What Your Insurance Company Knows About Gas Safety—Why It Matters to You

Water damage gets most of the insurance attention, but your gas plumbing carries its own serious implications. While your home is less likely to experience a gas-related claim issue than water damage, gas-related claims tend to be catastrophic when they occur—fires, explosions, and carbon monoxide incidents.

Your insurance company understands these risks. They assess your gas infrastructure during inspections, may require safety upgrades, and can deny claims when preventable hazards weren’t addressed. In earthquake-prone California, seismic gas safety adds another layer of consideration.

Understanding what your insurer looks for helps you protect both your home and your coverage.

Why Your Insurer Cares About Gas Safety

From an underwriting perspective, gas represents concentrated risk:

• Fire and explosion — A single gas leak can destroy your entire home
• Carbon monoxide — Improper venting creates liability exposure
• Post-earthquake fires — Gas leaks cause many fires after seismic events
• Total loss potential — Gas incidents often result in complete property loss

The numbers are stark: while water damage claims are common and manageable, gas-related claims—though rare—frequently result in total losses or fatalities. Your insurer prices and underwrites accordingly.

Your Flexible Gas Connectors

The flexible lines connecting your gas appliances to supply pipes have evolved significantly:

• Old uncoated brass connectors (pre-1990s) — Prone to stress cracking and sudden failure. These are a serious red flag your insurer will note during inspections.
• Older corrugated stainless steel (CSST) without bonding — Early CSST installations without proper electrical bonding can be damaged by lightning strikes.
• Modern coated connectors — Current standard, much safer.

If your home has older gas appliances that haven’t been replaced or serviced in decades, your connectors may be original—and potentially dangerous.

Your Gas Appliance Venting

Improper venting creates two risks your insurer cares about:

• Carbon monoxide poisoning — Liability exposure from injury or death
• Fire hazard — Combustion gases igniting nearby materials

What should be properly configured in your home:

• Your water heater flue connected and rising to exterior
• Your furnace venting intact with no disconnections
• Your gas dryer vented to outside (not into garage or attic)
• No visible corrosion, holes, or separations in your vent pipes

Your Gas Shutoff Accessibility

Just like water shutoffs, your gas shutoff needs to be:

• Locatable by everyone in your household
• Accessible without moving obstacles
• Functional (not seized or corroded)

In an emergency—earthquake, smell of gas, appliance malfunction—seconds matter. Your insurer expects that you can quickly stop gas flow to your home.

Know where your meter shutoff is and keep an appropriate wrench nearby.

Signs of Gas Issues in Your Home

During inspections, insurers look for signs of problems:

• Gas odor near your appliances or meter
• Soot or discoloration around your gas appliances
• Yellow or orange burner flames (should be blue)
• Hissing sounds near your gas lines
• Dead vegetation near underground gas lines

Any of these signs suggest active problems that need your immediate attention.

What Many California Jurisdictions Require

While there’s no statewide mandate, many local jurisdictions require specific gas safety measures:

• Flexible gas connectors — Rigid connections can crack during seismic movement
• Automatic gas shutoff valves — Devices that close your gas supply when they detect earthquake motion
• Proper appliance strapping — Particularly for your water heater

These requirements apply to new construction and major renovations. If your home is older, you may not be required to retrofit, but the protection is still valuable.

Seismic Gas Shutoff Valves

These devices automatically close your gas supply when they detect earthquake motion:

• Install at your gas meter
• Activate at approximately 5.4 magnitude or greater
• Require manual reset after activation
• Prevent gas from flowing through damaged lines in your home

After a seismic event, these devices can prevent the gas leaks that often cause post-earthquake fires.

How This Affects Your Insurance

Some insurers in earthquake-prone areas:

• Offer you discounts for automatic seismic gas shutoffs
• May require them for certain coverage levels
• Consider them favorably when underwriting your policy

The discount may not fully offset your installation cost, but the protection value extends beyond insurance savings.

Cost: Seismic gas shutoff valves run $200-$400 installed.

After an Earthquake

If you don’t have an automatic shutoff and experience an earthquake:

1. Check for gas odor or hissing sounds in your home
2. If you smell gas, leave immediately and call 911
3. If no smell, you can manually shut off gas at your meter as a precaution
4. Have a professional inspect before turning your gas back on

Manual shutoff requires a wrench and knowledge of your meter location—prepare in advance.

Your Tank’s Condition

Propane tanks have specific requirements:

• Condition and age — Rust, damage, or tanks past their recertification date
• Placement — Proper distance from structures, ignition sources, and property lines
• Foundation — Stable, level placement
• Accessibility — For filling and emergency shutoff

Your tank is typically owned by the propane supplier and maintained to their standards, but you’re responsible for the lines from tank to your home.

Your Lines and Regulators

The components connecting your tank to your appliances matter:

• First-stage regulator — At the tank, reduces pressure for the supply line
• Second-stage regulator — Near your home, reduces to appliance pressure
• Supply lines — Underground lines properly protected, above-ground lines secured
• Connections — No corrosion, damage, or leaks

If You’re in a Rural Fire Zone

In fire-prone rural areas, your propane system receives extra scrutiny:

• Your tank placement relative to vegetation and structures
• Defensible space around your tank and lines
• Emergency shutoff accessibility
• Overall system condition

Propane system issues can affect both your insurance availability and your premiums in areas already challenged by wildfire risk.

Maintenance Your System Needs

Your propane system needs regular attention:

• Annual regulator inspection
• Leak testing of connections
• Line inspection for damage or corrosion
• Tank recertification (typically every 10-12 years)

Documentation of maintenance can support your insurance applications and claims.

How They Work

Combustible gas detectors:

• Sense gas accumulation in the air
• Alarm before concentrations reach dangerous levels
• Some models can trigger automatic shutoffs
• Battery or hardwired options available

They serve a similar function to smoke detectors—early warning that lets you respond before disaster.

Where to Install Them

Install detectors:

• Near your gas appliances (water heater, furnace, stove)
• In rooms with gas fireplaces
• Near your gas meter or entry point
• Follow manufacturer height recommendations (natural gas rises, propane sinks)

How This Affects Your Insurance

While not universally required, gas detectors:

• Are inexpensive ($30-$80)
• May contribute to small discounts for comprehensive detection systems
• Demonstrate responsible risk management to your insurer
• Can prevent catastrophic losses

Some insurers offer bundled discounts if you have smoke, CO, and combustible gas detection.

Carbon Monoxide Detectors

CO detectors are legally required in California homes with gas appliances. They detect the odorless, colorless gas produced by incomplete combustion:

• Required near your sleeping areas
• Should be on every level of your home
• Replace according to manufacturer guidelines (typically 5-7 years)

CO detector requirements are separate from combustible gas detection—you need both.

Your Gas Shutoff and Access

• Can you locate your gas shutoff at the meter?
• Do you have an appropriate wrench nearby?
• Does everyone in your household know the location?
• Is your shutoff accessible (not blocked)?

Your Appliances and Connectors

• Are your flexible connectors modern (not old brass)?
• Is your water heater flue properly connected?
• Is your furnace venting intact?
• Is your gas dryer vented to exterior?
• Are your burner flames blue (not yellow/orange)?

Your Safety Devices

• Seismic gas shutoff installed (California)?
• CO detectors installed and current?
• Combustible gas detectors installed?

Your Propane System (if applicable)

• Is your tank in good condition?
• Proper clearance from structures?
• Are your regulators functioning properly?
• Are your lines protected and secured?
• No gas odor near your tank or lines?