What does tenant insurance cover?
Basement flooding, house fires, and stolen property are three of the biggest threats to you as a renter. Fortunately, all of these are covered by tenant insurance.
Like other types of property insurance, tenant insurance in Canada provides you with three main types of protection – contents, liability, and additional living expenses.
Most renters insurance policies include $1 million in liability and $25,000 for contents. You also have the choice to increase your tenant insurance limits to up to $2 million in liability and $100,000 in contents coverage. Plus, you can customize your plan by adding more optional protection.
Personal contents
This protects against loss or damage to your belongings such as your TV, bed, furniture, appliances, and clothing. Some exclusions apply. Plan limits can be up to $100,000 or more.
How it works:
There is a fire in an adjacent unit in your building. Smoke makes its way into your unit. There is also water damage because of the fire being put out. Your furniture is damaged as a result. Your policy will help to cover the cost of replacing any items you can no longer use.
Liability
This protects you legally if you are found to be liable for someone getting injured in your home. You also have protection if you accidentally break or harm another person’s property. Legal defence fees may also be part of the policy. Get up to $2 million in coverage.
How it works:
You have guests over. Someone trips and falls and severely hurts their ankle. They decide to sue you. You have coverage for legal defence costs and potential settlements.
Additional living expenses
If your home is damaged, you may temporarily not be able to live in your unit. This part of your renters insurance plan provides you with compensation for Additional living expenses if your residence is uninhabitable from an insurable loss. Plan limits cap out at $30,000.
How it works:
Your apartment is damaged because of a grease fire in the kitchen. It causes significant destruction. Your policy will cover the cost for you to live in a hotel while your unit is repaired.
