If your Chimney Catches Fire will Your Insurance Company Pay out?

As it was starting to get a little cooler we recently had our woodburners chimney swept. It took Pete Ghinis from Pete's Flues and Flies about half an hour and he charged what I thought was a very reasonable $65.00

Pete made an interesting comment - "Make sure you keep the invoice for your insurance." When I questioned him what he meant he said that a fire insurance assessor had told him that most insurance companies require you to have your chimney swept every year, that it is actually written into some fire and general house insurance policies.

I haven't checked but it does seem reasonable that if your house catches fire and it turns out it was caused by a chimney fire the insurance company may have a legitimate reason to refuse your claim.

We will be getting our chimney swept every year without fail from now on. Aside from helping our fire burn well, it will help prevent our house burning down and ensure the insurance company can't use that as an excuse not to pay out if the chimney does catch fire.

Chim Chim Cher-Ee lyrics from the film Mary Poppins:

Chim, chimney
Chim, chimney
Chim, chim, cher-ee
A sweep is as lucky
As lucky can be