Tenant Insurance Calgary

Calgary Tenant Insurance FAQ’s

 

Sharp Insurance’s award-winning brokers are happy to help you with your tenant insurance needs in Calgary. All you must do is give us a call and chat with one of our brokers about your insurance options.

At Sharp Insurance, we can answer all your questions and design a tenant insurance package that will help you and your family get the best possible tenant insurance coverage in the city: a coverage that includes not only your valuable belongings, but also your personal liability claims.

We believe that knowledge is power. See below for our FAQ’s. If your questions have not been addressed below, get in touch with a Sharp tenant insurance broker in Calgary.

 

Do I need tenant insurance in Calgary?

Yes! Every landlord in Alberta retains the legal right to require a tenant’s insurance policy to be provided by the prospective tenant before the rental lease is signed. This insurance isn’t meant to protect your landlord alone. In fact, when you compare how much you’re likely to lose if you don’t have insurance, you’ll realize that the cost of tenant insurance is minimal. Insurance should be factored into your living expenses, much like the cost of food and utilities. Recent statistics show that tenant insurance in Alberta costs Canadians an average $25 a month. Isn’t your peace of mind and your family’s safety worth the amount you pay for an average lunch meal per day?

 

What’s the difference between home insurance and tenant insurance in Calgary?

Home insurance is sometimes used as a blanket term for all types of property insurance – house, condo, and renter’s insurance. Renter’s or tenant insurance, however, is property insurance designed specifically for renters or tenants. It provides different coverage than traditional home insurance and is usually much more affordable.

Home insurance blankets almost all types of property insurance, including house, condo, and renter’s. Renter’s, however, omits the structure insurance component and solely insures your liability and personal belongings, making it much more affordable.

 

What perils are covered by Calgary renter’s insurance?

It technically depends on your decisions as to what policy coverage you want to purchase, but a standard insurance policy for tenants will cover:

• Fire
• Smoke
• Explosion
• Lightning
• Electrical current
• Wind
• Hail
• Weight of snow (causing a roof collapse)

• Falling object
• Impact by vehicle or aircraft
• Riot, vandalism, theft, and other malicious acts
• Certain types of water damage (usually caused by plumbing or appliances)
• Sewer backup*
• Overland water (flooding)*
• Earthquake and landslides*

Anything marked with an asterisk (*) may necessitate the purchase of an endorsement to be covered. Check with your tenant insurance broker in Calgary to be sure.

 

How much is tenant insurance in Calgary?

The cost of tenant/renters insurance in Calgary depends on many factors. Call us at Sharp Insurance today or get a tenant insurance quote by completing the form below now to find out how much you can save by signing / switching your tenant insurance policy in Calgary. We’re partners with the country’s top tenant insurance providers and are confident we can find you the best deal on your tenant insurance policy.

• What’s the location of your dwelling? – Your tenant/renter insurance in Calgary will vary depending on where in the city you choose to live. In and around the downtown core is generally more expensive than the outlying suburbs. Residents of high-risk neighbourhoods with a higher reported crime rate are also likely to pay higher premiums on their tenant insurance policies to cover the recurrent break-in, burglary, and theft incidents.
• How is your unit or apartment constructed? – Are you renting an apartment in a high-rise building with multiple suites, a townhouse, a duplex, or a small suite in a small building with only few apartments? However your rented unit is constructed, it’s useful to know that the larger the building and the number of units in it, the lower your premium cost will be.
• Do you currently have a tenant insurance? – Who’s your insurance provider? Let’s do the comparison for you. We’re sure we can get you a better deal with one of our Calgary tenant insurance providers.
• What’s your claims history like? – Have you had any previous claims? The more claims you have as a tenant, the higher your premium becomes on every new tenant insurance policy you sign. This means being a responsible and careful tenant can save you money.
• Do you have other insurance policies? – If you have other insurance policies on your vehicle or any other properties, let us know. We can save you some money by bundling all your insurance policies together in one affordable policy.

 

How much Calgary tenant insurance do you need?

Making an informed decision about how much coverage you need can be a guessing game. Sharp Insurance has a few resources to determine the total amount of coverage you will need, or you can work with a tenant insurance broker in Calgary one-on-one.

 

What isn’t covered by tenant insurance in Calgary?

A number of things may not be covered by your tenant insurance, either because you don’t have them included in your coverage, they’re specifically excluded, or no policy will cover them. Those include:

• Wear and tear
• Mold
• Damage caused by insects, vermin, and animals
• Water damage from frozen plumbing if you’re away

• Any damage caused by your illegal activities
• War or terrorism
• Nuclear incidents
• If your home is left vacant for more than 30 days in a row, you likely won’t have any protection if there is damaged

If you don’t have add-on protection for perils like overland water, sewer backup, and earthquakes, those also will not be covered.

Tenant insurance will also not cover belongings that are not yours – which means that anyone else’s belongings in your place will not be covered, plus the common areas will need to be insured by a master policy – i.e., your landlord’s insurance.

It all boils down to your specific policy and your insurer. Work with a broker to review your exact coverage and determine what your needs are, or start the process by getting free tenant insurance quotes in Calgary with Sharp today.

 

What is “high-risk renter’s insurance” in Calgary?

Have you been considered a high-risk renter? You may have been labeled a high-risk renter if you:

• Had a lot of claims
• Been cancelled for non-payment
• Been cancelled by an insurance company for a reason other than non-payment

Even if you’re considered high-risk, you can still purchase tenant insurance. You may need to limit some parts of your coverage or go through special carriers, but it’s possible!

 

How does a tenant insurance deductible work?

A deductible is the amount of money you spend out of pocket (in case of an accident in your unit) before your insurance policy kicks in and covers your losses (or other losses you’re found responsible for). Even though you’re usually able to select the deductible you want, a higher deductible always means a slightly lower premium.

 

What are policy limits?

A policy limit is virtually the max amount of payout that you’ll receive for a covered claim. Different limits will exist for different areas of your policy, and some items will have a single limit, as well as a different limit for personal liability claims.

You’ll have options when it comes to choosing your policy limits. You’ll want to choose enough to cover the entirety of your contents, but you don’t want to pay for coverage that you don’t need. We always recommend at least $30,000 for your contents and roughly $1 million for your personal liability. You might want around $3,000 for additional living expenses, but it depends on how “well” you want to live in a time of crisis where your unit is unavailable.

Our Calgary tenant insurance brokers can help you select the right tenant insurance levels to guarantee you’re paying the right amount for your coverage.

 

What are my loss settlement options for tenant insurance in Calgary?

A loss settlement will determine how much payout you’ll receive if all your belongings are destroyed. You may choose between the following two options:

• Replacement Cost – this is the cost to replace the item as it is. This is the more expensive option.
• Actual Cash Value – this is the market price or purchase price minus depreciation. This is the more affordable option.