Coal/Wood Stoves and Insurance

From what I interpreted, its better not to tell them.. I was told it's their responsibility to send out people to make sure there aren't unknown dangers (unknown to the ins company).. From what I was also told, they have to insure you unless you purposely burn yer house down. That's how I understand it. Correct me if I'm wrong..

You're right about the second part. The first part, it depends... and that would only be an issue if the thing you didn't tell them about (which, hypothetically, your policy specifically states that you must tell them about) was determined to be the cause of the loss.

blrman07 wrote:................... You specify the limit and in the event of a total loss, that's what you get no matter what it would take for you to rebuild your home.

Rev. Larry
New Beginning Church
Ashland Pa.

Technically correct, but dangerous advice if someone doesn't understand how P&C works.

A short primer:

Note: Insurance is regulated by the state. This is just general info, not state specific and certainly not advice. Use what I tell you to open up a conversation with your own insurance agent or other adviser. Repeat, this is not advice of any sort!

If you insure your home for more than it is worth they will only pay to value. They will not pay the full amount of your policy limit since your loss couldn't possibly be that much. Insurance will indemnify, nothing more. Buying excess insurance is a waste of money.

Your home should be insured for at least 80% of value not including land. If you choose to insure for less than 80% you become a co-insurer. What does that mean, you ask? In the event of a total loss your insurance company will pay the insured amount. However, in the event of a partial loss co-insurance will be applied. If you only insure your house for 60% of value they will only pay 60% of the claim minus the deductible. For example, your $250,000 home is insured for 60% of value or $150,000, you have a $50,000 loss caused by a covered peril (that's another conversation) the insurance company will pay 60% of the covered loss or $30,000 minus the deductible. The remaining $20,000 is covered by the co-insurer. That would be you. Always insure for at least 80% of value and verify the value every year.

Now about Coverage C, which is covered personal property. 99.9% of the people have ACV or Actual Cash Value. (BTW, I'm in the 0.01%) That means they will pay you what your used stuff is worth today. Used furniture, clothes, appliances or electronics is not worth much compared to what it costs to actually replace them with brand new stuff of like kind and quality. For a small additional premium you can get Replacement coverage on personal property. In that case, at the time of loss they pay you ACV, then you have a specified period of time to replace your stuff, send in the receipts and be reimbursed for the difference.

Hope this helps.

I called my State Farm agent before my install, they were completely fine with it. No rate increase at all. But I've been with them for 17 years. They did send me a packet on wood stove safety.

Scottaw wrote:I called my State Farm agent before my install, they were completely fine with it. No rate increase at all. But I've been with them for 17 years. They did send me a packet on wood stove safety.

I would be careful with being too loyal with insurance companies today. I know some people who were very upset for being long time customers to their insurance companies after getting some new quotes from different companies and finding better car or home insurance for much less. I'm not saying that's always the case, but just a heads up.

I shop around every few years, haven't found a reason to switch yet.

The 30 inches to wood studs or ANY combustible is EXPOSED combustibles. Fire rated sheetrock, hardibacker, and bricks reduce the set back. Not to zero, but not 30 inches. Hell, you can take an uninsulated double wall pipe and run it within a few inches of framing by code. I think a contained fire in an appliance is bunch safer then that! And of course, it changes by state and local codes.

Kevin

Mine cancelled me after being with them for over 25 years! A couple of years ago they saw a cook stove on my back porch from the back door window. The stove didn't even have grates in it, but that didn't matter to them. Of course I found another company, and they have been really decent about everything. I talked to my agent about it 6-8 months later and he said that company had lost over 700 policy holders over that one adjuster. I never met they guy, they sent me letters asking me to come back to them since, and I wrote "deceased" on the envelope they wanted a reply in and mailed it back to them. I never had a claim with them even. Insurance companies can sure be odd, that's for sure.
Doesn't it make you wonder how any house survived 100 years ago when you see old pictures of how they had their parlor stoves set up?