Compare Alberta Home Insurance Quotes

Home insurance in Alberta

Home insurance coverage is similar in every province in Canada. While homeowners aren’t required by law to have it, most lenders will only mortgage a property that’s insured. The type of coverage you select will have a significant affect on overall policy cost.

To get started, it helps to be aware of the different package types available: basic, broad and comprehensive. They share much in common, though differ in the amount of coverage they provide.

While you’re welcome to opt for any policy type you wish, it’s worthwhile considering the best coverage for perils that are unique to your neighbourhood. In Alberta, that’s likely to mean getting a policy and then adding protections for perils like flooding and forest fire.

You'll start with one of these three policy types:

• Basic home insurance
  
  This package offer the least amount of coverage for your house and contents; your home is only protected against perils explicitly named in your policy. You may also see this policy type referred to as a named perils policy. If it isn’t named in your policy, you don’t have insurance protection against it. You may also see some insurance providers describe this type of policy as ‘limited’.
  
• Broad home insurance
  
  A broad home insurance policy gives more coverage; it provides all perils coverage to your home and named perils coverage to your contents. Some insurance providers describe this type of  policy as ‘standard’.
  
• Comprehensive home insurance
  
  This is the most inclusive and costly type of home insurance. A comprehensive policy applies all perils coverage (except for exclusions listed in the policy) to your home and your contents, as indicated in the policy. This type of coverage, which is considered the most amount of coverage you can purchase before endorsements are added, is sometimes referred to as an all perils policy.

Comparison shopping is the single most effective way to bring down your insurance costs. We recommend that you get quotes from dozens of providers across the country every time your policy is up for renewal.

Aside from changes to your personal circumstance that may effect how much coverage you need and therefore your rate, there are three main reasons that home insurance premiums tend to increase more often than those for auto insurance.

First, replacement cost. Depending on where you live, replacement costs are not necessarily equal to the actual cash value of your home. There are insurance industry accepted replacement cost calculators that determine how much coverage your home insurance policy makes you eligible for following a claim. The cost of building materials is a factor. When inflation is high and/or materials are expensive, home insurance premiums are likely to be higher as well.

Second, premiums are one of two forms of revenue for providers. The second is investments. In a low interest rate environment, when returns on investments are low, home insurance providers may turn to rate increases to balance costs. They don't need to go through a regulatory process to start charging more. Comparatively, auto insurance premiums require government approval. As a result, home insurance premiums tend to go up before auto insurance premiums.

Finally, insurance providers have been paying out record claims due to increasing incidents of climate change, including historic floods and wildfires in Alberta. In 2016, the wildfire in Fort McMurray was the most costly insured natural disaster in Canadian history, according to the Insurance Bureau of Canada. Insured property damage was $3.58 billion, which was more than double the cost of the 2013 southern Alberta flood, for which $1.7 billion in insurance claims was paid out.

Add-ons to home insurance coverage in Alberta

In addition to the components of an Alberta home insurance policy, there are add-on coverages you can purchase to further protect your home and contents.

Some you can add to your home insurance policy include:

• Earthquake: Will cover loss or damage caused by an earthquake which is especially useful in your home is in an area that's vulnerable to earthquakes.
  
• Identity theft: Covers many of the costs that can arise when your identify is stolen. For example, costs for replacing important government-issued documents, such as your passport, lost wages resulting from having to take time off work to deal with the theft as well as any costs associated with challenging damaged credit reports, dealing with collection agencies or initiating a lawsuit to resolve the wrongful transfer of property.
  
• Lock replacement: If you need to replace the locks on your house, this add-on will cover the cost of re-keying. If your keys have been stolen, most insurance providers require that a police report be filed before a claim will be paid out.
  
• Mass evacuation: This add-on will cover your costs if you're forced to be away from your home due to a government-issued evacuation order such as that many Albertans experienced during the historic wildfires in Fort McMurray in 2016 which the Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated to be among the most costly in Canadian history.
  
• Overland water: It's a good idea to add flood protection to your home insurance policy since most of them don't have coverage built in. Although not every carrier offers an add-on for protection against overland water, it covers property damage from overflowing water stemming from nearby rivers, streams, lakes and thawing snow.
  
• Sewer back-up: Protects your home when a sewer line backs up and causes damage to the line between your home and the city's main line. In many instances, this add-on also covers the cost of removing sewer water from the home as well as repairing damage caused by it.

How to get the cheapest home insurance coverage in Alberta

When it comes to reducing the cost of home insurance in Alberta, Canada, it’s all about mitigating risk for the provider. Consider some of the following tactics:

• Bundle your policies: When a single provider holds each of your insurance policies, you’re likely to receive a discount of up to 15% for your Alberta home insurance quote. For example, to save, consider purchasing your home and car insurance policies from the same company.
• Compare rates: Regardless of the insurance coverage you seek, comparison shopping is the best way to secure coverage. The RATESDOTCA free, online tool will aggregate every home insurance quote available to you and highlight which is the best coverage at the lowest rate.
• Consent to a credit check: In Alberta, you may be eligible for a discount on your home insurance if you consent to a credit check. Don’t worry, you can’t be penalized for a poor credit score. On the upside, you can save if you have a good score.
• Keep your home in good repair: Take reasonable steps to make sure your home is secure against covered perils such as installing smoke and carbon monoxide detectors. Since any home insurance policy is unlikely to cover the cost of damage from neglect, make sure you keep up on regular home maintenance.
• Increase your deductible: When you opt for a high deductible, your monthly costs will be lower. However, if you take this approach, make sure you have the available cash flow in the event of a claim.
• Install a backwater valve: Prevent flood damage from sewer back-up with this mechanism will automatically close if sewage backs up from the main sewer.
• Install a security system: When you can reflect to an insurance provider that you’ve taken steps to mitigate risks to your home, you may be rewarded with a discount. Installing a security system will underline to them that the likelihood of damage to the property by an intruder is diminished.
• Memberships: You may be eligible for discounts through various groups you hold membership with such as an alumni association.
• Pay upfront: If you pay your annual premium upfront, you may be eligible for a discount.