Homeowners insurance

It depends on the type of home you live in. If you own a house, your property insurance will cover the house itself and detached structures like a fence or storage shed.

Your insurance will also cover personal belongings such as jewellery, artwork, furniture, computers, carpets and more.

Finally, your policy also includes third-party liability coverage. This protects you against personal liability if somebody is injured while on your property or if you accidentally cause damage to a neighbour’s property.

Your coverage should begin as soon as you become the legal owner or tenant, even if your home or condo unit is still being built.

• All Perils protects your insured property against the widest range of risks and only excludes the perils specifically listed in your policy.
• Specified Perils protects your insured property against the most common risks, which will be listed in your policy.

The owner of the property you’re renting almost certainly has insurance on the building itself. They may also have coverage for certain items inside your rental unit, such as the carpets, light fittings and appliances. So you may wonder why you need coverage too.

Here are two excellent reasons:

• Your landlord’s insurance will not cover your personal belongings. Your jewellery, artwork, furniture, entertainment equipment and other valuable belongings will not be protected.
• You also need to protect yourself against personal liability for injuries to visitors to your home or for damage you accidentally cause to a neighbours’ property.

For details, see: Tenant Insurance.

Your condominium corporation has insurance, so you may wonder why you need your own coverage.

Here are three excellent reasons:

• Your condominium corporation’s policy will not cover your personal belongings. Your jewellery, artwork, furniture, entertainment equipment and other valuable belongings will not be protected.
• Your condominium corporation’s policy only covers items that are part of the building. You need your own insurance to protect the upgrades you have made inside your unit, such as better carpets and built-in cupboards.
• Finally, you need to protect yourself against personal liability for injuries to visitors to your home or for damage you accidentally cause to a neighbours’ property.

For details, see: Condo Insurance.

The liability coverage included in a homeowners, condo or tenant insurance plan protects you financially if you unintentionally cause bodily injury or property damage to others—at your home or anywhere in the world. For example:

• A babysitter slips on a spill on your kitchen floor and injures her back.
• Your toaster oven catches fire, damaging your home/unit and part of your neighbour’s home/unit.
• You throw a baseball on the beach while on vacation in Florida and you accidentally knock out a bystander’s tooth.

Insurance coverage for water damage depends on a number of things, like where you live and how your home was constructed. Insurance for some types of water damage may be included automatically in your policy, and some may need to be purchased as extra.

Examples of causes of water damage that aren’t covered under most standard home insurance plans are flooding and seepage:

• Flooding results in damage from water that flows into your home from natural sources like lakes and rivers, or large amounts of pooled water.
• Seepage refers to the slow movement of water or other fluid through small openings, cracks or pores in your home.

Causes of water damage that are usually covered by most standard home insurance plans (or can be added by endorsement) include:

• Sewer back-up: Water is forced through the sewer system back into your home, or your sump pump fails. (Sewer back-up can be added by endorsement)
• Water Escape: This covers water damage that may be caused when your bath or sink overflows or a pipe or hose inside your house breaks.

Not automatically. However, you can purchase earthquake coverage for an additional premium. For details, see Endorsements for Your Property.

Most property insurance will protect your belongings when you travel. For example, if your luggage is stolen from a hotel room or your car, you may be covered for the loss.

Remodeling your home may change the valuation placed on your property. If you build a major addition or swimming pool, you will need to update your insurance policy.

Overland water is fresh water that accumulates on land which is usually dry, resulting from torrential rain or snow melt or the overflow of lakes, streams and rivers.

We’ve made the Overland Water endorsement available for purchase in response to the effects of changing weather patterns and the increasing number of severe storm events that often cause property damage.

If you purchase this additional protection, you will have coverage for damage caused by overland water entering your property from torrential rains, rapid snow melt, or overflow of lakes, streams and rivers. This includes coverage for loss or damage from the sudden and accidental entry of overland fresh water through foundations, basement walls or basement doors. This coverage is not included in the Sewer Back-up Coverage endorsement.

The Sewer Back-up Coverage endorsement also provides very important coverage. This includes the sudden and accidental backing up of water or sewage through:

• Drains, waste and sewer pipes that are underground or outside the building
• Septic tanks, septic systems or connected piping located outside the building
• Retention tanks or holding ponds, sump pits, sump pumps and their attached piping or equipment
• Eaves troughs or downspouts

This endorsement does not cover:

• Damage from coastal flooding of salt water, including spray or storm surge
• Seepage through basement walls, doors or foundations that is not caused by overland water
• Loss or damage from water resulting from the intentional breaches of structures such as dams, dykes and levees

The Home Repair Bundle includes three services for $125 per year:

• Home Repair Assure to fix a minor issue before it leads to a large claim.
• Claim Prevent to help prevent a further claim occurring from the same cause after a claim has already occurred.
• HALO Assist for free access to phone advice from legal and home repair experts.

In addition to the home repair service, you have access to unlimited information about covered repair issues in your home. You can call the toll-free number any day, any time and a service representative can answer questions you may have about home issues and repairs. If your home repair issue is not covered under the program, you can choose to be referred to a trusted service provider in your area. You can then arrange and pay for service directly with them.

This depends on the service:

• Claim Prevent can be used immediately after a covered claim.
• The services in HALO Assist can be used immediately after the date your coverage starts.
• For the Home Repair Assure portion of the endorsement, there is a 45-day waiting period from the date your coverages starts.

The services cannot be purchased separately.

The deductible is the amount you must pay out-of-pocket for each claim before your insurance policy pays.

The standard deductible amount is $1,000 for homeowner, condominium owner or tenant insurance policies. You may be eligible to increase or decrease your deductible amount, which may impact your insurance premium. Since the deductible amount is what you pay out-of-pocket for a claim, it is important you choose an amount that you can afford if you ever need to make a claim.

In most cases for property loss or damage, a deductible will apply. However, there are certain instances when you will not have to pay a deductible for property losses.

Here are some of the best tips for saving through RBC Insurance.

• Lower your premium by choosing a higher deductible
• Combine your insurance through us
• Install a home security system

You have several choices for paying your home insurance including: a major credit card (Visa, MasterCard or American Express) or preauthorized withdrawals from your bank account. Your Advisor will work with you to set up the payment plan method that works best for you.

You may use a Visa debit or MasterCard debit for your initial payment, but have to select one of the options above for any future payments.

Using any of the services provided under the Home Repair Bundle won’t affect your claims history or claims-free discount therefore will not increase your premiums.The Home Repair Bundle is designed to help you proactively reduce and prevent the same claims from occurring and provide further protection with assistance services.

If you make a claim under this endorsement, your premium, claims history and claims-free discount will not be affected therefore will not increase your premiums. You do not have to pay your policy deductible if you have an Identity Theft claim.