Insurance Inspections

[LBrown59]

Someone posted on a topic regarding wood stoves that his house was inspected by the insurance company. Is this common?

I have never had the insurance company out, even after a big loss.

My brother once got a letter from his insurer to get rid of the old unused refrigerator setting in his back yard or they would cancel his homeowners policy if he didn't.
It didn't even have a door on it.

Another way to lose your coverage is to have a trampoline .

 

[Gator6x4]

I get the inspection at installation time but inspection afterwards? I really have to wonder at the legality. If you refuse the inspection I would assume there is a fine. How is that different from a LEO demanding entry to "inspect" the house? I am afraid I would tell them to get a warrant.

Yet another reason to avoid CA like the plague.

When we built the house and got a new policy I spent a good half hour on the phone with the insurance company talking about the house. They asked about wood stoves and fireplaces but it did not seem to be a problem. We spent more time trying to figure out how to list our floor type since we have finished concrete which was not on their list.

The were VERY interested in that we had a GSD.

We got insurance but switched a year or so later because the Farm Bureau was very much cheaper for the same coverage. The new company DID visit the house but it was to take photos of the tractor and implements. :laughing:

Later,
Dan

"I am afraid I would tell them to get a warrant."

Obtaining a warrant would not be hard for the Fireman since refusing entry established probable cause for an "Administrative Warrant" which is much different than a "Search Warrant". Police have to obtain Search Warrants.

After the Fireman(s) served the Administrative Warrant they in all likelihood would also issue a citation and access fines and penalties. You then would have two choices, pay the fine, correct the problem and the incident is closed or refuse and request a court trial.

I prefer the easy way. Invite them in and plead ignorant and ask for time to achieve voluntary compliance if violations are detected.

 

[Pirate]

Somtimes I just wonder what my responsibility is toward the insurance company. I noticed on my policy it said hydrant was x-feet when it is miles, and that house had brick veneer, not-it is vinyl. I didn't tell that that info in the first place, I think the agent did. I emailed the agent and told him the data was incorrect and informed him I had a wood insert. I haven't heard a word from him. Should I keep pursuing this?

 

[whistlepig]

Insurance companies are a dime a dozen. We have had the same homeowners insurance company for almost forty years now with no issues. We have a pellet stove and fireplace. We have never been required to have an inspection of any kind. And if they did I would do business elsewhere. From time to time we get calls from other insurance companies wanting our business. Some big name insurance companies. They start asking a bunch of questions and then start telling us what we can and can't do. Maybe our insurance isn't the cheapest around but I sure as heck am not going to pay someone money to tell me what I can and can not do.

 

[ajmbonaire]

Well I know it happens but I suspect not everywhere. I have a friend that got a letter saying they were canceling him if he didn't get a railing on a back deck. They included photos taken by an inspector that stuck a camera through his gate to the back yard. That was in a big city though.

MarkV

This exact same thing happened to me. They said a tree close to the house had to go because it was causing mildew on the side of the house , which I keep cleaned,. Sent me the photographs. Threatened to cancel. I fired them and got insurance with another company. The new company had no problem with the tree and charged about half the other company charged.

 

[powerpace]

I heard this the other day.

"Can an athiest be covered by insurance for acts of God?

 

[Wayne County Hose]

Someone posted on a topic regarding wood stoves that his house was inspected by the insurance company. Is this common?

I have never had the insurance company out, even after a big loss.

Mine was inspected by my insurance agent who is also a local volunteer fire fighter. My house burned down 2 years later. Not due to the wood burner even though thats what the fire marshall claimed.

 

[scgargoyle]

Insurance companies are NOT a dime a dozen here in FL. In fact, many people can ONLY get insurance through Citizen's. It has to do with all of the hurricanes we had a few years back.

Insurance companies have learned that they can weasel out of paying if something in the house is not up to snuff, and they have an army of adjusters and lawyers whose only job is to try to deny your claim. Do a little home improvement without a permit, and see what happens if you have a claim. Unfortunately, all of the little ifs, ands, and buts are buried in the contract, written in legalese, so you only find out you're not covered after the fact.

 

[Soundguy]

yep! we actively try to NOT loose our coverage here in florida.. not enough insurers with an interest in the market where 3/4's of the state is coastline..

 

[dmccarty]

If they didn't want to install PEX because they couldn't charge as much they were cheating themselves....

Yes, PEX is cheaper and faster to install thus the plumber earns less per job.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

In this state, one has to be aware of the consequences of refusing admittance to property appraisers and insurance companies. For the appraisers, if you want to argue about the appraised property value, they can assess at any value they see appropriate and you have no options for rebuttal. They seem to appear about every 2 years.
...
Gary

We have never had an insurance inspection of our house. They have asked questions which is fair enough. The only time we have been visited was when they wanted to see the tractor and implements which seemed fair enough. I have never seen anything in our home policy regarding visits and I do read the policy. :laughing:

The property appraisers have visited but they were looking for new outbuildings and such. I have never heard of them going into a house in my area.

We have PEX in our house. I really is the way to go as far as I am concerned. The plumber asked if he could use PEX when we built and I said yes, yes you can. I would much rather have PEX than copper or plastic.

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

"I am afraid I would tell them to get a warrant."

Obtaining a warrant would not be hard for the Fireman since refusing entry established probable cause for an "Administrative Warrant" which is much different than a "Search Warrant". Police have to obtain Search Warrants.

After the Fireman(s) served the Administrative Warrant they in all likelihood would also issue a citation and access fines and penalties. You then would have two choices, pay the fine, correct the problem and the incident is closed or refuse and request a court trial.

I prefer the easy way. Invite them in and plead ignorant and ask for time to achieve voluntary compliance if violations are detected.

WHY would the fire department need access to someone's house in NC? I have never heard of it happening in my area.

Later,
Dan

 

[ultrarunner]

A little background...

Lots of the heavy handedness on the fire inspections came about after the Oakland Hills Firestorm that took out 3000 homes.

The fire cause was determined to be an illegal cook fire by vagrants camping out...

The tragedy is the fire department was quickly summoned and put out the fire and left... there were still roots burning under the soil and when the wind kicked up it turned into the inferno...

Since then... Oakland Fire policy is to maintain a 24 hour watch after putting out urban/wildland interface fires when the conditions are hot and dry...

Since then... the residents in these areas have had some draconian measures imposed by inspectors who are not always up to the task...

One was going to cite my D3 Dozer as a Fire Hazard and we had a long discussion about it... I had to explain I bought it to maintain fire breaks and fire trails in compliance with the directive of the last inspector...

City Fire Crews really don't have the experience with wildland type fires...

As to insurance inspections... I had been with a National Company for 20 years without a loss... the premiums were reasonable and the Broker had done business with my Grandparents...

My properties were inspected and they could find no deficiencies... all were not renewed because the Insurance company had implemented a new underwriting standard in urban areas that required 500k policy minimums... in other words they no longer wanted to do business in most of Oakland...

 

[powerpace]

Yes, PEX is cheaper and faster to install thus the plumber earns less per job.

Later,
Dan

I don't know how you figure profit but less labor usually means more money in your pocket. Less cost of materials and ease of installation usually means less time on the job and a happier customer. I like to get references from happy people.

Use the copper for a still.

 

[JamesHW]

Yes, PEX is cheaper and faster to install thus the plumber earns less per job.

Later,
Dan

Or the plumber doesn't make anything because the home owner did it himself since it is too easy with PEX (which is what happened with my old farmhouse). Replumbing a bathroom which is outside the shell of the old brick house in a later wood addition (read: lots of turns) would have taken half a day with copper for me to do it, probably a bit less for an experienced plumber. The whole thing took a half hour with PEX.