What is the average cost of renters insurance in Quebec?

The average cost of renters insurance in Quebec is $345/year in 2023.

You’ve stumbled upon today’s awesome blog about apartment insurance. 

Welcome!

Not to be creepy, but we already know what you’re doing here.

You’re here for one of two reasons:

1. Your landlord told you to get insurance
2. You’re a responsible human being

We don’t really care which one it is! 

A lot of people rent apartments or homes without getting insurance.

Some of them don’t think they need it.

Others just don’t even consider it.

But if you’re on this page, you’re at least thinking about it, so we’ll take this opportunity to tell you this: GET RENTERS INSURANCE!

(Sorry for yelling.)

Here’s what tenant insurance covers you for:

• Liability (if you damage someone else’s stuff, like the landlord’s building)
• Your belongings (in the event of a fire or theft)

Here are the companies we work with to provide renter’s insurance.

In case you’d like a quick quote.

Now, let’s get back to it.

In this blog, I’m going to tell you how to lower your tenant insurance price.

In fact, I’m going to tell you how you can lower it by as much as half.

Here’s what else I’ll share with you:

• Cost of tenant insurance in Montreal
• How to find the cheapest Montreal tenant insurance
• Is tenant insurance mandatory in Quebec?
• Do I need tenant insurance?

Before we go any further, check out this uber cool video of my colleague Adam Strumas and I wearing suits and casually sipping coffee while discussing insurance.

This is perfectly normal behaviour for two guys like us.

Great, now that you have our thoughts on the matter, let’s carry on.

Tenant insurance Montreal – the cost

According to KBD client data, the average cost of tenant insurance in Quebec is $345 / year in 2023 when you take a $500 deductible.

That breaks down to just $28.75 per month.

Tack on another $15 – $30 per year if you’re looking to add roommates.

You can tune in for a coffee chat in the video below, where we explain this and more.

Note: This video was filmed at the end of 2022, and includes 2022 stats.

And while Montreal rent prices are on average higher than other cities in Quebec, apartment insurance doesn’t fluctuate that much across the province.

What will affect price is the state of the apartment building.

Tenants in fire resistant buildings, for example, pay less on contents insurance because the risk of fire is lower.

Fire resistant buildings are built with thicker concrete and are designed to withhold damage from fire for much longer.

(Those high-rise condo buildings in Griffintown? Those are fire resistant.)

How do you know whether your building is fire resistant?

I guess you could ask your landlord.

But there’s another easy way to know.

Fun fact: Any building in Canada that has more than four floors must be fire resistant.

And risk of fire is one reason your insurance costs may go up.

If you’re like every character in every sitcom and you live on top of a restaurant or bar, your risk of fire is much greater, and therefore so is your contents insurance cost.

How to find the cheapest tenant insurance

That’s the question you came here to have answered.

If you’re doing some research on it, chances are you’ll hear these cliché answers: Shop around and have good credit.

You deserve advice that’s a little less… useless.

Those easy answers actually do apply for other types of insurance.

With home insurance, you can wind up paying 30-40% less than your current rate just by shopping around (and yes, having good credit).

With tenant insurance, that’s not the case.

The truth is, there isn’t much price variation between companies when it comes to apartment insurance. 

(One factor is how much renters insurance your landlord requires.)

No matter how much you hunt for quotes, you’re not going to save more than a couple bucks a month on a similar policy.

For most of you, that won’t be worth the effort.

What you can do is change the details of your policy.

I promised you that in this blog I’d tell you how to get a lower cost for renters insurance.

In order to fulfil that promise, I’m going to have to brag a little.

Buckle up, because I’m about to let you in on my life and tell you how I paid about half the going rate a few years back.

In 2016, I was renting an apartment in Griffintown. I owned barely anything worth protecting.

My clothes? Useless.

Expensive jewelry? None.

My most valuable item was probably my TV, and even that was mounted on the wall.

So the chances of a profitable robbery at my place were pretty slim.

Without much to protect, I ditched the theft coverage and took the bare minimum insurance package.

I got coverage for only two scenarios: Fire and liability.

If the building burned, I was covered.

If I caused damage to a third party, I was covered.

Anything else? Non merci.

But I wasn’t worried about anything else.

So that first year, by cutting out any unnecessary coverage, I paid $170/year in renters insurance — about half the going rate.

So ask yourself: Are you getting insurance for you, or are you getting it because your lease said so?

If it’s the latter, then this bare minimum type of policy would suit you perfectly.

Now that you’ve caught the cost-saving bug, maybe you want help finding an apartment and negotiating your rent price.

No problem.

Get in touch with our good friend Richard Church over at M Real Estate.

He proudly serves the West Island, Montreal, and surrounding areas.

Is tenant insurance mandatory in Quebec?

Unlike car insurance, carrying renters insurance is not mandatory.

So no, you don’t need it.

A lot of landlords will list it as a requirement in your lease though.

You don’t need to agree to it.

But if you sign your lease with tenant insurance as part of the agreement, then yes, you need it.

You may be thinking: Why does a landlord care whether or not I have insurance?

They don’t care about my stuff, right? We can’t say for sure.

But even if they’re a truly miserable person that would be indifferent if you got robbed, they still want you to carry insurance.

Reason: Liability. 

While they don’t care about your stuff, they care about their property. If you damage their building or accidentally cause a fire, they want recourse.

“But wait, wouldn’t the landlord’s own insurance be able to claim and cover any damage to their property?”

Sure they would. But then they have to suffer the consequences. 

We’ve told you time after time on this blog: The fewer claims you make, the better.

So imagine a landlord has to make three or four unnecessary claims each year because their tenants don’t carry their own insurance.

That affects the landlord’s insurance costs down the road.

Do I need tenant insurance?

As mentioned above, no.

Unless it’s in your lease. Then yes.

If it’s in your lease and you cause damage, you can bet that your landlord is coming after you.

As long as you have money to your name, they’ll drain you.

All that being said, we’d like to take this opportunity to tell you that when it comes to renters insurance — JUST FREAKING DO IT!

How much does renters insurance cost per month in Quebec?

A measly $28. 

If you take the bare necessities it’ll cost you around $17 a month. Seventeen dollars!

That’s like, what, two Starbucks coffees?

Or half your daily intake.

Plus, it’s super easy. You can even buy renters insurance online.

And in return, you get peace of mind.

That sounds like a win to us.

Learn more on how to get renters insurance.

Wrap-up

DO IT!