Banking Blog

Why we need Home Insurance?

House is the most valuable thing for most of the people. Regardless of how you maintain your house and how secure is your location, we need Home insurance to protect home and belongings from theft, damage and natural disasters.

Water damage is more common in BC due to mistakes such as overflowing tub or broken pipe due to poor quality materials used. Sometimes water damage can be caused by sprinkler due to fire or accidental damage. Home repairs and fixing water damage is often expensive and would be impossible without home insurance.

While some lenders approve a mortgage on the condition that you get home insurance, getting home insurance in Canada is optional.

There are three types of home insurance based on whether you own condo, house or renting. Insurance, while you are renting, is usually called Tenant Insurance.

Condominium Owners insurance:

If you own Condo, Structural, Fire, Flood and Earthquake damage is usually covered by Strata insurance., However all most all Strata insurance will have a huge deductible in the event it originates from your unit, which you will be paying from your pocket. Taking Condo Owners insurance covers you against these deductibles.

It is also better to take liability insurance 2-4 times of your unit’s worth, in case fire/water from your unit damages Units adjacent to and beneath your unit. In addition to Insurance for Fire/water, you can also take additional insurance for contents such as appliances, personal possessions and Jewelry against theft and damages.

You need to get your Condo owners insurance even if you rent your unit and Tenant have their Tenant insurance.

Often, it is better to obtain a Strata insurance document from your Strata corporation and send it to your home insurance company to get adequate coverage.

Home Insurance:

If you own individual Home, You wouldn’t have Strata and will need to take a comprehensive Home insurance policy that covers everything from Structural, Earthquake, Flood to Fire/Water damage.

Tenant Insurance

If you are renting, Structural, Flood and Earthquake insurance is covered by your landlord and You should get tenant insurance to cover Water/Fire damages caused by your negligence. You can also take additional insurance for belongings such as appliances, personal possessions and Jewelry against theft and damages.

While applying for insurance, regardless of its type, it is important to disclose accurate information such as the number of people living in the unit, whether it is used for business and if you store any hazardous/inflammable materials in your place.

Square One Insurance

I use Square One insurance, As I often try to save on the cost by skipping the middleman and prefer applying on my own online for all the financial products and insurance.

Signup for Home/Tenant Insurance