Home insurance in Montreal

Home insurance is a type of insurance that protects the property you own, usually your principal address. Home insurance can also be found on properties that are not your principal residence, such as:

• A second home that you may live in
• A home you rent out for the purpose of generating revenue
• A cottage
• A chalet

As a general rule of thumb, Montreal home insurance brokers will want to insure your principal residence before or at the same time as any other property you may own.

Your Montreal home insurance policy covers 5 main components that every insurance company includes. They are:

1. Your home (the building itself).
2. Your detached structures, when applicable (detached garage, shed, pool house, etc.).
3. Your content (personal belongings, furniture, jewelry, etc.).
4. Your living expense (this includes hotel, travel and food costs in the event you can’t live in your home due to a claim or mass evacuation).
5. Civil liability (damage you or your property may cause to others).

When you need to cancel your policy, (if, say, you’re moving to another country), your insurance company will require a written request to cancel – an email is usually good enough. When simply choosing not to renew your insurance policy at the end of your contract, a phone call to your insurance company will suffice. It is important to understand that, even if you pay monthly, your Montreal home insurance contract is annual. So when you cancel your home insurance, you’re breaking a contract and with that will come cancellation fees (usually about 1 month’s worth of your contract). To avoid a cancellation fee, it is always best to switch your Montreal home insurance policy when your contract is about to renew itself.

There are 5 main ways you can lower your Montreal home insurance cost:

1. Raise your deductible. The more you are willing to pay to have repairs done on damage to your home and/or property, the less you are going to pay for home insurance.
2. Avoid making small claims. Insurance was not designed to be a maintenance package. As a rule of thumb: If the cost to repair the damage is less than twice the amount of your deductible, avoid the claim and pay for it yourself instead.
3. Install anti-water damage systems, such as:
   a. A sump-pump
   b. A back-water valve
   c. Water leak detection sensors
   d. Automatic water shut-off
4. Install both fire and burglary alarms that are connected to a central station.
5. Bundle with your car insurance. The more insurance products you have with an insurance company, the more discounts they can offer you.

There’s a lot of tricky wording in a Montreal home insurance policy. The term “named perils” refers to insurance for predetermined risks. With named perils insurance, the homeowner determines their list of covered incidents (Example: fire, theft and water damage) ahead of time. Unless it appears on the list, it is NOT covered. The only way for damage not listed as a named peril to be insured is if you add an endorsement (coverage add-on) to your insurance policy a-la-carte. Otherwise, the damage will not be covered under your Montreal residential insurance policy.

Sewer backup insurance is an endorsement (coverage add-on) that insures you in the event that sewage water re-enters your home. This can happen due to a blockage in your sewage pipe or if there is heavy water accumulation in your municipality’s sewage system. Without this endorsement, any water damage caused by a sewage backup is not covered on your Montreal home insurance policy. At KBD Insurance, we always suggest having a back-water valve installed as it blocks sewage water from re-entering the home and helps minimize the risk.

Earthquake insurance usually costs about $220 on top of your premium and comes with it’s own deductible of either 4% or 10% (your choice) of the reconstruction cost of your home. It is an endorsement (coverage add-on) that only 3% of consumers have on their Montreal home insurance policy coverage. Many people find it expensive and unnecessary, but the fact is Quebec has the second highest seismic risk in Canada in terms of severity.

When a Montreal home insurance company gives you a quote, they will ask for your consent to perform soft credit verification. It has no effect on your score itself – if it did, Quebec consumers couldn’t willingly shop their insurance year after year. The reason they perform this credit check is because based on statistics, consumers with good credit scores tend to claim less than consumers with below average scores. The less likely you are to claim, the lower your homeowners insurance will cost – and vice-versa. You can choose to refuse the soft credit check, but be prepared to be underwhelmed by the home insurance quote you receive.

Every Montreal home insurance policy covers 5 main components. They are:

1. Your home (the building itself).
2. Your detached structures, when applicable (detached garage, shed, pool house, etc.).
3. Your content (personal belongings, furniture, jewelry, etc.).
4. Your living expenses (this includes hotel, travel and food costs in the event you can’t live in your home due to a claim or mass evacuation).
5. Civil liability (damage you or your property may cause to others).

Usually, insurance companies like to stay within their province. Insurance laws differ from province to province, making things complicated when it comes to handling claims. There are many specialty insurance companies and insurance companies with specialty markets that can insure your out of province home. That’s an added bonus of KBD’s preferred insurance company, Intact.

The average home insurance price in Quebec is $960 per year, but your price will depend on a range of factors. No two homes are exactly the same size, same age or contain the same material value. These factors, along with the homeowner’s age, credit score, and Home insurance history will ultimately determine the price you pay. Montreal home insurance policies are not like cell phone or internet plans; their cost varies from home to home and person to person.

The first thing you need to do is get a quote. You can get a quote by either calling an insurance company directly or going on their website and filling out an online form. When buying and insuring a new home in Montreal, you will need to provide proof of insurance to the mortgage company and/or notary before you sign and officially become the owner of the home. If you are shopping for insurance on a home you already own, be sure to tell the insurance company who your mortgage is with, as they need to be mentioned on your Montreal Home Insurance policy.

Montreal home insurance policies vary from company to company and person to person. What might be the best home insurance in Montreal for you, might not be best for your neighbour. The only way to know which Montreal home insurance company is best for you is by shopping amongst some of the great insurance companies, such as:

• Intact
• Belair
• Desjardins
• All-State
• Promutuel
• La Personnelle
• La Capital
• SSQ
• Wawanesa

KBD Insurance is a Montreal home insurance broker and we place the majority of our clients with Intact Insurance because we believe they offer the best product at the most competitive price.

Because Montreal home insurance policies are tailored to the individual, you’ll have to provide a lot of information to the insurance company in order to receive a quote. When requesting a quote, be ready to provide:

• The name and date of birth for all owners of the home.
• Your consent for a soft credit check.
• Personal information concerning your background (criminal records, bankruptcies, claims, etc.).
• The address at which you currently live.
• The address you are looking to insure.
• Your current insurance company.
• The year your home was built.
• The type of wiring your home’s electricity runs on (knowing the system is even better).
• The proximity of the closest fire hydrant and fire department from your home.
• The material makeup of the home’s exterior(brick, wood, aluminum, etc.).
• The principal source of heating and any additional heating system.
• Whether the basement is fully finished (if not, the approximate percentage that is finished).
• The age of your hot water tank.
• The age of your roof and the type of material used.
• Approximate square footage or dimensions of your home.
• The number of bathrooms.
• Your mortgage company and their address.

Montreal home insurance can be confusing and reading the term “all risk” can make a consumer feel like they are insured for every situation that may occur. That’s not necessarily the case. All risk home insurance, as opposed to named perils, covers every risk UNLESS it is listed in the exclusion section of your contract. The only way for damage listed as an exclusion to be insured is if you add an endorsement (coverage add-on) to your insurance policy a-la-carte. Without the add-on coverage, the exclusion will not be covered by your Montreal residential insurance policy.

Flood insurance is an endorsement (coverage add-on) that most Montreal home insurance companies offer. Without the endorsement, if your home suffers damage caused by a flood, you are not covered. Water damage represents the biggest risk in home insurance and is pretty standard to have added to your policy. Oftentimes, insurance companies will bundle 2-3 different water damage protections, and flooding is usually one of them. However, it’s important to understand that if you live in an area that is prone to flooding, Montreal home insurance companies are not likely to give you this coverage – even if you ask for it.

Today, almost every Montreal home insurance broker has a quoting system on its website. Typically, the quoting system requires you to answer 5-6 questions to determine a price. Know that a free 3-minute quote will provide more of an estimate than an accurate price, so if you want more detail, you should choose the longer option with more questions that some companies also offer. In both scenarios, you will still need to speak with an insurance professional to finalize the insurance contract.

A deductible is the predetermined amount that the consumer has agreed to pay on each repair to their home in the event of damage. When submitting a claim, the customer can always expect to pay the deductible amount, with the insurance company covering the remaining cost. Maintaining wear and tear is the responsibility of the homeowner and not the insurance company. Without a deductible, consumers would make claims for any and every small repair that needs to be done on their home. In the case of each insurance claim, it is important to consider your deductible amount vs the total dollar amount. Since claims stay on your record for 10 years and affect your future insurance costs, it might not make sense to submit a small claim you could pay for yourself. Pro tip: Make home maintenance costs a part of your budget.

High risk home insurance refers to a class of risk that many insurance companies don’t offer for two reasons:

1) The chance of having to pay a claim is too high,

2) The potential claim amount is too high.

If your home is located next to a body of water that floods every spring, an insurance company might consider that high risk since you’re likely to submit that same claim once a year. Alternatively, if your home is worth more than $1 million, a single claim could cost the insurance company a hefty sum, a risk not worth taking for them.