| Author | Content |
MarilynneS
Thunder Bay Ontario
Canada
(Zone 3a)
October 26, 2008
02:58 PM Post #5718038
| Hi ..
This is about the only Forum I thought this question might best be asked in.
We are going to be 'visited' by an Inspector from our Insurance Company. Have been with the company for 18+ years .. never have had a claim.
Apparently they do this 'randomly' every year .. our home came up this year.
We have checked all our fire extinguishers, carbon monoxide detectors .. all are up to date and in proper working order .. our biggest concern is our woodstove. It was professionally installed and is cleaned professionally every year .. have heard some horror stories out there with regards to these inspectors saying 'THAT GOES' !! Here in Nothern Canada, a woodstove is a pretty important piece of equipment. We have Natural gas as a primary source of heating, but do use the woodstove as well when the temps drop.
Anyone have any feedback or tips ??
Thanks so much
Marilynne |
JuneyBug
Dongducheon CpCasey
South Korea
(Zone 4b)
October 26, 2008
05:01 PM Post #5718478
| My only tip is to put a smoke detector in every room and CMonoxide detectors all over the place too. I have a fireplace and a pellet stove. The initial inspection went well because we did this. |
MarilynneS
Thunder Bay Ontario
Canada
(Zone 3a)
October 26, 2008
05:52 PM Post #5718633
| Thanks so much .. I am planning on putting in another smoke detector for sure ..maybe 2 :-)
Sure 'rattles the nerves' !!!!
~M~ |
JuneyBug
Dongducheon CpCasey
South Korea
(Zone 4b)
October 26, 2008
06:22 PM Post #5718722
| Don't forget the garage, basement/crawlspace, the closet with the hot water heater, above the heater/AC. Really. Buy a 6 pack or 2 and put them everywhere. There needs to be one in every room, minimum. The insurance company will give good ratings for this.
We put ground fault circuit interrupters in our fuse box and got a discount because of it. They cost about $60 US each and we have them only on the circuits that go to the garage, bathrooms, kitchen and outside. This is easier and better looking on an older house than buying and installing the plugins everywhere.
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threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
November 30, 2008
12:37 AM Post #5842552
| Our insurance company came for an inspection this past summer. The only things he did was measure the outside diameters of the house, the outbuildings and came inside to, from what I could tell, decide if the walls were still plaster or converted to drywall. He never mentioned the smoke detectors, or lack of, or anything else for that matter. |
MarilynneS
Thunder Bay Ontario
Canada
(Zone 3a)
November 30, 2008
12:46 PM Post #5843556
| Hi all ..
We made out 'OK' with the inspection .. the fella was very nice (all business) .. he looked over the woodstove .. took measurements re clearance .. was happy to see a fire extinguisher handy .. went outside and measured the house .. looked in the garage and outbuildings .. suggested our dryer venting be replaced .. it's plastic right now and there is better stuff on the market .. we have purchased that but have yet to put it in ..
All in all .. 2 weeks after his visit we rec'd a letter from the Insurance Company saying our insurance would increase by $16.00/m, and the value of our house had gone up. Guess they have to make their money somehow !!!
~M~ |
threegardeners
North Augusta, ON
November 30, 2008
01:09 PM Post #5843602
| Ain't that the truth!!
Have you received your most recent "property assessment"? Good grief!! If I could actually sell my house for what it's assessed for, I could retire comfortably in some nice tropical island paradise!! |
MarilynneS
Thunder Bay Ontario
Canada
(Zone 3a)
November 30, 2008
02:56 PM Post #5843854
| Yes .. got that lil piece of documentation about 3 days BEFORE the Insurance one ..
Our little Township increased our property value significantly without even a visit !!
With Real Estate being so FLAT right now .. that boggles the mind !!
~M~ |
ecrane3
Dublin, CA
(Zone 9a)
November 30, 2008
03:22 PM Post #5843921
| I don't know how it works in your area, but here you can appeal your property tax assessment if you feel that they've valued your house more than it's actually worth. |
MarilynneS
Thunder Bay Ontario
Canada
(Zone 3a)
November 30, 2008
06:41 PM Post #5844533
| I think that that's only fair .. but have never heard of that here .. gonna look into that 
~M~ |
ecrane3
Dublin, CA
(Zone 9a)
November 30, 2008
07:02 PM Post #5844585
| I suspect they would have something you could do, after all the taxes are supposed to be based on the value of your property and if they've assessed that incorrectly there ought to be some mechanism to fix it. You may have to do some digging though to find out what to do--it's not in their best interests to advertise that they'll do that though since it takes time for them to review your request, plus if it turns out they did overvalue your place they'll lose money. Make sure you read the rules thoroughly too--there is probably a deadline by which you have to appeal, and also pay attention to the date they set the valuation. Here we pay half our taxes in November and the second half in February, but the tax rate is based on the value of the house the previous January, so I could only appeal my tax rate based on what my house was worth last January, not what it's worth in November when I actually pay the tax. |
