Insuring a rural home or cottage: wood stoves, oil tanks, water

Rural homes and cottages around Orillia often cost more to insure, and are sometimes harder to insure at all, because of the things that make them rural: a wood stove, an oil tank in the basement, older wiring, a long drive to the nearest fire hall, no hydrant, and part-time occupancy. Insurers may require an inspection of a wood-burning appliance, will ask detailed questions about heating and wiring, and often limit seasonal properties to named perils with sewer backup excluded. The fix is simple: get a written quote on the specific property before your offer goes firm.

Why are rural properties harder to insure?

The Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC) lists the factors insurers weigh when pricing a home. Several of them hit rural and cottage properties harder:

• Heating. The type of heating and the number of fireplaces or wood stoves.
• Electrical. Insurers ask about knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring and fuses or service under 100 amps. They may require updated wiring, a minimum 100-amp service with breakers or an inspection by a licensed electrician.
• Plumbing. Galvanized steel or lead pipes are more likely to crack and leak.
• Fire protection. The distance to the nearest fire hydrant and the responding fire department, municipal or volunteer. A property far from either may cost more to insure, because the sooner a fire is put out, the less it costs to restore.
• Occupancy. Whether it is owner-occupied, rented, or recreational and seasonal.

None of these is a deal-breaker on its own. Stack three or four together on an older cottage and you can find yourself with few insurers willing to quote, or a premium you did not budget for.

Wood stoves and WETT inspections

The IBC is direct about this: if not properly installed or maintained, wood stoves and fireplaces can cause fires and carbon monoxide poisoning. It says to talk to your insurer before you buy a property with a wood stove, that "your insurer may require an inspection," and that wood-burning appliances "do affect the availability and affordability of home insurance."

In Ontario, the inspection insurers ask for is commonly called a WETT inspection, after Wood Energy Technology Transfer, the organization that trains and certifies wood-burning professionals. What matters to you as a buyer:

• Ask your insurer first what they will accept: which kind of inspection, by whom, and how recent.
• Ask the seller for any existing inspection report, the installation permit if the stove was added later, and chimney cleaning records.
• Book the inspection during the conditional period. If the stove or chimney needs work, you want to know before you are committed, and you may need it done before the insurer will bind coverage.
• Disclose every wood-burning appliance, including an outdoor wood furnace, a sauna stove or a fireplace in the bunkie.

Two practical points. An inspection done years ago for the previous owner may not satisfy your insurer, so ask whether an existing report is recent enough or whether they want a new one in your name. And keep the written report, with the inspector's name and certification number, because you may be asked for it again at renewal or if you change insurers.

Oil tanks: what the rules actually say

Some older rural homes and cottages around Orillia still heat with fuel oil. Two sets of rules matter: Ontario's safety rules and your insurer's rules.

Ontario's rules (TSSA)

The Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA) administers Ontario Regulation 213/01, the Fuel Oil regulation. Key points for homeowners:

• Your fuel supplier must inspect. Under section 7, fuel oil distributors must inspect all installations they supply, including residential ones. The inspection covers piping, tanks, components, appliances, venting and anything else that affects safe operation, and must be done by a properly certified technician.
• Unsafe tanks get cut off. If a distributor finds an "unacceptable condition" that is an immediate hazard, it must stop supplying fuel, shut off the supply and tag the system. If it is not an immediate hazard, the distributor must give written notice that it will stop supplying fuel if the condition is not corrected within the time set, no more than 90 days.
• Underground tanks are a separate category. Underground fuel oil tanks must be registered with TSSA, and anyone removing or servicing them must be trained, certified and registered with TSSA. TSSA notes that tanks located in basements are not considered underground tanks, and that aboveground tanks are preferred because they are easier to inspect.

Your insurer's rules

Insurers set their own requirements for oil tanks, and these are where deals get tripped up. Expect questions about the tank's age, whether it is inside or outside, whether it is single- or double-walled, and when it was last inspected. Some insurers will not cover an older tank until it is replaced. We have not found a single published provincial age limit that applies to every insurer, so get the rule for your insurer in writing.

Distance to the fire hall and hydrants

Rural properties are often a long way from a hydrant and a fire station. The IBC confirms insurers look at both the distance to the nearest hydrant and the responding fire department. Give your insurer the exact civic address so they can rate it properly, and if the property is water-access only, say so up front. Water-access cottages are a different conversation with insurers.

Seasonal and secondary properties

The IBC explains that you can usually add a cottage to your existing policy as a secondary or seasonal location, or insure it separately. Either way:

• You must disclose how often it is used and whether you rent it out, short or long term.
• Coverage may be limited to named perils because of the risks of part-time occupancy. Fire, explosion and smoke are typically included.
• Commonly excluded on seasonal properties: sewer backup, and damage or loss of fences, food in a freezer, garden equipment, outdoor plants, trees and shrubs.
• Liability is typically extended from your main home policy to the cottage.

If you plan to rent the cottage, tell your insurer before the first booking. Short-term rental use can change the type of policy you need.

Freezing, vacancy and winter

The IBC notes that damage from frozen indoor plumbing is generally treated as preventable. If you are away for more than four days during the normal heating season, you generally must drain the plumbing or have the home checked regularly to make sure heat is maintained. If those precautions were not taken, freezing damage would likely be excluded. Check whether your policy also has separate vacancy or unoccupancy conditions. Read it, and if you close a cottage for winter, follow the policy's requirements to the letter.

Flood, overland water and sewer backup

On a lake or river this matters most of all. The IBC says:

• Sewer backup is only covered if you have purchased specific optional sewer backup coverage.
• Overland flood coverage is optional and covers specific types of water damage, such as water from heavy rain, spring thaw, or a lake or river overflowing.
• Predictable events are not covered. A standard policy is "not a maintenance contract," and flooding of a home built on a flood plain is given as an example of something not covered.

Ask whether overland water and sewer backup are available for the property, what the limits and deductibles are, and whether a septic system backup is treated as sewer backup under the policy wording. The IBC also suggests loss-prevention steps such as backwater valves, sump pumps and raising the furnace, water heater and electrical panel, and some insurers offer discounts for them.

See the Lake Couchiching water levels guide and the rural checklist for how to check flood risk on a specific lot.

Get the quote before you firm up

How Jordan can help

I'll help you gather what an insurer needs from the seller early: the heating details, oil tank age and inspection, wood stove paperwork and electrical updates, so you can get a firm quote inside your conditional period. If something needs fixing to get coverage, I'll help you price it into the deal. Call 705-345-0797 or contact me.