no difference between a fire in a furnace and one in a stove, both are a fire in a heater in the house, so why would the rate be different? I just had to send pics and I did, along with the specs. No city or county permits, so no inspection but I used the expertise here and the stove mfrs requirements. Pretty sure it's a more solid install than many they see thanks to the forum.

Up here in British Columbia I just went through the whole thing of rebuilding my brick chimney and installing a used osborn stove myself. First, because Im in the city limits I pulled a permit for rebuilding my chimney($35). Then because the inspector said I was the first person in 10 plus years to rebuild a brick chimney (people usually replace with stainless steel or get rid of it completely) I had to show them the codes and how to build the chimney. Now because of my insurance company and the codes here in BC, I have to pay
a WETT inspector 125 bucks to come and make sure my stove is installed properly and has a "tag" on it (ULS,CSA). Now I hear the city is looking at banning chimneys in new house construction( or banning all wood stoves) because of a few people complaining about the smoke. You know if everybody burned hot instead of a lazy dampened down fire there would be no problem. In the end my insurance is going up about 65 bucks a year, no biggie. Just let them come and try to take my wood stove away.