Compare Tenant Insurance Quotes in Etobicoke

How Etobicoke tenant insurance works

Etobicoke, which was amalgamated into the City of Toronto, in 1998, is home to many older and established neighbourhoods. Renters who live there will want to protect their belongings and valued possessions just as much as any homeowner in the area would.

Anything from fire damage to theft, to even liability can be covered in an Etobicoke tenant insurance policy, protecting you from the unwanted high costs of replacing or repairing your personal belongings.

Is tenant insurance mandatory?

Tenant insurance is not legally required in Etobicoke. However, it does provide peace of mind when you want to protect your valuables and prized possessions. Also, some landlords make tenant insurance mandatory as part of their lease agreement requirements.

What will your Etobicoke tenant insurance cover?

Tenant insurance in Etobicoke can cover and protect you for several important insurance needs:

• Contents. Your belongings, whether they are located in your apartment unit or storage locker, can be covered by Etobicoke tenant insurance. Without contents insurance coverage, anything you lose in a fire, or due to theft, for example, will have to be replaced at your own expense. We recommend that you take between $30,000 and $40,000 to cover items such as home furnishings or electronics.
  
  Higher-priced items or valuables like jewelry or art can be covered by adding an insurance ‘rider’ to your policy. Though this may increase your premium, it will protect you should the unthinkable happen to your prized possessions. A $5,000 limit is common for these types of coverages. In this case, if you lose $20,000 worth of jewelry, you will have to pay $15,000 out-of-pocket to replace the lost items.
• Liability. If someone is injured within your home and attempts to sue you, your liability coverage will help pay for legal and/or medical fees associated with the injury. Similarly, if damage is done to another adjacent unit, by leaks or flooding from your property, for example, your liability coverage would pay for those expenses as well.
• Additional living expenses. There may come a time when your home is damaged by a disaster such as fire or flood, making it unlivable. Your policy may cover the additional living expenses you would incur while displaced, like rent, food and transportation – up to a certain amount. Note that any regular expenses you were paying prior to the displacement – such as buying groceries, for instance – would not be covered.

What won’t your Etobicoke tenant insurance cover?

Tenant insurance policies limit the coverage to high-value items (e.g. expensive jewelry, antique watches, fine art or sports equipment).

Anyone not named on your Etobicoke tenant insurance policy will not be covered, so if you have unnamed roommates, you will be on the hook for any damages they cause.

Subletting your apartment is generally not covered by your insurance provider unless the new tenants (whether they are temporary like Airbnb or more permanent ones) have insurance of their own.

Also, note that ‘replacement cost’ coverage means that the contents of your home are insured for the amount it costs to replace them without depreciation – up to the limit of your coverage. This is different from ‘actual cash value’ coverage, which is a dollar amount paid for the current value of the item being claimed, meaning that it will not cover its full amount if it has depreciated.

Add-on tenant insurance in Etobicoke

If the standard tenant insurance coverage is not enough for you, you can always expand it via add-ons. Here’s what you can add:

• Extra protection for expensive items. If you own expensive jewelry, fine art, collectables and similar items, you can get them covered at an extra cost. These items are known as ‘floaters’ because they need to be covered separately from your other items.
• Limit increase to your coverage. The more you own, the more coverage you may need. Take inventory of everything you have in your rental unit and assign value to each item. That way, you’ll know whether standard coverage is enough for you.
• Flood and sewer back-up damage. If your items get damaged due to overland flooding or backed up sewage, you will not receive a payout, because these perils are not covered by standard tenant insurance. If you believe you need this coverage, you can purchase it as an add-on.
• Identity theft. This will cover the cost of replacing vital documents like your passport in the event of identity theft.