Compare Condominium Insurance Quotes

If you live in a neighbourhood with a high crime rate, your condo insurance will cost more than it would in a safe area. Insurers will consider the odds of break-ins, theft and vandalism when deciding your rate.

When requesting a condo insurance quote, you will have to decide what types of coverage you need. A basic condo insurance policy might provide enough coverage, but many condo owners opt to pay more for additional protection.

A deductible is the amount of money you pay, out-of-pocket, in the event of a claim. For example, if you make a claim for $2,000 worth of repairs to your condo, and your policy has a $500 deductible, your insurance company will pay $1,500 towards the repair cost. The higher the deductible you are willing to pay, the lower your premiums will be.

Basic condo insurance has strict coverage limitations. For example, contents coverage should extend to your storage locker, but it might not include high-value items. You can pay a higher insurance rate for these limitations to be relaxed, or add a special rider to cover specific items.

Personal condo insurance provides a financial safety net in the event your possessions are lost, but there is always a limit. If you have expensive jewelry or state-of-the-art appliances, and the total value of your belongings exceeds the cap, you can ask for enhanced coverage and pay a higher premium.

It might sound dramatic, but your unit’s distance to the nearest fire station, even the nearest fire hydrant, is taken into consideration when calculating a condo insurance rate. The closer you are to help, the lower your premium will be.

Does your building offer central heating through electric baseboards, hot water radiators, air vents? Do you use additional heaters? Insurers ask these questions to gauge the likelihood of a fire breaking out. Generally speaking, the more modern your building, the better it will score here.

The insurance company will want to know your age, your marital status and your lifestyle habits (most commonly, whether or not you smoke). Again, this is used to determine risk. A young, single male who smokes will face higher premiums than a middle-aged couple who do not.

Insurers need to know the age of your building, how old the roof is, and the type of construction used to build it (e.g. brick veneer, concrete block). Older buildings and materials typically cost more to insure.

If you have made any property insurance claims in the last eight years, they will be taken into consideration when calculating your premium. If you are a first-time home buyer, you likely won’t have made any claims, but the lowest rates are reserved for those with a long history of property insurance, and still no claims.

Standard condo insurance provides blanket coverage for your possessions up to a maximum dollar amount, but it will not cover the loss of very expensive items. To insure these items, you need to provide an appraisal or receipt as proof of value, and pay for additional coverage, called an endorsement.

This coverage protects you against damage from a sewer getting blocked, and the waste water flooding your unit. It covers decontamination costs, and replacements for your fixtures and possessions. This coverage is especially important if you live on a lower floor, where the risk of sewer backup is greatest.

Overland water coverage protects you from damage caused by water getting into your condo from outside. If you live near the top of the building, you could be at risk of roof leaks from excessive rain or melting snow. If you live on a lower level, flooding is a serious threat.

Identity theft coverage could prove invaluable if you end up a victim of stolen identity. Condo dwellers are particularly susceptible to these types of crimes, as it is relatively easy for a criminal to intercept your mail, and use it to open a credit card or take out a loan in your name.

Directors’ liability coverage provides protection to unit owners who are elected members of the condominium board, specifically protecting them from lawsuits as a result of their corporate position.

Loss assessment insurance is an important optional coverage. Your condo building is insured under the corporate policy, but sometimes the cost of repairs exceeds the corporate coverage. When this happens, the remaining cost is divided among the condo owners. Loss assessment insurance will step in and prevent you from having to pay out of pocket for these repairs.

There is no legal requirement for condo insurance. However, if you have a mortgage, the lender will insist that you have it. Even if you are mortgage-free, condo insurance is strongly recommended to protect you and your possessions.

Residential title insurance protects the buyer (and mortgage lender) against problems that may arise during the transfer of property ownership, including title fraud and losses associated with survey issues.

Nobody can claim to offer the cheapest condo insurance without first knowing a few details about you and your home. We ask the same questions as the insurance companies, and show you accurate quotes based on the information you have provided. Simply pick the cheapest rate and we will connect you with the provider. For additional savings, consider bundling your condo insurance with your car insurance.

If you live in one of Canada’s large cities, you can get annual coverage for around $25 per month with a basic, bare bones policy, providing $50,000 worth of contents coverage.

Increasing your contents coverage, or adding optional endorsements will cause your premiums to rise.

There are two types of condominium insurance, and people often get confused:

• Corporate condo insurance is the same as strata insurance. This type of policy is taken out by your condo board to protect the physical structure of the building, and any communal areas.
• Condominium insurance (without the “corporate” bit) is designed for individual condo owners, and it fills in the gaps where your condo’s corporate insurance falls short. It protects you, your personal unit, and the possessions within it.

Your condo’s corporation insurance is not intended for the personal protection of condo residents. It protects the condo board against costs associated with damage to the building and its common areas. It may extend to the basic fixtures in your condo unit, such as wiring and plumbing, but it does not normally cover anything within the walls of your unit.

This is why it is so important to get a personal condominium insurance policy. It provides essential personal protection, and the corporate policy does not.

Increased improvement coverage is designed to cover any upgrades you have made to your condo, whether that is installing nicer light fixtures, upgrading the flooring, or anything else that costs money and adds value.

Some of these upgrades will be covered by a standard policy, but if you make a lot of expensive improvements or renovations, it is advisable to increase this coverage.

If you live on the ground floor, or below ground level, sewer backup coverage is extremely important. It only takes one careless unit owner to flush a diaper down the toilet, and suddenly your unit is flooded with sewage and waste.

While strata insurance will cover the cost of clearing the blockage (assuming the pipes are outside of your condo unit), they won’t cover expenses associated with cleaning sewage water from your apartment, or replacing your soiled belongings.

If you live on a high floor, the likelihood of sewage water reaching your unit is small (all drains below your unit would have to be blocked in order for the sewage to reach you), but you are still at risk. Firstly, your storage locker is probably at ground level. Additionally, if the lobby gets flooded with sewage, you will not be able to access your unit, and if you don’t have sewer backup coverage, you would not be eligible for help with temporary living expenses.

Overland water is any water that comes into your condo from outside of the building, typically a result of rainfall. If you live on a low floor, especially if you are near a river that could flood, it is advisable to have this coverage.

Condo corporation insurance should cover structural repairs following a flood, but it won’t cover flood damage to your furniture, electronics, or anything else in your unit.

Ontario has never experience a catastrophic earthquake, and it is not included in standard condo insurance policies for that reason. Periodic tremors, especially in eastern Ontario, have caused some damage in the past, but modern buildings are designed to absorb the shocks without damaging the interior units.

However, if you live on the west coast, earthquakes are a very real threat and you should consider adding this coverage to your policy. In the lower mainland of British Columbia, all property insurance companies require significant earthquake deductibles.

The owner’s personal insurance policy does not extend to you or your belongings. You need tenant insurance, also called renter’s insurance. The good news is you do not need a lease to get tenant insurance, and it is very affordable.