The Best Home Insurance Quotes in Burnaby

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• Home insurance in Burnaby
• How RATESDOTCA finds the best home insurance in Burnaby
• Which companies offer home insurance quotes in Burnaby?
• How to get the cheapest home insurance in Burnaby
• What risks do homeowners face in Burnaby?
• Frequently asked questions about home insurance in Burnaby

Home insurance in Burnaby

Burnaby is a suburb of Vancouver, located in a region of British Columbia known as the Lower Mainland.

Though visitors might find Burnaby indistinguishable from nearby Vancouver, traditionally locals have appreciated Burnaby for lower real estate costs.

For homeowners interested in managing their overall living expenses, we recommend home insurance coverage, including a policy secured at the lowest available rate.

While home insurance isn’t required by law anywhere in Canada, it’s a great tool that protects the homeowner financially – and in some cases legally – if their home is damaged, or, someone is injured on their property.

Most policies include liability protection which means that if the homeowner is successfully sued by someone who is hurt while visiting their home, the medical and legal costs will be covered. In addition, the homeowner will be similarly protected if they unintentionally damage someone else’s property.

To make an informed decision about what sort of home insurance to purchase, it helps to understand the basics about coverage. Most home insurance policies include the following four components:

• Property: Protection if the home or nearby buildings are damaged by a covered peril.
  
• Contents: Protection if the contents of the home are damaged by a covered peril.
  
• Liability: Protection if someone not named on the policy is injured at the home; protection if the homeowner unintentionally damages someone else’s property.
  
• Additional living expenses: Coverage for living expenses if the homeowner is forced to leave the home while it’s being repaired, following a covered peril.

Homeowners must also decide what sort of coverage they want and how much of it they need. This step requires that a decision be made around package type. Most home insurance companies package their products in a similar way. They’re typically referred to in the following terms:

• Basic: Also known as a ‘named perils’ policy, covers damage from perils named in the policy. This package type offers the least amount of protection available but is also likely to be the least expensive.
• Broad: Commonly referred to as a ‘standard’ policy, this package offers protection against damage from all perils as well as protection for the contents of the home.
• Comprehensive: Sometimes also called an ‘all perils’ policy, protects against home and its contents from all perils except those named as exclusions. This type of policy offers the greatest amount of protection of the three package types.

Most home insurance policies name water damage from flooding as well as damage from earthquake as exclusions. To be protected, the homeowner must add coverage to the policy. Some of the most common add-ons are:

• Earthquake: Covers the cost of repair if the home and its contents are damaged by an earthquake or landslide.
• Overland water: Covers the cost of repair if the home and its contents are damaged by water that has overflowed from a river or nearby waterway.
• Sewer back-up: Covers damage from water that has entered the home from a drain or toilet.

We recommend that homeowners in Burnaby seriously consider adding each of these to their policies. Flooding is becoming more and more common in cities across the country, including those in British Columbia. Burnaby has the additional challenge of being located on a fault line and in a mountainous region making it especially vulnerable to earthquakes and landslides.

Some other common add-ons are:

• Home-based business: Depending on the nature of work being done in the home, there are a range of endorsements a homeowner can add to their policies to protect office equipment as well as business interruption in the event of damage from a covered peril.
  
  While a comprehensive policy is likely to protect contents such as a damaged computer, it offers no coverage for loss of income from a business interruption. Similarly, liability protection is not necessarily extended to cover business-related activities.
  
  If a homeowner is running a business from the home, we recommend that it be disclosed to the insurance provider to avoid a claim being denied.
  
• Identity theft: Covers the homeowner’s expenses if they need to replace personal documents if their identity is compromised.
  
• Lock replacement: Covers the cost of replacing locks following a break in.
  
• Mass evacuation: Covers the homeowner’s expenses if they’re forced to leave the home following a government-ordered evacuation.