Knob-and-tube wiring. The two words that stall a house purchase.
Original wiring from the early decades of the last century still runs behind the walls of many character homes in Vancouver and across BC. Some insurers decline it outright, some write it with an electrical inspection, and the difference is the whole game.
Ask about your wiring Why insurers askThe home’s age, any electrical reports, and what the seller or your inspector found
Tell you which markets write older wiring and on what conditions
Get the wiring question answered inside your subject period, not after
Can I insure a house with knob-and-tube wiring?
Often, yes, and the terms depend on how much of it is live and what an electrician says about it. Markets split three ways: some decline any active knob-and-tube, some accept it with a recent electrical inspection, and some accept a plan, cover now, replacement within an agreed window. A house where the old wiring is already disconnected just needs the paperwork saying so.
The expensive path is finding out at subject removal. Deals die in the last week over wiring nobody asked about in the first, and a rushed buyer takes whatever terms are left rather than the terms an inspection would have earned.
An electrician’s report does two jobs at once: it tells you what is actually behind the walls, and it gives the underwriter the one document that reopens the market.
Why old wiring narrows the market.
Built for lamps, not for now
Knob-and-tube was engineered for a fraction of a modern home’s load. The risk grows with every appliance the original design never imagined.
No ground, old insulation
Two-wire circuits with no ground, and insulation that dries and cracks with age. Fine when untouched, riskier at every renovation that disturbed it.
Buried under attic insulation
The design assumed open air around the wires. Decades of added insulation traps heat around them, which is the specific condition inspections look for.
The renovations in between
A century of handymen splicing new circuits onto old ones is what worries underwriters most. The inspection maps what actually happened back there.
What reopens the market.
The wiring question is answered with documents, and there are only three that matter.
A current electrical inspection
A licensed electrician’s written report on what is live, what condition it is in, and what has been replaced already.
Replacement records
If past owners rewired, the permits and invoices prove it. A “mostly rewired” house with records beats a “fully rewired” claim without them.
A replacement plan with dates
Where live knob-and-tube remains, several markets will cover on a commitment to replace within an agreed period. The plan turns a decline into a schedule.
A situation we see.
A 1912 Vancouver character home goes under contract, and the buyer’s first insurer declines on the listing photos alone, ceiling fixtures that look original. An electrician’s inspection finds the knob-and-tube was disconnected in a 1980s rewiring and left in place, dead, behind the plaster. With the report in the file, three markets quote it as an ordinary heritage home. Nothing about the house changed. The file finally said what the walls already knew.
Character homes are worth the paperwork.
We place old houses every week.
The wiring question feels like a wall the first time you hit it, and it is really a queue: inspection, report, the right market, done. If replacement is genuinely needed, we tell you what the realistic terms look like before and after, so the electrician’s quote can be weighed against real premium numbers instead of fear.
What we do not do is pretend old wiring is not there. It is on the application, and the application is the policy’s foundation.
What people ask about knob-and-tube.
How do I know if the house still has it?
An electrician can tell quickly, and home inspectors flag the visible signs, ceramic knobs in the attic or basement. In pre-1950 homes, assume the question will be asked and get it answered early.
The wiring is disconnected but still in the walls. Does that count?
Dead wiring left in place is common and generally fine. What insurers need is the confirmation it is dead, which is one line in an electrician’s report.
Do I have to rewire the whole house to get insurance?
Not always. Depending on the inspection findings, markets exist for partial replacement, and for full cover on a committed replacement schedule. Full rewiring simply opens the widest market at the best terms.
Is aluminum wiring the same problem?
It is a different era and a different set of fixes, but the same pattern: insurers ask, an inspection answers, and terms follow the report. We handle both files the same way.
Will the inspection kill my deal?
The inspection saves deals more often than it kills them, because it replaces the insurer’s worst assumption with a fact. The deals that die are the ones still guessing at subject removal.
What should I send you first?
The address and year of the house, any electrical report or permit history, and any decline letter. If all you have is a listing and a subject deadline, send that. We have worked from less.
Old house, straight answers.
Tell a licensed broker what you know about the wiring. You get the realistic markets and the exact paperwork that opens them, next business day and usually the same day.