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Your home is likely among one of your most prized possessions. Not only does it signify a massive milestone in a person’s life, but it provides shelter for you and your family.
In this WealthRocket article, we’ll take a look at the best homeowners insurance providers in Canada, with additional information about home insurance and how it works.
Below, you’ll find some of Canada’s most reputable and popular home insurance providers, with general descriptions of each company’s offerings as well as their policies.
Probably the biggest home insurer in Canada with a network of 6,000 insurance brokers across the country, Intact Insurance (formerly ING Canada) has home coverage that can literally fit any living situation from tenant’s insurance to condo insurance to even more obscure options like home-based business insurance, cottage insurance, and rented dwellings insurance.
Intact home insurance also includes outdoor structures like the garage, gazebo, or shed.
Aviva ranks twelfth in size among insurance companies in Canada, with assets totaling $12.203 billion in 2020.
However, the reason they’re a little higher on this list is because Aviva offers a plethora of discounts to go along with their policies and different types of coverage on top of the basic $1 million policy, including sewer back-up, identity theft, flood overland, service line and disappearing deductible, which gives you a gradually increasing discount on your deductible for every year you’re claim-free.
TD Insurance is best known for its bundling discounts when it comes to its property and casualty insurance offerings, including home insurance. You even get an automatic 5% off just for obtaining a quote from them online.
Instead of setting specific limits on different categories of expenses, TD sets an overall maximum for all expenses covered at $1 million, which gives homeowners flexibility as far as how the coverage money is spent and on what.
Wawanesa may have an odd-sounding name, but it’s in the top 20 of home insurance companies in the country with $10.5 billion in assets as of 2020.
It’s popular in Western Canada and offers policies that appeal to them such as home, condo, tenant, and farm. Basic coverage for damages includes water, fire and smoke, hail, wind and lightning, glass breakage, explosion, vandalism, impact by vehicle, and theft or attempted theft.
However, coverage also comes in “Broad” and “Special” tiers, which gives you even more coverage beyond these basic categories.
The Co-operators ranks highest among home insurance providers for customer satisfaction in Ontario and Atlantic Canada.
The company is completely Canadian-owned as a collective cooperative owned by the brokers who work for it.
They offer some standard coverages you will see in most home insurance policies like sewer backup, accidents such as spilling paint on the floor, fire, and weather damage. It’s also easy to customize a little bit according to your special circumstances, such as if you’re working from home and need home business coverage.
However, the Co-operators does not pay for additional living expenses if you are forced out of your home for a covered reason, so you better have your own emergency fund on top of coverage.
Canada’s first purely online insurance brokerage, Sonnet offers lower home insurance premiums because it doesn’t have to spend money on physical locations. The thing is though, what you’re getting here is bare-bones coverage.
This can be good if that’s what you want, such as if you’re a first-time homebuyer who has a relatively new home and are mainly concerned about cost and premiums.
However, if you want customer service and lots of complex coverage options, you may find yourself wanting.
You must purchase home insurance from RSA through a broker, as this company operates out of the UK.
RSA Canada Group promises competitive rates and a wide range of additional coverage options covering many of the same instances of many of their competitors, including sewer back-up, storm damage, and fire.
However, not a lot of details exist on the web so find a broker for RSA and get more details directly from them.
Square One can get you low-cost home insurance and a quote in less than five minutes. How much? They advertise getting a policy for less than $12 a month.
Plus, everything is customizable from your limits to your deductibles and coverages
Break-ins, fires, and windstorms are standard and rolled into the basic plan. They seem to be extremely well-reviewed (although anyone should have a healthy skepticism when it comes to reviews and testimonials) and they are one of the few home insurance companies to guarantee they will rebuild and replace your home if it comes to that even if the cost ends up exceeding the coverage limit policyholders have picked.
Economical Insurance relies on brokers to guide customers through its house insurance offering. It offers discounts for bundling policies, buying more than one policy, and if you make your home safer by installing a security system.
They do cover living expenses as well as your property and detached buildings, such as garages, sheds, and gazebos, that may surround it.
One of the Economical Insurance advantages is its ability to still find insurance for customers in higher-than-average risk situations, so that may set them apart.
La Capitale promises that its customers will only pay for what they need and will be able to choose their coverages, including adding water damage insurance.
You can protect professional materials such as books, computers, and cameras within your home and your bike, regardless of value, free of charge.
If you insure multiple things with La Capitale, not only can you pay a single deductible for multiple insured items but you can save up to $425 just by bundling multiple policies together.
Home insurance coverage protects you from any damage related to your home.
Coverage comes up to a certain percentage of the total cost. The remaining portion comes out of your pocket and is known as a deductible.
Home insurance offers levels of coverage for a monthly premium that is cheaper or more expensive depending on how many events are covered by your plan, how many coverage add-ons you select, and the percentage of the cost of each claim covered by the insurance company.
If the deductible is less and more is covered by the insurance company, the more expensive the premium. The greater the risk to your home, the more expensive the premium.
At the same time, every policy has limits and exclusions that mean you won’t be covered if you cross them.
Home insurance can cover things like sewer back-up, break-in or theft, damage due to hail or wind, fire, vandalism, or if a vehicle happens to drive into your home.
In addition to your standard policies, you can add coverage for things like overland flood, fine arts, and collectibles, or your home business.
Most policies and deductibles can be customized to fit your needs, so you’re paying for the protection you need and nothing you don’t.
Policies either come with separate costs due to the package you choose or are structured so that any incident is covered up to a maximum dollar amount per year.
Home insurance is something you absolutely need to have. It goes together with contents insurance and if you’re a renter, tenant insurance. Not only do you never know when the ultimate calamity could befall your home that you’ll need coverage for, but many mortgage lenders won’t advance a mortgage without proof of home insurance. Certainly, there are enough options out there to find the right amount of coverage for the right price.
Yes! In fact, many insurance companies will offer a bundling discount on your monthly premium if you pair your home insurance with car insurance, travel insurance, boat insurance, RV insurance, and life insurance from their company.
However, just because you are saving money by bundling doesn’t mean you’re getting comprehensive coverage on each policy. If your situation is unique, you may do better comparing home insurance quotes from different companies and see which one offers the better deal.
Home insurance isn’t mandatory in Canada, but as mentioned above, many banks and mortgage lenders won’t advance a mortgage without proof of home insurance.
Though paying the mortgage is indeed your responsibility, home insurance is required because the mortgage lender rightfully wants to protect their investment in the event of a disaster.
Home insurance can be cheaper if you bundle it with other forms of insurance such as RV, life, boat, car, and more with the same company.
You may also receive a discount if you haven’t made a home insurance claim over a certain number of years once you have the policy and you can get discounts for lowering your risk of claim by making your home safer.
For example, you may get a discount if you’ve installed a security system, a fire alarm, or a carbon monoxide detector.
The same goes for if you live in a gated community (reducing the risk of break-ins) or you installed an impact-resistant roof and generally made home improvements to make your home stronger.
Plus, like other products, home insurers offer an early-bird discount if you purchase home insurance right away when you first purchase your home.