If you are a prospective tenant who plans to rent a property, you must start thinking about renters insurance. A leaking pipe or a leaking toilet ceiling are situations that can make a place uninhabitable. If such situations occur, does your insurance cover them, or do you have to pay for it?
You need to choose insurance after detailed research and make a wise choice to protect yourself from additional costs like water damage, etc. There are innumerable insurance companies in Canada that offer renters insurance.
If you want to get the very best tenant insurance deals in Toronto and know the policies in detail before you make the decision, then Surex is the place to go.
Visit https://www.surex.com/insurance/tenant/toronto if you’d like to learn more about renters insurance or need to find the best renters insurance quotes in Toronto.
Why is water damage insurance crucial for tenants?
Typically speaking, minor types of water damage, like an accidental water overflow in the bathroom or kitchen, are generally covered in a basic insurance plan. But, the major concern includes problems like a leak from a bursting pipe or water sewage damage. Events like an overflowing bathroom or major flood damage are not covered under your basic renters’ insurance plan.
When you are a tenant, the problems compound as you are bound by liability to pay for all accidental damages. As a tenant, you are not supposed to pay for any damages caused to the structure of the property, even if it is caused by water damage. But any of your belongings that get damaged by water are on you. A basic insurance plan does not cover this. That is the reason you need to get additional insurance for water damages to cover all your bases.
Knowing this crucial information before an unforeseen incident will help you get ahead of the problem and help you save you a lot of time, energy and money.
Does renters insurance cover water damage in Canada?
Most basic tenant insurance plans do not usually cover damages caused by water from a damaged toilet or even flood-like situations due to a natural calamity. Your landlord will most definitely not repair such damages for you and will have to pay out of your own pocket.
However, you can purchase an add-on for such water damages. Ask your insurer about the water damage policy. You might even be able to secure a discount if you purchase the add-on along with the main renter’s policy.
You need to buy additional floater insurance to cover them under your tenant insurance claim.
What is covered under water damage insurance?
Here is what a typical water damage insurance policy covers:
- Burst pipes: If a water pipe bursts due to freezing, etc., then any damage costs are paid for by the insurance you get.
- Heavy rain: Any damage to your belongings due to excessive unforeseen rain also comes under the insurance plan.
- Accidental overflow: If your toilet or kitchen overflows due to clogging and damages your belongings then that is insured under your plan.
What is not covered under water damage insurance?
Your insurer would not cover every sort of water damage. Here are some exclusions:
- Negligence: If you have neglected a water leak and did not inform the landlord on time then the damage caused has to be paid for by you. A burst pipe comes under insurance if you had no way to prevent it. However, if you ignore a leak for some time, you need to pay out of your own pocket.
- Floods: A basic renters insurance plan does not cover damages due to flood-like situations. Neither your basic insurance nor your landlord is responsible for damages due to such situations. You need to get this added to your insurance plan for further safety.
- Damages due to sewage: No damages incurred by sewage or drain clogging problems are covered under a basic insurance plan. You should get an add-on for the same.
What are other things that renters insurance covers?
Generally speaking, landlords insurance covers anything part of the house structure or the building you stay in. Everything else, the material good inside the house, is not covered. Here are a few of the things that are normally covered by renters insurance policies.
Personal belongings
Personal belongings include anything you possess inside the premises of the rented place. So if anything is stolen, damaged or lost when you are a legal tenant at a property, you need not pay for any of it from your own pockets. A renter’s insurance policy can definitely help you save a considerable sum of money in these situations.
Excess living costs
If there is any sort of uninhabitable condition (this includes any structural problems due to water damage) that is bothering your stay inside your rented property, then you have the option to move out. When you move out, you can rent a different place while repairs are being conducted in your original place. The extra expense you incur during this period will be paid for by the tenants’ insurance policy.
Tenant liability insurance
Tenant liability insurance helps you when someone is injured on the property premises. Imagine if someone accidentally trips and falls but is not a legal tenant of the property. In this case, your insurance policy will cover you (legal and medical bills included), i.e. if you are found guilty of the charges.
Does tenant insurance cover water damage? Now you know the answer
If you are wondering if you need insurance that might never come to use, you might be wrong. Think about the amount of money you will have to pay if you have to replace your furniture due to an overflowing bathroom. The huge lump sum of money you will lose overnight will be even scarier than paying the premium for renters insurance. So, act smart, invest in the water damage tenant insurance add on for a hassle-free future.
You must stay aware of your rights as a tenant at all times. Get a detailed understanding of what damages your landlord should pay for and what your insurance can pay for to avoid getting into any legal battle.
