Thanks guys, I wouldn't put anything past the insurance companies.
Maybe they will pay, maybe they won't but I'm not really willing to
take the chance. It never hurts to have a second pair of eyes.
However, I wonder how someone would be able to tell the difference
between a newly installed charcoaled electrical addition and an old
charcoaled electrical addition. They would have to send a super
inspector at the time I bought the house to check if every wire burried
behind drywall is up to code. My insurance company basically sent
someone over to check that the property really exsisted and to check
the distance to the nearest fire hydrant.


Recently Romex wire changed the sheath color depending on the wire
gauge. So if you were in a ten year old house full of standard ol'
white Romex cables and one pretty new yellow romex cable burned down
the house they have a clue where to start looking. Also if they find
anything you did without permit it sets precedent that you do
electrical work in your home and don't necessarily get a permit. I've
seen an insurance company use this logic in court on a case where a
large plant was destroyed by fire.

Even with that said I have never heard a verifiable case of homeowners
insurance denying coverage for even a stupid mistake.

Steve B.