Discounts
It often pays to combine both your home and auto insurance policies with the same insurer. You may become eligible for a combined policy discount of typically 10%. You may qualify for this discount if it’s a homeowners, condo, or tenant insurance policy. Below are some examples of some of the insurance discounts available with most insurance companies.
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Home & Auto Bundle
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Monitored Alarm
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Non Smoke Free
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Age Discount
Property Insurance 101
Comprehensive Coverage
This is an insurance policy that covers you for all risks under both your building as well as contents, subject to a few limitations. This is often the best value for coverage on a standard Homeowners Insurance policy. The difference versus a Broad Form policy being that this policy form offers far better coverage for the contents of your home.
Often times your broker will automatically recommend this type of policy if you are looking at getting the best value for your insurance as the premium difference versus lesser forms of coverage is usually minimal.
Property Insurance
Buying a home is a big investments and by having the right coverage for your home means peace of mind.
Property insurance policies provide coverage for things like fire, theft, water damage, personal liability, including if gets injured on your property or if you get injured on someone else’s property.
Home owner’s policies come in a variety of different packages and can be confusing for some. Let one of our professional licenced insurance brokers asses your property risk and value of your home so that we can customize a policy that fits you.
Broad Form Coverage
This is an insurance policy that covers you for all risks on your building, but only on a named perils form for your contents. In plain English, the coverage for your dwelling would be extensive, covering everything subject to a few limitations. However, coverage for your contents and personal property within the home would be limited to certain named perils.
As an example of missing coverage on Broad Form policy, ‘mysterious disappearance’ is not commonly included. If a ring were to vanish from your home and there was no evidence it was stolen, it would be considered a ‘mysterious disappearance’ and would not be covered under a Broad Form policy.
Fire & Extended Coverage
This policy is the most basic of coverage offered. If you’re looking for the bare minimum coverage for your dwelling. We do not recommend this type of policy for most standard Homeowners Insurance policies.
The coverage for this policy is limited to cover only certain perils including: fire, lightning, windstorm, hail, explosion, aircraft damage, and smoke damage as examples. It does not provide coverage on an all perils basis like other insurance policies. Quite often this type of policy is used when insuring homes under construction or small seasonal properties like cottages.
The Standard Homeowners Policy
A standard Homeowners Insurance Policy is split into two separate divisions:
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Part I – Property
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Part II – Liability Protection
If you were to look at a home insurance declarations page, which is usually located on the first page in a policy, you would see Part I: Property. This protection is usually broken down into additional sections:
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Coverage A – Dwelling Building
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Coverage B – Other Structures
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Coverage C – Personal Property
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Coverage D – Loss of Use
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Coverage E – Voluntary Personal Liability
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Coverage F – Voluntary Medical Payments
Coverage A
Dwelling Building Coverage – This covers your home and all attached structures including fixtures in the home such as built-in appliances, plumbing, heating, permanently installed air conditioning systems, and electrical wiring.
Coverage B
Other Structures Coverage – Covering detached structures such as garages, storage sheds, and fixtures attached to the land including fences, driveways, sidewalks, patios, and retaining walls. Detached structures used for business purposes are not covered under a personal homeowner’s insurance policy.
Coverage C
Personal Property Coverage – The coverage includes the contents of your home and other personal items owned by you or family members who live with you. This protection can be based on actual cash value or replacement cost. Home insurance policies may provide limited coverage for small boats, however, most home insurance policies do not cover motorized vehicles. Some items may have coverage limits such as firearms, artwork, business property, electronic data, jewelry, and money. Extra coverage is usually available by adding endorsements or ‘Scheduled Items’ to your policy.
Coverage D
Loss of Use Coverage – This covers living expenses over and above your normal living expenses if you cannot live in your home while repairs are being made.
Endorsements can also be added to your home insurance policy at an additional cost to provide extra protection. Some commonly used examples of endorsements include