Hmmm!My insurance company may not be to fond of wood stoves

[stanleyjohn]

Today we just got our latest homeowners insurance policy.My wife was looking it over and saw that this year we get a no wood stove discount.I never heard of this one before but its written in the policy.We have yet to tell our insurance company that our home had one installed last year.When we first started with this company they knew of only a fireplace!Debating our next move on keeping our mouths shut or letting them know about the wood stove.Anyone else ever heard of a discount on not having a wood stove?

 

[summit]

I know that a lot of companies now will jack your rates up for having a woodstove, but have never heard of a discount for not having one... alot of the inflated rates can be avoided by having a fire extinguisher within 10 ft , and providing reciepts showing that you have your chimney cleaned regularly.

 

[Later]

Never a good idea to hide facts from the ins. co. When you need them they can walk away.

 

[iskiatomic]

When I was looking into installing a wood stove I first called my insurance company. They sent me a supplmentary wood stove application. Stated my policy would go up 20-40 dollars. All the basic stuff, clearances, flue, etc. The building inspector signed off and all is well, policy went up $25.

I don't think this is something I would install and have an accidental fire and find out.........sorry your woodstove caused this and you are not covered.

Do it once and do it RIGHT!


KC

 

[stanleyjohn]

I thinking that losing a discount would be better than the chance of a fire by the wood stove.I wonder why they might think a wood stove wouldnt be safer than a fireplace?both can cause a chimney fire.Actually!i would think a wood stove with a full ss liner up the chimnay would be safer than just a fireplace.

 

[summit]

I thinking that losing a discount would be better than the chance of a fire by the wood stove.I wonder why they might think a wood stove wouldnt be safer than a fireplace?both can cause a chimney fire.Actually!i would think a wood stove with a full ss liner up the chimnay would be safer than just a fireplace.

i would agree, but it is another way to jack you up. also , woostove that can stay hot for up to 10 hours, and a fireplace that burns out an unattended fire in a couple hours, which one are you gonna say is safer?

 

[WES999]

A "no wood stove discount" is just a sneaky way to spin a wood stove surcharge.
My insu co. just wanted prof of inspection, no increase in rates. May need to shop arround for a new insu co.

 

[fyrwoodguy]

here's one for the insurance co. they made me do

30 years on blocked off hole 6 years on presently used hole

 

[daveswoodhauler]

This is pretty common on the industry. My ins co used to give a discount....Concord Group out of New Hampshire....they remove the discount, and its like 5% more now.
Working for an insurance company, I know that there are many claims involving chimney fires and folks burning improperly...I don't mind paying the additional 5% as I know we pay out a lot of claims

 

[pinewoodburner]

Erie insurance did not increase mine since I used an existing chimney and they already knew about the Fireplace. I did have to send them the UL listing on the stove, stove pipe and liner, and the approved permit. I sent them that and there was no increase, but I am covered.

 

[fossil]

The insurance company makes the rules, within the context of the laws regulating their business. When I lived in Virginia, I noticed on a policy update my insurer sent that they thought I had a burglar alarm system in my house, and were giving me a discount on my homeowner's premium based on that. Well, I had no such system installed, so I called them to straighten that out. The end result of that was that I lost the discount (~$10.00/yr or something), but then I was covered. Had I let that slide, and been burglarized, and the adjuster who came out to investigate my claim discovered I had no such system installed, the company could have simply walked away from the claim. Tell them what the real story is...if you don't like their response to that, shop around for a new insurance carrier. Rick

 

[Skier76]

here's one for the insurance co. they made me do

30 years on blocked off hole 6 years on presently used hole

That's a mighty large piston on that clipboard!

 

[Wet1]

here's one for the insurance co. they made me do

The insurance company made you hang gas powered engines right next to your wood burning appliance?!?! That seems kind of silly of them.

 

[savageactor7]

^ I got a piston like that. Blew it out of a 10 wheeler Mack truck coming down a steep hill loaded back in '82.

Hey insurance companies want to sell policies too. Sure a lot of them are looking for reasons to increase but if you call around I'm sure you'll find some willing to accommodate wood burners to. It's not an unreasonable request for a yearly cleaning/inspection.

 

[firefighterjake]

Our Fire Inspector used to work with various Insurance Companies doing fire investigations. He told me there are two important things to remember when dealing with insurance companies.

#1) Your insurance company will rarely, if ever, deny a claim based on your own stupidity. In other words, if your house burns down because you left an iron on, decided to store your laundry in the oven and turned the oven on or didn't clean out your chimney on a regular basis they will typically still give you the pay out . . . although your premium will typically increase the following year and it will be nearly impossible to jump ship to a new insurance company if you so choose.

#2) You should never lie to the insurance company or omit information when they request it since this can come back and bite you in the proverbial @$# . . . if they send you a survey or ask you to comply with some regulations you should do so . . . failure to do so can result in no pay out when you truly need a pay out. My own family learned this first hand when dear old dad "forgot" to tell the company that he was putting in an OWB and building a shed around it . . . the company did give them a settlement . . . but it was after a prolonged period and it was not the full dollar replacement value since he had failed to tell them about this addition.

 

[burntime]

here's one for the insurance co. they made me do

The insurance company made you hang gas powered engines right next to your wood burning appliance?!?! That seems kind of silly of them.

Thats to blow into the firebox to really get it going :lol:

 

[fossil]

Actually, I have a pretty simple solution for the whole thing...pay off your mortgage so that you owe nobody anything on your property. Then, there's nobody on Earth who gives a damn whether you have any insurance on it or not. No more premiums to pay. Of course, that means you're transferring the risk of damage, loss, or someone's injury completely onto your own shoulders. "Self-insured", I think they call it. I carry a whole lot of insurance I'm not really required to carry. It's the price I pay for someone else (actually, an aggregate of folks) agreeing to accept some of the risk. The only insurance claim I've ever filed in my life was something like $750 for a fence that fell down after a rain deluge in San Diego in about 1979. USAA paid it without even looking at it. Where's all the money gone that I've paid into the company for my auto & home premiums all these decades? Compensating other policy holders for legitimate losses, paying the expenses of running and building the company. That's what insurance is...a pool of money. If I'm lucky, I'll die having never suffered a catastrophic loss. If I'm unlucky, I'll look, through my insurer, to all those other policy holders to help me recover from whatever it was that happened to me. Rick

 

[retiredff]

Erie insurance did not increase mine since I used an existing chimney and they already knew about the Fireplace. I did have to send them the UL listing on the stove, stove pipe and liner, and the approved permit. I sent them that and there was no increase, but I am covered.

I also use Erie. I told my agent of my plans and he just said OK. I sent nothing. However to CYA, I have pictures during install and after plus all paper work from the installer.

If my ins. co. would raise my rates, I would look elsewhere. Why would a wood stove cost more that a box in the basement (or room) that has electricity and an explosive gas connected? It is just another reason to raise our rates...

 

[retiredff]

Our Fire Inspector used to work with various Insurance Companies doing fire investigations. He told me there are two important things to remember when dealing with insurance companies.

#1) Your insurance company will rarely, if ever, deny a claim based on your own stupidity. In other words, if your house burns down because you left an iron on, decided to store your laundry in the oven and turned the oven on or didn't clean out your chimney on a regular basis they will typically still give you the pay out . . . although your premium will typically increase the following year and it will be nearly impossible to jump ship to a new insurance company if you so choose.

This is/can be called "Arson for Profit". Leaving the iron on and telling the insurance co., I forgot is an old tactic. However, people rarely get caught, but some do.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Sorry for the rant...

Insurance companies charge higher rates for higher exposures...been doing this since insurance was introduced about 100 years ago. (Well, its been around for a lot longer than that, but most of the original mutuals started about 100 years back)

Anyway.

A homeowners carrier will charge you higher rates for having a:

swimming pool
a dog
a trampoline
a wood stove
being a smoker
having an older home

The list can go on and on.

Not trying to defend the insurance companies, but here is a scenario:

You and your neighbor live on a cull de sac next door to each other. You have none of the above, and your neighbor posseses all the attibutes above. Shouldn't you feel that you should pay less premiums than your neighbor?

It basically comes down to statistics and probablilities of a loss to occur, and some companies have had better/worse expereince than others with certain of the variables above.

I think you will find that all compnaies have different programs, and some exposures are more of a hot button than with another carrier....so you can shop around and probably get a better premium.

 

[pinewoodburner]

Erie insurance did not increase mine since I used an existing chimney and they already knew about the Fireplace. I did have to send them the UL listing on the stove, stove pipe and liner, and the approved permit. I sent them that and there was no increase, but I am covered.

I also use Erie. I told my agent of my plans and he just said OK. I sent nothing. However to CYA, I have pictures during install and after plus all paper work from the installer.

If my ins. co. would raise my rates, I would look elsewhere. Why would a wood stove cost more that a box in the basement (or room) that has electricity and an explosive gas connected? It is just another reason to raise our rates...

I think my agent my of just been making sure that Erie could not come back on me saying it was not installed correctly.

 

[blades]

You left out the part where they base some of your rates on your credit history also.

 

[begreen]

here's one for the insurance co. they made me do

30 years on blocked off hole 6 years on presently used hole

I'm not an insurance adjuster, but gasoline within what appears to be about 18" of a single-wall pipe would have me equally or even more concerned.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

You left out the part where they base some of your rates on your credit history also.

Some states will allow you to rate on credit score, others do not...depends on the state.

 

[drizler]

How long you had your insurance? If its been a long time they have probably jacked the hell out of you with all their "discounts" and special deals for having all your crap insured by them. If its been a while and you aren't married to the president's daughter shop around. I just told ALLSTATE to go to hell after 23 years and saved myself about $1100 / year in the bargain. If they don't like stoves then find someone who does. It is just amazing how much money you can save but you have to be willing to do the leg work and phone calling.
One other thing, don't sweat the fact that you might not have the friendly agent right in the neighborhood to come to your rescue. Take heart, no matter who you have it is mostly a one way street, money goes to them and when you need something rest assured they will jack you around every inch of the way. Remember " its just business". If you are going to get lied to, put off, shined on and ripped off you may as well take the cheapest price you can find. Personally I like Fossil's idea, pay everything off and take care of it and tell the insurance companies where to go.