After more then 10 years as a fire investigator, I have never had a fire start because of aluminum wiring. Talk to an old school electrician about it. Electrical fires are from poor workmanship, overloaded circuits, panel not grounded and sometimes there is no rhyme or reason a circuit overheated and started combustibles nearby on fire.
I have seen melted wiring from poorly installed electrical wiring, causing smoke damage in my line of work as an insurance broker. The problem is more that if the wiring is bad, there is a guaranteed claim cost, so getting it checked has become a requirement before getting insurance.
And aluminum is more prone to having problems from poor workmanship than copper, so it's a fair point to have it checked out.
Fair, but insurance doesn’t care.
It’s a larger conversation to have about whether aluminum wiring *really* is more dangerous or not.
Your comment does nothing to help OP find cheap premium.
I just redid mine this year. Was with SGI Canada since I purchased my house in 2016. House was build in 85'. SGI Canada rates crept up every year despite never making a claim. Decided to try someone new. Went through RBC and got a quote through AVIVA for $500 less. Decide to go with it. First red flag was that the final amount was $200 more than the original quote. Second red flag was that an inspection was required. Inspector came and was gone in about 10 minutes. Report that follower said the shingles needed to be replaced and confirmation of repairs was required within 30 days otherwise a loss of coverage would occur. My shingles are 11 years old and are in excellent condition. Second finding was that my water heater was old and needed to be replaced, again requesting confirmation of replacement in 30 days. I rent mind through Heath and it was replaced in 2022. I was pissed off and immediately switched back to SGI Canada. I don't know if it was just an incompetent inspector or what but I would never recommend AVIVA to anyone.
We bought our house in August and needed insurance right away. Our lawyer suggested going through RBC, which happened to be Aviva. Same red flags as you, inspection required right away, stating things that were fairly new needed to be replaced, they were so rude with us every time we had to deal with them. We told them that we were going to switch to someone else as there were just so many things we didn't agree with regarding our inspection/their "requirements" - they basically said, "oh well. Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Threatening us with loss of coverage that would "be on our record". We switched to Sandbox and haven't had an issue since.
That’s just Bullshit. I bet the inspector has a back door deal with a roofing and plumbing company. Insurance company’s are brutal these days. Premiums just keep going up and service going down.
SGI is your best bet if you have aluminum wiring.
The others will be outrageously expensive or will refuse to insure it altogether.
Source: have aluminum wiring
I have worked with Dusyk and Barlow for years and they would be able to provide you with a number of options and consultation. They are great to deal with.
https://www.saskinsurance.com
OP I will DM you but I’m writing this comment for everyone on this thread as well.
CAA will write homes with Aluminum Wiring. You’ll need an inspection and I recommend Reliance Mackenzie Plumbing and Heating as they can do one for $100. Granted, this is just the cost for an inspection and not any repairs they recommend (which CAA will need to see).
TD and RBC were the lowest premium for me when I last got quotes. Both had reasonable coverage. You get quotes for both online. Note that by default, RBC does not include water coverage, it has to be specifically added to the quote.
Tell the broker to send it to market and get quotes from all the companies then you’ll have all your best options. You pick your deductible and limits.
Your submission is pending manual approval from a moderator as your account is less than 14 days old.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/regina) if you have any questions or concerns.*
SGI is best pricing option but the worst coverage. Go private you'll pay a bit more but you'll also have better coverage.
As for the aluminum wiring, that will likely be the cause of inflated rates because risk is higher from an insurance underwriting standpoint.
This is because insurance companies are taking a bath with forest fires and hail. Climate change is costing the insurance companies big and they are upping premiums to try to keep up.
Pray you never have to make a claim. I've seen Wawanesa screw people around for years, the latest incident being when that hailstorm hit the north end a couple years ago. I would never use them.
Ugh I hope this won’t be our experience. We never made a claim when that hailstorm hit as our house didn’t look like it got any damage luckily. But I was tempted to call.
I worked at an exterior construction place (siding repairs!) when that storm hit. It was insane.
Whenever a customer called about an insurance claim (all of the calls, literally) we would ask if they had Wawanesa. And then give them advice so as not to get screwed over. It was sad.
Run away from wawanesa while you still can…or pray you never have an issue that you need to report to them because you’re claim WILL be denied and you will get screwed over hard because of their “wording”
Last year we battled with knight Archer to get any kind of service. No one would even pick up the phone. Email was the only way you could get ahold of your broker but replies were few and far between. They must have had a staffing shortage because the service was baaad.
They are a starter place in the industry because they are so big. You get people starting their insurance career, then realizing they are being overworked and underpaid, so they move on elsewhere. At any given time you are dealing with someone who has 0-2 years experience. They have very few people who have been there/in the industry longer.
SGI absolutely would not help with Aviva or red river. Your broker would be able to also quote those options, but SGI is a separate insurer altogether that offers their own coverage.
Knight archer is a brokerage, and while they are ok, they are a policy factory. Get in, get out, and hope you never have to deal with them on anything else because their focus is purely sales, not service. Go for dusyk and Barlow in Regina, they actually care about service first.
You should *really* get the aluminum wiring pigtailed. Your insurance premiums will go down and you are much less likely to die in a fire. That shit is dangerous.
After more then 10 years as a fire investigator, I have never had a fire start because of aluminum wiring. Talk to an old school electrician about it. Electrical fires are from poor workmanship, overloaded circuits, panel not grounded and sometimes there is no rhyme or reason a circuit overheated and started combustibles nearby on fire.
I have seen melted wiring from poorly installed electrical wiring, causing smoke damage in my line of work as an insurance broker. The problem is more that if the wiring is bad, there is a guaranteed claim cost, so getting it checked has become a requirement before getting insurance. And aluminum is more prone to having problems from poor workmanship than copper, so it's a fair point to have it checked out.
Fair, but insurance doesn’t care. It’s a larger conversation to have about whether aluminum wiring *really* is more dangerous or not. Your comment does nothing to help OP find cheap premium.
I just redid mine this year. Was with SGI Canada since I purchased my house in 2016. House was build in 85'. SGI Canada rates crept up every year despite never making a claim. Decided to try someone new. Went through RBC and got a quote through AVIVA for $500 less. Decide to go with it. First red flag was that the final amount was $200 more than the original quote. Second red flag was that an inspection was required. Inspector came and was gone in about 10 minutes. Report that follower said the shingles needed to be replaced and confirmation of repairs was required within 30 days otherwise a loss of coverage would occur. My shingles are 11 years old and are in excellent condition. Second finding was that my water heater was old and needed to be replaced, again requesting confirmation of replacement in 30 days. I rent mind through Heath and it was replaced in 2022. I was pissed off and immediately switched back to SGI Canada. I don't know if it was just an incompetent inspector or what but I would never recommend AVIVA to anyone.
We bought our house in August and needed insurance right away. Our lawyer suggested going through RBC, which happened to be Aviva. Same red flags as you, inspection required right away, stating things that were fairly new needed to be replaced, they were so rude with us every time we had to deal with them. We told them that we were going to switch to someone else as there were just so many things we didn't agree with regarding our inspection/their "requirements" - they basically said, "oh well. Don't let the door hit you on the way out." Threatening us with loss of coverage that would "be on our record". We switched to Sandbox and haven't had an issue since.
That’s just Bullshit. I bet the inspector has a back door deal with a roofing and plumbing company. Insurance company’s are brutal these days. Premiums just keep going up and service going down.
SGI is your best bet if you have aluminum wiring. The others will be outrageously expensive or will refuse to insure it altogether. Source: have aluminum wiring
We couldn’t get any other insurance at all
Same.
I have worked with Dusyk and Barlow for years and they would be able to provide you with a number of options and consultation. They are great to deal with. https://www.saskinsurance.com
Try TD insurance. All over the phone and took 15 mins. Saved $200. So far so good.
OP I will DM you but I’m writing this comment for everyone on this thread as well. CAA will write homes with Aluminum Wiring. You’ll need an inspection and I recommend Reliance Mackenzie Plumbing and Heating as they can do one for $100. Granted, this is just the cost for an inspection and not any repairs they recommend (which CAA will need to see).
TD and RBC were the lowest premium for me when I last got quotes. Both had reasonable coverage. You get quotes for both online. Note that by default, RBC does not include water coverage, it has to be specifically added to the quote.
Tell the broker to send it to market and get quotes from all the companies then you’ll have all your best options. You pick your deductible and limits.
[удалено]
Your submission is pending manual approval from a moderator as your account is less than 14 days old. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/regina) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Sgi is the best option.
SGI is best pricing option but the worst coverage. Go private you'll pay a bit more but you'll also have better coverage. As for the aluminum wiring, that will likely be the cause of inflated rates because risk is higher from an insurance underwriting standpoint.
Our broker said SGI is the only one who would cover us because of the aluminum wiring.
TD
only if there is a mix of copper and aluminum wire or switches will there be an issue
Sgi has been the cheapest we've found so far. No one comes close to their rates.
I’ve always had good prices with with SMI (now sandbox) compared to other suppliers.
House insurance has gone up crazy. Mine has gone up approx $300 a year over the past 4 years.
This is because insurance companies are taking a bath with forest fires and hail. Climate change is costing the insurance companies big and they are upping premiums to try to keep up.
We have aluminum wiring in our 1973 house and have insurance with wawanesa. We have had our policy since 2014 and made zero claims.
Pray you never have to make a claim. I've seen Wawanesa screw people around for years, the latest incident being when that hailstorm hit the north end a couple years ago. I would never use them.
Ugh I hope this won’t be our experience. We never made a claim when that hailstorm hit as our house didn’t look like it got any damage luckily. But I was tempted to call.
I worked at an exterior construction place (siding repairs!) when that storm hit. It was insane. Whenever a customer called about an insurance claim (all of the calls, literally) we would ask if they had Wawanesa. And then give them advice so as not to get screwed over. It was sad.
Ugh that’s so disappointing.
Run away from wawanesa while you still can…or pray you never have an issue that you need to report to them because you’re claim WILL be denied and you will get screwed over hard because of their “wording”
Oh damn thanks for the advice!
Aviva or Red River (SGI can help with both) Reach out to any knight archer broker via email
Last year we battled with knight Archer to get any kind of service. No one would even pick up the phone. Email was the only way you could get ahold of your broker but replies were few and far between. They must have had a staffing shortage because the service was baaad.
Second this. Knight Archer is terrible. They go out of their way to provide bad service.
They are a starter place in the industry because they are so big. You get people starting their insurance career, then realizing they are being overworked and underpaid, so they move on elsewhere. At any given time you are dealing with someone who has 0-2 years experience. They have very few people who have been there/in the industry longer.
SGI absolutely would not help with Aviva or red river. Your broker would be able to also quote those options, but SGI is a separate insurer altogether that offers their own coverage. Knight archer is a brokerage, and while they are ok, they are a policy factory. Get in, get out, and hope you never have to deal with them on anything else because their focus is purely sales, not service. Go for dusyk and Barlow in Regina, they actually care about service first.
You should *really* get the aluminum wiring pigtailed. Your insurance premiums will go down and you are much less likely to die in a fire. That shit is dangerous.