Insurance Companies and Electrical Inspections

[San -Brooke]

This puzzles me and I am hoping someone could enlighten me.Different States have different policies for Electrical Inspections. Whether it is how local inspectors are chosen. How many per jurisdiction, do they work for government or are they a private company delegated by a municipality, etc…

My question is why aren’t insurance companies involved in this process. It seems that it would be in their best interest to have stringent guidelines on electrical installation considering that there is probably a very high cost annually for faulty and improper installations.

One of the problems we have in my state is the inconsistency with inspections. Some counties have one private inspector who is appointed by the county judge executive and handles maybe one or two counties and works as a private company and gives a small percentage of his fees to the county. Other counties are open counties and contractors can choose any state certified electrical inspector to do his inspection. Another scenario is certain countieswhere the county judge executive has appointed numerous people to do electrical inspections and they compete against each other to get the inspections.

Many of these policies in my opinion run contrary to what the position is specifically designed for which is the protection of life and property. I am no large fan of Insurance companies but in this situation it seems that they would be in the position to get legislation implemented to ensure consistency and credibility to the process.

 

[mgookin]

Politicians at the local level get lots of campaign donations from the development industry and developers want whatever makes things easier on them. Absent any state requirements, it's not likely to change.

 

[petersonra]

Insurance companies are quite capable of not insuring risks if they see them as excessive.

My understanding is that at least one insurance company has stopped giving HO insurance to owners of certain breeds of dogs due to the huge number of liability cases they generate.

 

[San -Brooke]

Politicians at the local level get lots of campaign donations from the development industry and developers want whatever makes things easier on them. Absent any state requirements, it's not likely to change.

Yes, but don't insurance companies have lobbyists, political campaign funds and influence? With their deep coffers wouldn't you think that something that in my opinion would be in the best interest of their bottom line would be pursued? Don't they have just as much political clout as does developers?

 

[mgookin]

Yes, but don't insurance companies have lobbyists, political campaign funds and influence? With their deep coffers wouldn't you think that something that in my opinion would be in the best interest of their bottom line would be pursued? Don't they have just as much political clout as does developers?

Yes, they have more clout. But that clout accrues on the state level. Once (or if) you get a state building code or stringent enough state regulations to regulate the inspections industry, it will come. I believe Florida was first to require an inspector to have a professional license issued through the state and that was a result of a grand jury indictment of the Miami-Dade building department following Hurricane Andrew which was 1992. Licensing requirement came into effect in 1993-1994. It was since relaxed to allow private providers (non-government inspector for hire) lobbied for by, you guess it, the development industry.

 

[Jraef]

Yes, but don't insurance companies have lobbyists, political campaign funds and influence? With their deep coffers wouldn't you think that something that in my opinion would be in the best interest of their bottom line would be pursued? Don't they have just as much political clout as does developers?

No need to from their perspective. All they need do is to put a clause somewhere in the fine print of the policy that states they can render the coverage null and void if there is a claim for a loss that can be tied to an unapproved installation or code violation. Most people don't realize that when they do their own installations or repairs. So this way, the insurance companies only have to pay for an inspector IF there is a claim, and even then only IF they think it worth pursuing. My cousin is an inspector for Allstate, he said he only gets called in if the claim is over $100k and even then not all the time, for instance when the cause is something obviously not the fault of the policyholder like a fire spreading from next door.

By the when he does get called, his JOB is to find some way for them to get out of paying. Keep that in mind.

 

[augie47]

San-Brooke: I do find it surprising that the insurance companies are not more involved. In our State, the inspectors actually work for the Department of Commerce and Insurance and yet I very rarely find that the insurance companies request any proof of electrical inspections on remodels or additions.
Likewise they seldom ask for any inspection information on new structures but there an inspection is required before allowing power.

 

[Jraef]

San-Brooke: I do find it surprising that the insurance companies are not more involved. In our State, the inspectors actually work for the Department of Commerce and Insurance and yet I very rarely find that the insurance companies request any proof of electrical inspections on remodels or additions.
Likewise they seldom ask for any inspection information on new structures but there an inspection is required before allowing power.

In my state, the only time anyone asks are 1) if an inspector drives by and sees work in progress, and 2) when you go to sell your house. During escrow, there is a disclosure document you must sign that asks specifically if all remodels, additions and major repairs were done with permits and inspected. If you say yes and someting happens later, then the insurance adjuster discovers that you lied, they come after you.

 

[cowboyjwc]

Here in CA, inspectors have to be certified. There is a group that sends out a questioneer every few years as to the training, time as an inspector, etc. and then reports to the insurance companies. Depending on the answers will usually dictate the homeowners insureance rates in that area.

 

[RICK NAPIER]

Here in CA, inspectors have to be certified. There is a group that sends out a questioneer every few years as to the training, time as an inspector, etc. and then reports to the insurance companies. Depending on the answers will usually dictate the homeowners insureance rates in that area.

Same here in NJ

 

[San -Brooke]

In our State we desperately need uniformity, I apologize for not disclosing which one. But here are the variations depending on County that we have.
1) We have larger municipalities that hire electrical inspectors and have a code enforcement department that handles inspections and fees. These are for the most part effective since they as a whole ensure proper and safe installations
2) We have larger municipalities that hire a private contractor that provides inspections and hire inspectors to work for them. Sometimes however some of these companies seem to switch inspectors around for re-inspections and it appears to be a "Run up the inspection fee" game.
3) We have one inspector per county or this one inspector does one or more counties but has the one and only say on what passes or fails and is appointed by the county judge executive. The inspector works as a private contractor and gives a percentage of inspection fees to the county.
4) We have numerous inspectors all approved to do electrical inspections by the county judge executive and work independently of one another, so all these inspectors are competing against one another and a contractor for the most part can select which one he wants for inspection.
5) Lastly then there are open counties where any state certified inspector can do the inspection.