Do Insurance Companies Cover Wood Stoves?
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Home insurance companies usually cover wood stoves or pellet stoves as long as you meet the coverage requirements. These conditions vary by provider but typically include professional installation and a safety check by an official inspector.
Insurance companies tend to be more cautious about providing policies to homes that rely on a stove as the only heating source. This means if you intend to use only your wood- or pellet stove to heat your house, you may have a harder time getting coverage than other customers.
What are the insurance requirements for woodtoves?
Your company may only offer you insurance if your stove was professionally installed or meets local fire codes. If they require a licensed contractor to install a stove or pellet stove, expect to pay an extra fee for this service.
If you've installed your own stove, or it was installed before you bought the property, you might have to provide documentation to prove your stove is safe before the company agrees to cover you. You may also need to show certification that your stove model has been inspected for defects. If you own a wood- or pellet stove, your insurance company considers you responsible for maintaining the device and may conduct ongoing inspections to verify your stove is in good condition.
It isn't uncommon for a homeowners policy to exclude coverage if a stove causes damage. Most policies do provide protection if a fire damages your dwelling or personal property. Sometimes, though, policies have provisions that exclude coverage for damage from faulty or inadequate workmanship, improper installation or lack of maintenance.
Imagine you install your own woodstove. If your insurance company does not require an inspection and your home burns down, your policy may not cover you if the fire was a result of your workmanship.
Does a wood-burning stove increase home insurance premiums?
Your premiums will likely increase if you have a wood-burning or pellet stove, but the increase is usually small.
You might see higher costs from wood stoves than pellet types, because wood-burning stoves cause far more residential fires. Instead of increasing your premiums, companies could impose a separate charge if you install a wood- or pellet stove.
It's also possible that your insurance company may treat your woodstove like a space heater or similar heating appliance. In this case, a woodstove may not increase your premiums.
Homeowners insurance and woodstoves
Your home insurance company will probably send an inspector to your property after you inform them about your wood-burning stove. If the inspection is required, you won't be covered until the stove has passed. Like a conventional fireplace, a woodstove requires a connection to a chimney to regulate heat and transport harmful gases out of the living space.
Insurance inspectors will check that your stove's connection to the chimney is clear and well sealed and aligns with your local fire codes. Inspectors may also want to confirm that your woodstove and chimney are clear of creosote — a sootlike and highly flammable by-product of wood — and your chimney has a top cover before they sign off. .
If you have a woodstove, your insurance company may require annual or semiannual checks to make sure your home does not present an insurance risk. Most safety guidelines specify that you keep the three feet surrounding the fireplace or stove clear or fit the area with a screen to prevent sparks from spreading.
Homeowners insurance and pellet stoves
Pellet stoves often have smaller effects on home insurance premiums, because they're much less likely to cause house fires than models that burn logs.
Pellet stoves heat compressed wood pieces or sawdust instead of logs. This method is more cost efficient and cleaner and doesn't cause jumping sparks. Because they burn cleaner fuel, pellet stoves don't create a large creosote buildup. Your pellet stove also needs no chimney connection for ventilation. Any ongoing inspection your provider requires might be less rigorous than if you had a wood-burning stove.
Unlike wood-burning stoves, pellet stoves need a power source. They have to run an auger to feed pellets into the stove's burning compartment. For insurance purposes, keep a battery backup for the pellet stove, as insurance companies have very specific exclusions related to losses from power failure.
Some companies won't cover losses from power failure unless you lose power because of weather, fire or another insured peril. Imagine that the power fails at a utility plant, but the failure isn't caused by weather or another covered peril. Let's say this outage causes you to lose power, too. If the power failure harms the circuitry of your electronically heated pellet stove, you might not be able to file a claim to replace it.
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