Rising worries: Nearly half of homeowners fear extreme weather damage
In recent years, climate change has dramatically increased the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, creatin...
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Protection against accidental fire damage comes with most home insurance policies.
The coverage usually includes compensation for the cost of repairing structural damage caused by fire as well as replacing contents lost in a blaze.
While your policy is likely to protect you against fire damage from incidents such as lightning strikes, gas leaks, faulty electrical wiring, kitchen fires, candles, cigarettes, or even fireworks gone wrong, there will also be some exclusions.
For example, the home insurance policy may not extend to protection from damage cause by fire following a nuclear explosion, war, or riot.
When you select a policy, make sure you understand what coverage it includes and does not include. If what’s provided doesn’t align with your needs, you can add or extend coverage for protection against additional perils. Increased coverage usually leads to an increase in the premium.
Your home insurance policy will be customized to suit your needs and the property you’re insuring.
Home insurance premiums are determined by dwelling type (is it a single-detached home, a house with a basement tenant suite, or a condo?). Insurance companies also try to predict the kind and size of claim you might make in the future.
Here are some of the criteria insurance companies look at when calculating your premium.
If you have a home, you will want to seriously consider insuring it. While it is not a legal requirement, many banks will only provide mortgages for insured homes.
Fire insurance is folded into most home insurance policies. This makes sense because if you cannot front the cost of repairing your home or replacing its contents following a fire, then you want to cover yourself for that eventuality.
There is a specific kind of fire insurance for mobile homes, too.
Regardless of what sort of home you live in, insurance companies take the same approach to calculating your premium. They consider a range of factors. The premium they offer you is based, in part, on how much they believe it would cost them to replace your home entirely.
Anything you can do to mitigate that risk is likely to make you eligible for a discount. For example, you may receive a better premium for a home that’s new and in good repair because the materials themselves don’t warrant a fire hazard.
Most home insurance policies cover damage from fire.
Comprehensive policies will also protect your contents and offer additional living expenses. This means that if your home is damage in a fire, you will be covered for the cost of relocating and as well as the cost of replacing your contents.
If there is a fire, house insurance is meant to make you whole, returning your home to the state it was before the disaster.
It’s difficult to zero-in on the specific cost of a single peril within a home insurance policy.
The overall cost of a policy is determined by many factors, including the location of your home, its size, the condition of the structure as well as how much it would cost to replace in the event of damage.
Fire risk is one of the most crucial factors that insurers consider when drawing up a policy. As a result, any steps a homeowner takes to mitigate fire risk can help reduce the premium. For example, your distance to a fire station will affect home insurance rates, as will how far you are from a fire hydrant. In fact, you can get a fire hydrant discount on home insurance depending on how close you are to one.
While most home insurance policies do cover fire damage, some providers offer fire insurance on its own. Though these types of policies are not often written, they are available. They only protect against fire-related damage. This means that you won’t be protected against other perils covered by a comprehensive policy. You’ll be foregoing coverage for perils like water damage, hail and wind damage, broken windows, theft as well as additional living expenses and liability protection.
It is your decision to make based on the coverage they offer and the premium. We provide a range of quotes, for free, so that you can secure the best coverage at the lowest rate.
Remember that while we are all in pursuit of cheap home or fire insurance, it often makes sense to opt for comprehensive coverage that covers a broader range of perils.
Remember that home fire insurance in Canada is not mandatory but having no home insurance means fire damage becomes your cost alone to shoulder.
When you reflect to an insurance provider that a risk is mitigated, they are often willing to reduce your premium. Here are some effective tactics for reducing your fire risk and, by extension, your home insurance premium:
In this era of more erratic weather and climate related disasters, you would be wise to consider how and if your comprehensive home insurance covers damage related to natural disasters.
We’ve all watched in horror as wildfires in Canada, and around the world, chew through forest and communities, sending people on the run. According to the Insurance Bureau of Canada, the fire that ripped through Fort McMurray in 2016 cost more than $5.2 billion in insured damage making it the most expensive natural disaster in Canadian history.
Of course, that was an extreme event. But they do occur, and insurers have taken note. As a result, home insurance in high fire risk areas has become increasingly costly.
Are you in an area that is prone to forest fires, even if it is not directly in your own backyard? It is possible that the comprehensive home insurance will not include forest fires.
What about how to get home insurance after a fire? The cost is likely to go up for home insurance after you have had a fire. That is because insurers are always going to be looking at your history and hedging their bets against the eventuality that it could become a trend. That includes whether you have been the victim of a blaze.
Remember that home insurance rates are calculated largely on how much the insurance company believes it would cost to replace your entire home. It wants to prepare for the eventuality that it will have to rebuild it from scratch. You can lower your premium by reflecting that you’ve done what you can to reduce your fire risk. This includes owning a home made with modern materials and with an up-to-date electrical system. If you happen to live close to a fire hydrant or station, even better.
Start with our online quote tool. We offer free quotes from dozens of the best insurance providers in the country.
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*Shoppers in Canada who obtained a home insurance quote on LowestRates.ca from January to December 2023 saved an average of 32% The average savings percentage represents the difference between the shoppers’ average lowest quoted premium and the average of the second and third lowest quoted premiums generated by LowestRates.ca. Excludes condo and tenant insurance.