The "one stop" for people on the go
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The "one stop" for people on the go

Home, Tenant & Condo Insurance

What’s covered by home insurance?

Your home is your castle. That’s why it is so important to protect it. We offer a wide range of home insurance packages that are designed to cover:

  • Home (the building and any detached private structures on your property such as a garage or shed)
  • Personal property (all the contents inside your home)
  • Personal liability, should someone hurt themselves while visiting your home
  • Your investments in any upgrades you’ve made to your residence
  • Living expenses in case of loss or damage forces you to temporarily leave your home
  • Personal property inside your vehicle is not covered on you Auto policy so it is important to make sure you have it covered on you home policy

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Home Insurance Basics

Find out what you need to know about homeowner insurance—from why you need it to what the terms mean. Are you new to insurance? Or just want to know a little bit more about it? We’re here to help.

Let’s start at the beginning.

Home insurance is designed to cover the expenses that come up if something unexpected or accidental happens (like a fire or break-in) to your home and your belongings. It also protects you if you accidentally injure someone or damage someone else’s property.

One Stop Insurance tailors home insurance packages for homeowners, condo owners, and renters.

Home insurance is not mandatory but highly recommended.

Your home is possibly the largest purchase you will ever make, Home insurance is meant to protect your home and your valuable possessions from unexpected and accidental incidents.

It also protects you from liability. For example, if someone were to slip and fall on your property, and then as a result needed to take some time off work, your home insurance would help you cover the cost of those expenses up to a specified amount.

Next you need to understand a few basic terms:

  • All-Risk insures your building and contents for losses due to the widest range of perils (or risks), unless specifically excluded from your policy like intentional damage.
  • Personal Liability insurance protects you for unintentionally injuring someone or damaging their property and have to pay damages (example: someone has a slip and fall on your walkway, breaks his/her leg and now cannot work for a period of time).
  • Contents Insurance covers your belongings (including when you travel) for losses resulting from the most common types of perils (or risks) up to a specified amount.
  • Replacement Cost Coverage means that the contents of your home are insured for the amount it costs to replace them without depreciation.
  • Detached Private Structure refers to a structure that exists on your property that is not connected to your primary residence (example: a detached garage or shed).
  • Additional Living Expenses Coverage will help you pay for reasonable and necessary expenses (like hotel and food costs) in the situation you are forced to leave your home following an insured peril (or risk) for a period of time.

One Stop Insurance can help you find the home insurance coverage that best meets your needs.

Condo Insurance Basics

We help you figure out what parts of your condo are protected by your condominium association’s master policy and what additional protection you may need. A lot of condo owners do not realize that they need their own separate home insurance beyond what their condominium association covers. A building insurance policy (most commonly called the master policy) typically only covers the common areas, such as the lobby, elevators, and gym, but does not cover an owner’s personal belongings. It also doesn’t cover any improvements you make, if you damage another unit, or if someone gets hurt while visiting your unit.

While having a separate insurance policy for your condo unit is not always considered mandatory, it is highly recommended. On top of the usual reasons you need home insurance (protect your investment), as a condo owner you could be on the hook for major repairs. That’s because the master policy for the condominium will often have rules in them that stipulate that if the loss began in your unit (example, if a pipe bursts in your apartment and spreads to other units) you could be responsible for the entire master policy deductible (which could be in the tens of thousands of dollars). Your own insurance policy can help cover this expense. Figuring out what kind of condo insurance you need can be complicated. However, One Stop Insurance can help you tailor your condo insurance package so that it meets your individual needs. First you need to understand a few basic terms:

  • All-Risk insures your building and contents for losses due to the widest range of perils (or risks), unless specifically excluded from your policy like intentional damage.
  • Personal Liability insurance protects you for unintentionally injuring someone or damaging their property and have to pay damages (example: someone has a slip and fall on your walkway, breaks his/her leg and now cannot work for a period of time).
  • Contents Insurance covers your belongings (including when you travel) for losses resulting from the most common types of perils (or risks) up to a specified amount.
  • Replacement Cost Coverage means that the contents of your home are insured for the amount it costs to replace them without depreciation.
  • Additional Living Expenses Coverage will help you pay for reasonable and necessary expenses (like hotel and food costs) in the situation you are forced to leave your home following an insured peril (or risk) for a period of time.
  • Improvements and Betterments Protection, compensates you for any upgrades you’ve put into your condominium, on top of what the building originally provided for you, up to the limit of the replacement value. For example, if your unit was originally finished with a medium-grade carpet valued at $5,000, and then you upgrade it to a high-quality carpet valued at $10,000. The Improvements and Betterments protection will ensure you receive the full value of your new carpet in the event of a loss.
  • Loss Assessment is when you share responsibility with others for common property. With Loss Assessment, your insurer will pay, up to a stipulated limit, your portion of any loss for common property you are responsible for.

Understand what the condo corporation’s master policy says.

If you own a condo, typically you only own the individual unit outright, and then have a shared ownership of the rest of the condominium building. From an insurance point of view, that means that you have a shared responsibility for insuring the common areas of the condominium. Normally, the cost of this building insurance is a portion of your condo fees.

The condo association’s master policy, as well as the association rules, should clearly spell out which parts of the complex are insured through your association dues, and which parts are not.

Learn about the importance of Loss Assessment Coverage.

Loss Assessment coverage is an important feature of condominium insurance because you equally share in the responsibility with the other condo owners for the condominium building. That means that if there is a special assessment for your condominium building, all the condo owners have to split the cost of the assessment.

Ask how your storage locker factors into your policy

If you have any belongings stored in your condominium locker for safekeeping, make sure to tell your insurance provider. If your locker is owned as a separate unit, you must disclose this to your insurer to ensure that the locker and all the content inside are properly protected.

One Stop Insurance can help you find the condo insurance coverage that best meets your needs.

Renter’s Insurance Basics

Learn why you need renter’s insurance and how it can protect you and your belongings.

According to Statistics Canada, less than half of renters in Canada have renter’s insurance (also known as tenant or contents insurance).

We often think of home insurance as protecting the big stuff—like pipes, appliances, and the physical structure of the home or building. If you are renting, your landlord may have his or her own insurance policy to cover these kinds of items. But their insurance will not cover your personal belongings, such as furniture, jewellery, or entertainment equipment. Your landlord’s insurance will also not protect you if someone is injured on your property.

That’s where renter’s insurance comes in. Renter’s insurance will help you replace these possessions in the event of a loss or damage due to a covered risk. An Insurance Specialist at One Stop Insurance can tailor your tenant insurance to fit your needs.

Let’s start by understanding the importance of liability insurance.

Accidents happen and sometimes those accidents can be quite costly.

For example, a candle in your apartment could cause a fire. If that candle affects other units, you may be deemed responsible to pay for damages to your rental unit.

Or, if someone trips and falls in your apartment, you could be held financially responsible for the cost of medical expenses and lost wages.

Liability insurance could protect you in the event of a lawsuit, and help you cover the cost of any damages.

Next you need to understand a few basic terms:

  • All-Risk insures your building and contents for losses due to the widest range of perils (or risks), unless specifically excluded from your policy like intentional damage.
  • Personal Liability insurance protects you for unintentionally injuring someone or damaging their property and have to pay damages (example: someone has a slip and fall on your walkway, breaks his/her leg and now cannot work for a period of time).
  • Contents Insurance covers your belongings (including when you travel) for losses resulting from the most common types of perils (or risks) up to a specified amount.
  • Replacement Cost Coverage means that the contents of your home are insured for the amount it costs to replace them without depreciation.
  • Additional Living Expenses Coverage will help you pay for reasonable and necessary expenses (like hotel and food costs) in the situation you are forced to leave your home following an insured peril (or risk) for a period of time.

A One Stop Insurance Specialist can help you find the tenant insurance coverage that best meets your needs.

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