Home Insurance in Toronto

Toronto has approximately 3 million residents, all of them living in different sorts of dwellings, including townhouses, condos, etc. Each of these residents tried so hard and saved their money to finally buy a house. Such a valuable investment worth a good care. So, it is important to know everything about home insurance in Toronto.

Car insurance is compulsory by law in Toronto, but home insurance is not. The fact is in most cases you have to do that, because for example some mortgage lenders will not consider your request unless you provide home insurance documents. A professional Toronto real estate agent can also help you to find the best insurance company and policy.

Before you choose your insurance company, you should know that different factors may affect the average cost of your home insurance in Toronto. These factors include the location of your house, the rebuild costs, vicinity to hydrants, and alarm systems or sometimes the market value of your house.

Generally, your home value in the Toronto real estate market can help you approximately evaluate the costs of home insurance. In fact, you should consider the home’s rebuild value. Because in case a fire burns your house down, the property still belongs to you. So the important cost would be the rebuild value.

Therefore, you have to pay more home insurance for a bigger or more expensive house. Because the bigger and more expensive your house is, the more expensive it will be to rebuild it and the more elements should be covered by insurance.

In Toronto, the average cost for annual home insurance is $1200 for homeowners. This average amount is about $250 per year for tenants. Also the annual cost of insurance for condo owners is about $350 per year. Although, many factors affect the rate of your home insurance such as, the crime rate in the neighborhood and climate status.

Recently, due to the climate changes and increasing demands for condo insurance, we observed an increase in insurance rates. The serious effect of global warming on home insurance rates is so obvious, because of the increasing incidence of storms, floods and hail storms.

Important factors affecting the home insurance costs

The most important factors affecting the total cost of your home insurance include:

• City or neighbourhood
• Age of your house
• Age and condition of your roof
• Electrical installation system
• Plumbing and piping system
• Installed alarm system
• Your claims history

Items covered by home insurance in Toronto

The most general things covered by home insurance in Toronto include (check these in your policy):

• Personal items such as furniture, appliances, or electronic devices
• Extra expenses for living in some unusual cases, like relocating for a while
• Personal liability (if someone gets injured on your property or your house damaged neighboring houses).

The main hazards covered by home insurance in Toronto include:

• Robbery
• Fire
• Electrical damage
• Water damage
• Smoke damage
• Explosion
• Broken windows
• Vandalism
• Natural disasters (lightning, flood, wind and hail)
• Falling objects

Different types of home insurance in Toronto

There are three general kinds of home insurance, which are homeowners insurance, condo insurance and tenant insurance. But there are functionally four types of insurance coverage and policy for homeowners in Toronto, including:

• Comprehensive insurance- This policy covers the whole package of your home’s structure and everything inside against every loss and disasters.
• Basic insurance – This policy covers your house and personal property against just a specific list of perils mentioned in the policy.
• Broad insurance- This policy covers all the losses or damages to your property resulted from every peril unless not named in the policy. It also covers robbery, vandalism, falling objects or damages from the weight of ice and snow.
• No-Frills insurance- This policy includes very basic items. It may cover the whole repair costs for your property, but does not cover your extra costs for staying at a hotel during a natural disaster, for example. It does not normally meet the insurance standards.

Risks not covered by home insurance in Toronto

Bad news is that Toronto home insurance doesn’t cover everything. The insurance companies mostly do not cover these cases:

• Running a home business
• Vacant homes
• Earthquake
• Sewer backup
• Overland flooding
• Mudflows
• Frozen water pipes
• Pollution
• Pest damage (e.g. ants, termites, moths and other pests)

However in some cases, you can purchase some of the above mentioned items like sewer backup, flooding resulted from overland water and earthquake as an additional coverage policy.

The items not covered by condo insurance include:

• Earthquakes and mudflow
• Water damage caused by flood or underground water.
• Deterioration or contamination damage
• Damages caused by birds, rodents, insects, or any kind of pets.
• Running a home business

Best home insurance companies in Toronto

First of all, there is not one perfect approach for everyone to choose the best insurance company. The rates are almost different, so maybe it does not fit for all the customers.

Therefore, an ideal insurance for one property may not be the perfect for another. You should consider all the items you need based on your personal budget to be covered by the insurance company. The depth of insurance coverage can be completely different considering the type of policy you choose.

Second of all you better do your own research about all the insurance companies and their rates and insurance coverage policy. Read the comments of their previous clients to make sure there are no complaints about their policy, and certainly ask for your real estate agent’s advice.

Predictions for Home insurance rates

These days, so many factors may affect the rates of home insurance. The most important factors include global warming and its consequences and CPVID-19 pandemic. Climate change can naturally cause huge chaos resulting from floods and mudflows. Also during quarantine, we spend more time at home cooking and there would be more exposure for liability and fire.

As a result of all these changes, the insurance rates are increasing due to the rising demands. But, it is predicted that this rising trend may get reversed as soon as people go back to work. But for now, the home insurance rates are somehow unpredicted.

How can you save on home insurance costs?

There is no fixed price for home insurance. The total cost of your home insurance in Toronto is calculated based on the size and value of your house, location/neighborhood and your insurance history. But. Here are some recommendations to save on your home insurance costs. First, Install a security system and quit smoking! Second, if you combine your property and car insurance, it might help you 15% save on both.