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norah_miller

Bizarre hazard insurance underwriter request

9 years ago

My new home has a propane gas freestanding stove for heat in the living room. When I signed up for home insurance this was described, of course. A few months later--I receive a cancellation notice in the mail because the home insurance underwriter looked at the online listing photos and thinks it's a wood-burning stove! They are insisting I have a licensed contractor write them a letter attesting that its gas--along with pictures I provide of the gas stove.


I don't want to pay a contractor for that, partly out of spite! Has anything similar happened to anyone else? I feel like this is a ridiculous request on their part. I have been very happy with the rates of this home&auto policy with my Costco discount, and I'm not sure what to do now.

Comments (10)

  • 9 years ago

    Check your inspection report -- that should be a licensed professional who had reason to inspect and comment on the stove. See if you can't satisfy their need for verification of information without added expense. Ot invite them to come take a look themselves.

  • 9 years ago

    And if they continue to be jerks, take your business elsewhere.

  • 9 years ago

    get your insurance agent out there to "confirm" the propane for you and have them contact the carrier

  • 9 years ago

    My guess is that someone in the underwriting dept at the home office who is unfamiliar with stoves in general is raising the red flag, not the agent.

    Call your agent and have the inspection report with you when you do. If necessary send him/her a copy of the report and highlight the section about the stove being gas.

    If you don't have a copy of the report, call your agent who sold you the house and see if he/she has one in the file.

  • 9 years ago

    the agent didn't create the havoc - it was the underwriter (who probably is many miles away from the property)


  • 9 years ago

    A neighbor of mine is rebuilding some front porch steps. It's a project obviously in process. Lots of new wood. He got a notice from his insurance company cancelling the policy due to lack of hand rail. His agent, my neighbor, was on vacation for the month and out of town. He was so frustrated dealing with the Company, he cancelled the policy and went to a competitor on principle.

  • 9 years ago

    Homechef - I had a similar experience in 2012. They had apparently driven by while a chimney was being rebuilt, a project which was underway for a total of 3 days and had been completed for several weeks when I received a notice out of the blue on a Friday from my insurance company that the policy would be cancelled the following Monday. No phone call, and the envelope was just sent regular mail, I could have easily missed it. Not a fan of these tactics.

  • 9 years ago

    Salti, why do you keep posting replies only to delete them hours or a day later? Twice now on this thread and on many other threads over the last few months...

    Just wondering if Houzz is moderating you?

  • 9 years ago

    In 2011, I was near the end of a re-fi of my house when Hurricane Irene came through the mid-Atlantic. My area had only rain and some wind. Someone in the underwriting process required that an agent come out to my house and verify it was still standing - and I had to pay the cost of that being done. Bizarre.