Built a free database tracking how 8 insurers treat wood stoves in every state. Would love your help filling gaps
Hey r/woodstoving,
Hearth shop owner in CT. I've been frustrated for years that there's no straight answer to "how does insurance treat my wood stove?" Every thread on this sub gets the same 5 anecdotes: Liberty Mutual is fine, Allstate is a coin flip, Travelers wants an inspection, etc.
Last week I sat down and tried to actually structure all of it. Pulled data from public state insurance filings, every carrier statement I could find, independent agency publications, and yes, a lot of threads from this sub and Hearth.com.
Result: a free lookup tool covering 8 major carriers (State Farm, Allstate, Liberty Mutual, USAA, Travelers, Progressive, Farmers, Erie) across all 50 states for wood stoves, inserts, pellet stoves, and a few other types.
Link: https://fireplaceinsider.com/fireplace-insurance-tracker/
Two reasons I'm posting:
The data is incomplete. I have around 2000 records, but a lot of them are "Medium confidence" because they're based on forum reports rather than direct quotes. If you've got a wood stove and you know how your carrier treated it (surcharge, no charge, declined entirely), there's a submission form on the page. Every real quote makes the next person's research easier.
I want feedback. What's wrong? What's missing? Is the lookup useful, or is the format off? Roast it.
No login required, no email signup, no upsell. I'm not selling insurance. I sell wood stoves and gas fireplaces, and frankly I'd rather customers know what insurance is going to do to them BEFORE they buy than find out after.
Happy to answer any specific carrier/state questions in the comments too. This is what I do for a living.