Difficulty getting insurance

[ArsenalDon]

Hey all,

I am having some problems finding an insurance company that will cover me and wondering if anyone has ideas.

I am in the process of purchasing a home with a wood stove as the primary and only heat source. The home is in a protection class 10 fire district because the nearest responding fire house is in the next town over 5 miles away. The combination of being a class 10 and having a wood stove as the only heat source has so far caused 5 insurance companies to say thanks, but no thanks and unable to provide coverage.

I'd love to buy the home, but I'm not going to buy it if I can't insure it.

Any ideas, thoughts, or suggestions?

Thanks,
Trickle

Oh, I forgot to mention...when we were looking at homes to buy up here in the Sierra Nevada's we looked at this one in zone 8 and one in a zone 10....the zone 10 home would have cost us $4,000 per year more in insurance....

 

[ddahlgren]

It is good business practice (in the case of Vet loans a requirement) to get inspections on bureal estate purchases. These inspections many times reveal items that need to be fixed. A home inspector (I guarantee it) will note that there is only one heating source. Not only will an insurance company many times not insure the home with one heat source, most lenders will not fund the loan on a home with only one heat source (remember that you do not own the home, the bank does until you make the final payment). So, after inspections someone has to fix the things that need fixing.....why would the buyer buy a "broken" home?
Would you as a buyer of a used car for $10,000, take it into the mechanic for an inspection, he tells you that it needs a new engine at a cost of $2,000.....and you not go back to the seller and say I will give you $8,000 because the engine will cost $2,000?! How is this lying, cheating and stealing?

The home seller is not forced to sell! The buyer is not forced to buy...thus why we call it "Free Enterprise"

I get it from post #14

 

[brian89gp]

Try Missour Farm Bureau, they don't seem to care about a great many things in my experience. I'm currently insuring a place with no heat source.

 

[Dune]

As far as I know, no bank will loan money on a house with no central heat anyway.
If you are not planning to use it, electric baseboard is the way to go. Cheap and easy.

 

[MasterMech]

So some suggest lie cheat and steal from the seller.. sad..It is tough enough getting beaten up selling a house for a fair price but the general attitude of cheat the seller is just so sad..If ever there was a place filled with straight shooters I would have though it was here, maybe not..

If the sellers were smart, they would install the elec baseboard heat and shut down the whole issue right then and there.

 

[daveswoodhauler]

Wow, a question finally up my alley. (I'm an underwriter for a P & C carrier)
Anyway, as others have said, you have two main issues....the smaller being the lack of any heat source other than the stove...but the larger issue is the Protection Class Area being a 10.

Many carriers wont offer coverage on PC's above 7, and unfortunately with 10 being the highest (no protection), most insurers have treaty exclusions that forbids them from writing anything in a PC 10 area.

Although you could install electric heat in the building, I still don't think you would be able to find a carrier that would write this coverage on a voluntary basis. I Would check with your state to see if the have an equivelent of the "fair plan" which is usually a market backed by the governement that allows folks to get insurance on high risk properties, such as coastal risks, and others in high PC areas.

You might also check with the local fire department, as sometimes the department does not upstate their protection info with ISO.....and I have seen a few cases where the rating boards showed a property as being PC 8-9 when it was actually a PC 5-6.

If its truly a PC 10, I think your only option would be to self insure, as I don't see a lender providing a mtg for a property with no public protection.

Good Luck

 

[ddahlgren]

I would have to think there is a lot more to a PC 10 than the fire dept 5 miles away. possibly no source of water? Bad roads? No driveway?

 

[daveswoodhauler]

I would have to think there is a lot more to a PC 10 than the fire dept 5 miles away. possibly no source of water? Bad roads? No driveway?

It can depend on a variety of items. # of trucks/equipment the town had, # of firefighters, access to water (hydrants, retaining pond, etc..) Road conditions, accessibility of heavy vehicles (i.e, a 20 wheel firetruck trying to access a curvy, mountain driveway) PC 10 is basically an area where when a fire starts, its just going to keep burning on its own.

 

[saladdin]

It can depend on a variety of items. # of trucks/equipment the town had, # of firefighters, access to water (hydrants, retaining pond, etc..) Road conditions, accessibility of heavy vehicles (i.e, a 20 wheel firetruck trying to access a curvy, mountain driveway) PC 10 is basically an area where when a fire starts, its just going to keep burning on its own.

Our very own insurance nerd!

Curious. Would a pellet stove install count if a second heat source is needed in addition to the wood stove?

 

[maverick06]

I have GRANGE MUTUAL CASUALTY

no problems there. originally had erie insurance. when i put in the wood stove the insurance agent said, ok... whatever... no one cares, but we will not it in your record. I went off happy. Of course I have to wonder how they would care if i had to file a claim.

What I have heard is a bigger issue is if it is your ONLY heating source. Its easy to keeps the pipes from freezing if you have centeral heat.... not so much with the wood stove... doubly so when you arent home with no centeral heat...