I was surprised in the past couple of weeks, I’ve had 2 clients call to ask me about wood burning stoves that they are looking to purchase and wanted to know how it would affect their homeowners insurance.  As we transition out  of heating season into warmer weather, this can be the ideal time to find good deals on close-out stoves. 

These clients wanted to know what they should consider from an insurance stand-point regarding the purchase of their wood burning stove.  The first thing that you want to make sure is that the stove is U.L. listed.  “U.L.” stands for Underwriters Laboratories, Inc., which is a non-profit safety testing and certification organization.  You can tell if a stove is U.L. listed because it will state it right on the metal plate attached to the stove that tells you the make and model of the stove.  It will usually give you a U.L. number to reference.  This assures you that the stove has met Underwriters Laboratories safety standards. 

Next you want to make sure that it is installed by a qualified and insured contractor.  Correct installation is important because if a U.L. listed stove is installed improperly there is a greater chance for fire damage to your home.  When reviewing a contractors insurance ask for his insurance agent to send you a copy directly listing yourself as a “Certificate Holder” on the policy.  This way you will be notified of any changes to the policy or if it cancels.  Also, make sure that the contractor has adequate coverage.  You would want the contractor to have at least enough liability coverage to cover the cost of rebuilding your home in case of a fire. 

Now most contractors are going to install a wood burning stove that meets an insurance companies requirements.  If you want to double check the installation guidelines, call your insurance agent and ask them to send you the minimum requirements that they are looking for when they inspect a wood burning stove and compare them to the contractors. 

After the stove is installed be sure to conduct proper maintenance on the stove.  Heating fires account for 36% of residential home fires in rural homes every year.  Often these fires are due to creosote buildup in chimneys and stovepipes. 

For more information on woodstove safety, check out http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/citizens/all_citizens/home_fire_prev/heating/fireplace.shtm.

With this recent downfall of snow, it helped me see some of the potential hazards that arise around my home due to the snow fall.  I urge you to take an assessment of the hazards that may occurr around you home and be proactive in eliminating them.

There was so much snow on my roof that it drifts over the edges of the roof and creates an avalanche below.  Luckily I haven’t been standing underneath my eaves as the snow comes crashing down, but it is fun to watch from the inside of the house.  It can be so loud that it will sometimes wake me in the middle of the night and I’m a sound sleeper.  I realize that when I leave my front door, I need to look up before proceeding, so I don’t get clobbered, but what about my unsuspecting guests or mail person who aren’t aware of the dangers around my house.  There is a potential hazard of snow and ice dropping from 20 feet above, which could injure someone pretty good.  If you see these drifts on your roof be proactive and get a snow rake from your local hardware store that will allow you to remove some of the snow from your roof.  I do not recommend getting on the roof with a shovel, with the ice and snow build-up you are only asking for a fall and even with all of the white fluffy snow below a fall off the roof will hurt. 

I also recommend checking around the outside of your house for spots where ice forms that could be potential slip hazards for you and your guests.  Remove all of the snow and ice from these areas like steps, walkways and driveways and if necessary use some salt or snow melt to remove any of the remaining ice.  I have a couple of steps on the side of my house that buildup ice and I’m always try to remove it because even though we don’t use the steps at all in the winter, I know that the RG&E meter reader and any other utility company employees will use those steps to get to the back of my house and I want to make sure that anyone that accesses my property is safe. 

Now if you have icicles that build up around your house, you most likely have a heat loss problem.  I would recommend speaking with a qualified contractor to resolve the problem.  Not only are you wasting money on expensive heating bills, but icicles have the potential danger of falling onto someone and injuring them or causing damage to your house like tearing the gutters off or leaking back into the house as the ice damns up and can get under your roof shingles. 

When there is so much snow you run out of places to put it.  I find it tough to see out of the end of my driveway because the snow banks are so high.  I get a double whammy with the street plow and the sidewalk plow.  I make sure that I go slow out of my driveway to make sure that there isn’t any traffic coming that I wasn’t able to see behind my banks and when I have time I try to get out there and knock down my banks, so I can see better. 

Be sure to take an assessment of your house to see where your potential hazards are for you and your guests and do your best to eliminate them. 

I had a question today from someone who had all of their electronic equipment in their house fried!  They said that their neighbor was having a tree removed and when the contractor was removing the stump that was close to the property line that he hit their main electrical line to their house.  The contractor admitted fault and filed a claim on his insurance.  The problem is that his insurance company seems to be in no rush to get out to meet them and pay the claim. 

This is why I would recommend filing the claim with your own homeowners policy.  Your company wants to make you happy and will most likely repond quicker and they want to settle the claim fairly, so that you are happy because you are their client.  After your company has paid you, they will subrogate (go after) with the contractors insurance company. 

This way your claim will be paid and you will be happy and your insurance company will have the headache of dealing with the contractors insurance and not you!