My parents need to have a dedicated outlet put in the kitchen. If someone who was experienced with electrical work but not licensed performed the work and there was an unrelated fire down the line could the insurance agency use that to deny coverage.
Note-This is hypothetical there has been no fire.
Perhaps, although I doubt it. *
I’ve never seen a homeowner’s policy that required all service work be only done by licensed tradesmen. In fact, I’ve never seen that addressed at all in a policy; the insurance contract is silent on the matter.
On the other hand, it is common for insurance companies to sue companies and individuals to recover monies they paid out in claims.
In the adjuster------or a 3rd party fire investigator**----- though that work by an electrician caused the fire, you can expect them to sue if the claim is a large one.
Also, if the local jurisdiction is involved, they may pursue criminal charges for operating without a license, insurance etc.
So, in short, the insurance company would likely pay the claim, and there would be some risk that the electrician may have a civil suit filed by the insurance company, and criminal charges by the city. (especially if someone was hurt or killed)
(* I am a licensed contractor, with an Electrical license)
(** Insurance companies will use “Forensic Fire Investigators” fairly regularly, in part because many people set their own houses on fire for insurance reasons)
ETA: Adding a dedicated circuit is a minor service issue. Really minor.
If you had a fire, the adjuster wouldn’t even ask about whether you had unlicensed electricians work on the house. It just wouldn’t come up.
In your scenario, if the fire was clearly 100% unrelated, and the homeowner kept their mouth shut, it would be a non-issue.
Even if your parents ran their mouth, the insurance company would likely still pay the claim, and perhaps they would want to sue the electrician later.
My thoughts however: Read your homeowners policy. It will state your rights, and if the insurance company has any “exclusions” it will be in the policy.
Sure they could. If any electrical fire occurred in the house and they were aware you were allowing an unlicensed person or had any electrical work done without a permit, they could easily make a claim to deny coverage. In residential instances the insurance companies usually aren’t going to press the matter unless they have pretty substantial proof negligence was the cause.
Things like replacing a light fixture or hanging a ceiling fan fall into work that should only be done by a licensed electrician. These things are regularly done by unlicensed homeowners(in some states a home owner is considered licensed for the purposes of their own home).
Even as an electrician adding for an outlet requires I pull a permit/get an inspection to make the installation legitimate. For small jobs like that I explain the cost of the permit and allow the customer to decide if they want it pulled or not. In most cases they choose not. A dedicated outlet would cost 70-150 dollars and adding 50-70 bucks to that is just not enough for peace of mind. Most electricians operate similar in my area. Inspectors don’t care about that type of activity. If you do something noticeable like add an addition they tend to be a lot more concerned if no permits are pulled.
Deny on what basis?
Every single day people do silly things—including DIY stuff. If it’s not in the insurance contract, there is no basis to deny.
There may be a basis to sue [the electrician, not the policy holder], but not to deny the claim.
And pulling a permit to add an outlet?? The other thing I don’t quite get is giving the homeowner the choice in the matter. That baffles me.
It’s your license. It’s your liability. If a homeowner chooses to not get a permit/inspection there is nothing in that choice that will protect you or limit your [potential] liability.
In fact, if the city found out later and had an issue with you, (and I’m hard pressed to think adding an outlet would cause that) telling the city “the homeowner said “no permit”” would gain you nothing.
If in your view that job requires a permit/inspection, that’s your decision. I would never let a homeowner make decisions about my livelihood.
Deny on the basis of the home owner intentionally bringing someone in to start an electrical fire. If they believe/can prove the negligence was sufficient to confirm this they could make that case.
If I believe the job should require a permit/inspection the customer gets no choice in the matter. For jobs that I normally wouldn’t myself, that I give them the option. Legally it does gain me nothing. Business wise I like to be honest with my customers and not deny them data they in my opinion are entitled to.
That’s what I thought. I have some friends who have worked for their relatives who are licensed electricians. My friends have done work on their own house and there has never been a problem.
My parents want to redo their kitchen and put in an above the oven microwave. The cabinet people say it needs to have a dedicated outlet.
The electrician wants to run a pvc pipe outside the house to the garage where the circuit breakers are located.
My friends say they will run the wire through the attic to a closet then the garage. I prefer this route because it looks cleaner.
These are 2 entirely different things. “Intentionally” bringing someone in to start a fire is arson and insurance fraud.
The second, negligence, is what insurance is for! The insurance company will still pay the claim and perhaps sue the electrician to recover the claim.
Well, I respectfully, disagree. If the job requires a permit, than it is the contractors decision to make.
Either the job requires a permit or not! If in your estimation it doesn’t, than it doesn’t, and the homeowner isn’t qualified to know otherwise.
In 20 years I’ve never seen a contractor gain trust with this method. Time and again I’ve seen homeowners see this question as an attempt to avoid something necessary. In my experience, it doesn’t add trust, it makes the contractor look suspicious or unprofessional; like they’re trying to enlist the customer to avoid doing something they should be doing. In many, many cases the homeowner figured the contractor wasn’t licensed and was *unable *to pull a permit.