A wood stove is insurable. An undocumented one is a decline waiting to happen.
Wood heat is common across BC, from character homes to acreages, and insurers write it every day. What they decline is a stove nobody has inspected, installed to nobody knows what standard. The paperwork is the policy here.
Ask about your stove Why insurers askWhat you burn, where the stove sits, and any inspection you have
Tell you what an insurer will require, then place the file that meets it
A WETT inspection report, the one page most declines are missing
Can I get home insurance with a wood stove?
Yes. Insurers routinely write wood heat when the installation is documented, and the document they almost all ask for is a WETT inspection, a certified report confirming the stove, chimney and clearances meet the standard. Declines cluster around stoves with no report, installations done without permits, and wood as the only heat source in the house.
A chimney fire in an uninspected installation gives the insurer two questions instead of one: what happened, and whether the installation ever met the conditions the policy assumed. You want the second question to already be answered in the file.
Booking the inspection before shopping the insurance saves the whole round trip. The report costs a service call and answers everything at once.
What the underwriter sees in wood heat.
Fire, feet from the sofa
A wood stove is a contained fire in the living space. Underwriting does not fear it, it measures it, in clearances, floor protection and flue condition.
The installation nobody signed
A stove installed by a past owner, with no permit and no paperwork, is the classic decline. Nobody is vouching for what is behind the wall.
Primary heat versus ambience
A stove that is the only heat source works harder all winter and is treated differently from one that supplements a furnace. The application asks which it is.
The chimney, more than the stove
Most wood-heat losses are flue losses. Creosote, cracked liners, bad joins. This is why the inspection covers the chimney and why sweeping records matter.
The file that gets written.
Three documents turn wood heat from a decline into a routine placement.
The WETT report
A certified inspection of the stove, chimney and clearances. For most insurers this is the document, singular.
Proof of maintenance
Chimney sweeping receipts, ideally annual. They show the installation is looked after, not just installed.
The full heating picture
What else heats the house, and which source is primary. Answered plainly, it settles the largest rating question.
A situation we see.
An acreage changes hands with a stove the seller installed himself a decade ago. The buyer’s insurer asks for a WETT report, the inspection finds the clearances short, and the file stalls as a decline. A certified installer moves the heat shield, the re-inspection passes, and the same stove is insured within the month. The fix took an afternoon. Finding out at claim time would have taken lawyers.
We like wood heat. We insure it properly.
The stove is not the problem. The unknowns are.
Half the declines we see on wood heat come from files where nobody asked the right questions early. If your installation needs work before it is insurable, we tell you exactly what an underwriter will want to see, and you fix it once instead of shopping a decline around town.
If the report is already in your drawer, this is one of the easier placements we do.
What people ask about wood stoves.
What is a WETT inspection and who does it?
It is an inspection by a technician certified under the Wood Energy Technology Transfer program, covering the stove, flue and clearances. Chimney and hearth companies across BC have certified staff, and the report is written, dated and yours to keep.
My stove has been fine for twenty years. Why now?
Because the application asks, and because insurers have tightened on undocumented wood heat. Twenty good years plus a passing report is a strong file. Twenty good years alone is an unanswered question.
Does a fireplace need the same paperwork?
Original built-in fireplaces are usually just declared. Inserts and freestanding stoves are the ones that draw the inspection request, because they were added to the house.
Wood is my only heat. Is that a problem?
It narrows the market rather than closing it. Some insurers want a backup heat source, others rate for it. Rural files with wood as primary heat are ordinary work here.
Will insurance pay if the chimney was not swept?
A wording can carry maintenance expectations, and a creosote fire in an unswept flue invites hard questions. Keep the sweeping receipts. They are the cheapest insurance document you will ever file.
What should I send you first?
A photo of the stove and its clearances, whatever paperwork exists, and any decline letter. If there is no paperwork yet, we tell you what to get before you spend anything on premiums.
Wood heat, insured without the runaround.
Tell a licensed broker what you have. You get the requirements, the realistic markets and a straight answer, next business day and usually the same day.