Insurance company verification for Quadrafire Castile pellet stove

[smalltown]

When we first decided to buy a pellet stove we inquired at our local insurance seller and were told "just give us a call after the install and we will come out to inspect it".
I don't know about you people, but I always have a piece of molding to install or some wall that I am supposed to get painted. I wanted to get these things done as the insurance people always have their eyes wide open for anything and I wanted everything looking up to par. I finally said to the wife I can't wait any longer what if something happened so we swung by the insurance office to schedule an inspection appointment. Surprisingly the agent said we don't need to come out and just then the owner of the agency was walking by and asked who installed the pellet stove. We replied it was professionally installed by the dealer. He replied "that's the way we like to see them installed" your all set.

They did give us a very basic form that asked among other things if it was made in the US or Canada and UL approved and also if it had 18" of distance from combustibles with the 2" spacing away from the wall.
I was surprised to find out that the stove did not carry a UL tag, but did have the tag from OMNI testing labs.

I included all the OMNI test report information and all the ULC reports (apparently the Canadian version of our UL) then copied a page of the Castile instructions that show minimum clearances for the stove.

Is that common practice for your insurance company?

P.S. yes I am cutting and installing molding today. What a slave driver

 

[Excell]

Pellet stoves no longer have an insurance surcharge like wood stoves do . I did however have to get a permit and get it inspected by the city .

 

[teetah222]

Yep, I just called my insurance co yesterday after the inspector came and passed it and all they did was ask if it was a standard installation. (I said yes, because I had done it myself, then later in the conversation she said "well as long as it was professionally installed...", I didn't know that's what she meant by standard :roll: ) Then I told her it had been permitted and inspected by the city building inspector and she said she had made note of all that, and there wouldn't be any extra cost on my premium. 5 minute conversation and we were done.

 

[krooser]

I filled out a new insurance questionairre over the phone two eyars ago. the agent asked if I had a wood stove I told him I have a pellet stove and he said "Good... we LIKE pellet stoves".

 

[teetah222]

You wouldn't think they'd like anything that puts a flame inside a building, would you? LOL

 

[Bigjim13]

Even if you didn't contact your insurance company and had a fire that burned your house to the ground, there is a 99.9% chance that you would be safe and covered. Even if it was a woodstove and you had not told your insurance company, after you already had coverage, than you should still be covered.

The key is, once you're insured. Anything you do after becoming insured pretty much will have coverage. As long as your insurance company doesn't see something on a "random" inspection you should be good. Buy a trampoline, a pit bull and a woodstove, if you have a loss youl should be covered. Now, after they cover you and pay out X amount of $$ than you most likely will be dropped-you know for being "high risk."

At least that's how it worked in VT when I was selling...

 

[Excell]

Even if you didn't contact your insurance company and had a fire that burned your house to the ground, there is a 99.9% chance that you would be safe and covered. Even if it was a woodstove and you had not told your insurance company, after you already had coverage, than you should still be covered.

The key is, once you're insured. Anything you do after becoming insured pretty much will have coverage. As long as your insurance company doesn't see something on a "random" inspection you should be good. Buy a trampoline, a pit bull and a woodstove, if you have a loss youl should be covered. Now, after they cover you and pay out X amount of $$ than you most likely will be dropped-you know for being "high risk."

At least that's how it worked in VT when I was selling...

I wish I would have heard from you before I installed mine . I could have done it way cheaper and not worried about passing inspection .

 

[anka]

My understanding is that different states have different requirements. I think Maine is especially lax. Like my neighbors, I plan to DIY and not have an inspection or talk with insurance. Similar to installing an electric heater IMOP. Of course, following install specs would be the ideal...

Anka

 

[Bigjim13]

Even if you didn't contact your insurance company and had a fire that burned your house to the ground, there is a 99.9% chance that you would be safe and covered. Even if it was a woodstove and you had not told your insurance company, after you already had coverage, than you should still be covered.

The key is, once you're insured. Anything you do after becoming insured pretty much will have coverage. As long as your insurance company doesn't see something on a "random" inspection you should be good. Buy a trampoline, a pit bull and a woodstove, if you have a loss youl should be covered. Now, after they cover you and pay out X amount of $$ than you most likely will be dropped-you know for being "high risk."

At least that's how it worked in VT when I was selling...

I wish I would have heard from you before I installed mine . I could have done it way cheaper and not worried about passing inspection .

Sorry!

The key is being insured. Insurance companies can be a PITA when you are looking to get insured. They look for everything, railings on all outside staircases, no "dangerous" breeds of dogs, trampolines and the list goes on. Once you get insurance though they actually have to come up with a pretty good reason to drop you. A good reason could be they did a "random" inspection and found something they didn't like (trampoline, unfenced inground pool) but they would still give you a reasonable amount of time to fix it (meaning they won't make you build a deck or put up a fence when its winter and the ground is frozen).

Woodstoves have gotten more safe and insurance companies aren't so much worried about them anymore and pellet stoves are even safer really (from an insurance standpoint). When it comes to burning wood really the only concern is 1) is it a Singlewide mobile home? if it is and you have a woodstove your chances of getting decent priced if any coverage is slim and 2) was it professionally installed (this is mainly for wood stoves though).

 

[teetah222]

Even though it cost me a tiny bit of extra money, I still would have done the permit and inspection... just gives me some peace of mind that I did it all right and my house won't burn up by my having skipped a safety step. Plus I love amazing people by doing things they just don't expect a woman to do on her own. ;-P Heck it amazes men when I tell them I change my own oil in the car, let alone installing a stove, building a deck, or re-siding the house. :cheese: Should I change my name to Miss-Fix-it?

 

[jtakeman]

Even though it cost me a tiny bit of extra money, I still would have done the permit and inspection... just gives me some peace of mind that I did it all right and my house won't burn up by my having skipped a safety step. Plus I love amazing people by doing things they just don't expect a woman to do on her own. ;-P Heck it amazes men when I tell them I change my own oil in the car, let alone installing a stove, building a deck, or re-siding the house. :cheese: Should I change my name to Miss-Fix-it?

You go girl! Very impressive stuff. Careful you have all the single guys here flirting with you.(jk) :lol:

Miss-fix-it sounds great!

 

[Marbleguy]

Having been a re-modeling contractor several years back, I understand how important it is to have a building inspector come by and check your work. Not only does it give you peace of mind but is also puts some responsibility on the town if something happens. One of the things that an insurance company will ask before they pay a claim is "was in installed by a pro and was is inspected as required by your town". If it's determined later that the clearances for instance were not as required and the town signed off on it, they could be held responsable.

 

[Bigjim13]

For what it's worth I had my stove professionally installed for much the same reasons, peace of mind mainly. I'm not the most handy person in the world and wanted to make sure it was done right. Sure, could have saved some money, but oh well.

 

[Excell]

Even though it cost me a tiny bit of extra money, I still would have done the permit and inspection... just gives me some peace of mind that I did it all right and my house won't burn up by my having skipped a safety step. Plus I love amazing people by doing things they just don't expect a woman to do on her own. ;-P Heck it amazes men when I tell them I change my own oil in the car, let alone installing a stove, building a deck, or re-siding the house. :cheese: Should I change my name to Miss-Fix-it?

That is fantastic ,do you ride a motor cycle as well ?

 

[teetah222]

Even though it cost me a tiny bit of extra money, I still would have done the permit and inspection... just gives me some peace of mind that I did it all right and my house won't burn up by my having skipped a safety step. Plus I love amazing people by doing things they just don't expect a woman to do on her own. ;-P Heck it amazes men when I tell them I change my own oil in the car, let alone installing a stove, building a deck, or re-siding the house. :cheese: Should I change my name to Miss-Fix-it?

You go girl! Very impressive stuff. Careful you have all the single guys here flirting with you.(jk) :lol:

Miss-fix-it sounds great!

;-) Thanks. Bring on the single men! LOL

 

[teetah222]

Should I change my name to Miss-Fix-it?

That is fantastic ,do you ride a motor cycle as well ?

No motorcycle, except a little trail bike. And I'd rather spend time floating rivers than driving highways.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.

 

[jtakeman]

Should I change my name to Miss-Fix-it?

That is fantastic ,do you ride a motor cycle as well ?

No motorcycle, except a little trail bike. And I'd rather spend time floating rivers than driving highways.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread.

Sounds like your gonna fit right in here! (by the way macmans single!)