Shenandoah Mutual Fire Insurance Company
Carrier website links, underwriting access points, mapped product lines, and appetite notes in one place.
This appetite summary is only a guide. Confirm eligibility, submission requirements, restrictions, and binding authority directly with the carrier or underwriter before relying on it.
Carrier appetite summary
Verified official underwriting guidance remains published in the February 2022 Underwriting Guidelines PDF. Core appetite is personal lines property in Shenandoah Mutual’s Virginia writing area, with website emphasis on farm and home risks and service through local agents. For Homeowners, preferred submissions are standard owner-occupied dwellings that fit the program and can support replacement cost with required photos and documentation. Company approval is required before binding for: prior cancellation/nonrenewal by another carrier; outbuildings, farm buildings, or mobile homes with woodstoves; noncompliant or homemade woodstoves; outdoor wood furnaces within 50 feet of a combustible structure; unfenced pools; limited fire department access; low-water or privately maintained bridge access; mobile homes over 20 years old on MHO; total limits above $1,950,000 (reinsurance approval, usually 24 hours); tenant-occupied properties allowing wood/pellet stoves; exotic animals; any business activity in the home; elevated decks/porches/steps without railings; prior nonpay cancellation by Shenandoah Mutual; unusual structures such as tree houses, plastic-exterior greenhouses, and trampolines that are not tied down and netted; secondary homeowners; polybutylene/Quest plumbing; knob-and-tube or aluminum wiring; lapse in insurance over 30 days; vacant or occasionally occupied properties without supporting business; any single prior claim over $10,000; unrepaired prior-loss damage; stucco or asbestos siding; and underground oil tanks. Not eligible: zip lines; undetermined ownership; property outside Shenandoah Mutual’s Virginia writing area; risks outside program requirements; prior dog bite exposure where the animal remains on premises; home-sharing exposures such as Airbnb or Vrbo; corporate-owned risks; woodstoves in attached garages; homeowner acting as general contractor; and clients convicted of arson. New business requirements: photos of front, back, and roof of dwellings, outbuildings, woodstoves, and unusual structures/pool fencing/trampolines; woodstove inspection report; auto declarations page if requesting auto discount; and a Replacement Cost Estimator for Homeowners, MHO with replacement cost, and FL-2/FL-3 when insuring a dwelling. Website producer-facing notes are limited, but business appears to be distributed through appointed/local agents, with an online agent locator and resource forms including Statement of No Loss, change/cancellation, woodstove questionnaire, and firearms questionnaire. The site also indicates the landlord/rental program can handle some non-HO risks such as occasional, unoccupied or vacant property, seasonal or secondary properties, dwellings under construction, and homes not on a continuous mortared foundation, suggesting placement alternatives when a risk is not suitable for standard Homeowners.