Renters need

insurance too.

We protect Ontario tenants with insurance you can afford.

We protect Ontario tenants with
insurance you can afford.

If you rent an apartment, townhouse or house, you still need the peace of mind that your possessions are safe. You don’t need to own your home, to want to protect it.

We’ve got Tenant Insurance to protect you and your belongings from all of life’s surprises.

Coverage starts from as little as $25 a month.

Like renting, our policies are flexible to your needs.

Apartment Tenant

Townhouse Tenant

House
Tenants

What is tenant, renter, or apartment insurance?

It’s home insurance when you rent the home you live in.

Renters, not landlords, purchase this coverage. Your landlord is responsible for the structural elements of the rental property. Still, it’s up to renters to ensure everything else is protected. You may cause unintentional damage to an adjacent apartment when your bathroom floods. Your dog might bite a neighbour. Maybe your apartment is broken into and all of your electronics are stolen. Our Tenant Insurance policies are affordable, removing some of the stress of all these possibilities, and more.

Protection Options for Your Home

Interactive Coverage Map for Tenants

Is tenant insurance mandatory?

Landlord

While tenant insurance is not mandatory in Ontario, it becomes necessary IF your landlord requires it as part of your rental agreement.

Risk Factor

More and more landlords are protecting everyone by requiring proof of renters’ or tenants’ insurance as a condition of your rental agreement. You may be unable to rent the apartment or home if your landlord or property manager requires renters insurance and you do not have it.

Solution

A renters insurance policy allows you to provide a certificate of insurance to the landlord or property manager showing that you have the coverage required to rent the apartment or home.

Why do you need renters insurance?

Accidents & lawsuits happen for any number of reasons. That’s why we offer protection.

Premises Liability

If you leave the bathtub running, you’ll likely be facing a very mad downstairs tenant and a hefty bill from your landlord. You may be responsible for damage to your apartment or dwelling should you be the cause of the damage.

Personal Liability

If a guest in your unit trips and falls and sustains an injury on your property. Suppose your dog gets out and bites a neighbour, or your kid damages the building entry. If a claim is made against you (for your actions & or the premises where you reside) for bodily injury or property damage. You are responsible.

Contents Away from Home

You may take your valuable property outside of your unit. For example, what happens if your laptop or golf clubs get damaged or stolen while you are out at the park? Coverage for your personal property while your belongings are away from your home, is protection worth having.

Additional Living Expenses or Loss of Use Coverage

Suppose the building you live in has a loss from a covered peril under your renters’ insurance policy that makes your apartment or home uninhabitable. In that case, you must find somewhere else to live while the repairs occur, which can be expensive and inconvenient. Additional expenses such as moving, increased food, and living expenses quickly add up.

Contents Coverage or Personal Property

This insurance covers your ‘stuff’—the actual contents of the apartment. You can choose the level of coverage that reflects the impact of your potential loss. Don’t pay for coverage you don’t need while ensuring you are protected. Unpredictable losses can occur to your property due to burglary, fire, water damage, storm, and more.

Limits and Exclusions

Your insurance provider didn’t know you had an extensive Pokemon card collection ranging back over 25 years. Some types of personal property are subject to coverage limits under renters insurance policies. These limits vary by the type of property and by what caused the loss or damage. For example, jewelry, bicycles, collectible cards, and coins may have limited coverage or may need to be covered.

Your Excalibur Insurance broker will ask many questions about your needs and lifestyle to ensure we offer you the best coverage solutions.

Choose to have us call you back to review coverage if you’d rather not complete the entire process online.

We work with over 40 of Canada’s Top Insurers to guarantee you have options.

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3 Common Tenants Insurance

Misconceptions

1

“I can’t afford renters insurance.”

We get it; most people don’t have much extra money – but unlike car insurance or even home insurance, Renters Insurance can cost as little as $5 a week. The fact that lost or damaged stuff can be replaced with new items and court costs and living expenses are covered in the event of a claim makes it a no-brainer.

“I don’t need insurance because I rent.”

Suppose a claim originates from your apartment and causes flooding, smoke or fire damage. In that case, your neighbours’ and landlord’s insurance companies will almost certainly sue you. Court costs alone can sink most of us, let alone the repairs if you’re found to be in some way responsible.

2

3

“I don’t need renters insurance because nothing I have is expensive.”

If you lose your stuff in a claim, renter’s insurance lets you replace damaged items and clothing with new things. In addition, if you need to leave your apartment due to a claim or building issues – renter’s insurance pays for you to live somewhere else with a cost of living allowance.

Making a Claim

I’ve got tenants’ insurance, and an accident has happened. What do I do?

Welcome to your first ‘insurance claim.’ Our team is standing by to make this process as simple as possible. You can answer a few questions here with our online ‘make a claim’ service, and an Excalibur Insurance broker will be in touch shortly to take care of you.

We’ll explain the next steps and keep you informed of the status of your claim.

Make a Claim

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Frequently Asked Questions

If you’ve got Tenant Insurance questions – we’re here to answer them. Our team of defenders is always happy to help clarify your insurance knowledge and here are a few Tips and Frequently Asked Questions to get you started.

What Is Tenant Insurance?

Tenant insurance, also commonly referred to as renters insurance, is a type of insurance policy that is designed specifically for people who live in properties that they do not own – i.e., tenants. As “tenants,” these individuals are not responsible for the maintenance or for any damages/losses that occur to the physical property. They can, however, be held liable for damages or injuries to third-parties, and their personal property contained within their rented homes and not owned by the property owner is still their responsibility. To protect their personal liability and contents, tenants purchase tenant insurance, or renters insurance. Tenant insurance includes coverage for the individual’s belongings up until a specific limit against a broad range of certain perils and generally also contains a component which may insure the individual if they are ever held liable for a third-party’s injuries or property damage.

As an added, some policies can be further customized. Some policies may contain a coverage known as “additional living expenses,” which insures the individual for any necessary expenses that they may incur during a period where their unit is unlivable due to a loss.

As mentioned above, the majority of tenant insurance policies contain coverage for the individual’s personal contents, their personal liability, and may include additional living expenses. The insured can purchase a form of coverage known as “all risk” – which insures against every peril save for those specifically excluded in the policy documents. The tenant’s personal liability is insurable up until a specific stated amount, which the insured may be able to raise for a slightly increased premium.

Tenant insurance also covers tenant’s legal liability, which is used to protect both the tenant and landlord and absolve the tenant of any costs that may occur if they cause unintentional damages to the building itself.

Additional living expenses coverage tends to vary in what it covers. It may what is considered “necessary living expenses” – i.e., clothing, food (takeout, restaurants, groceries), hotel costs, childcare, etc., until the insured’s unit is liveable again. It will not cover frivolous expenses, such as a stay at a 5-star hotel, or an extravagant meal at the most expensive restaurant in-town. Discuss with your broker if you are unsure of what is considered a necessary living expense.

It’s important that you purchase enough coverage to fully protect all your belongings as well as give you a decent financial “cushioning” for your legal liability. Most policies will start at around $100,000 in liability insurance, but we recommend increasing that amount to at least $1 million.

For your contents, most insurance companies will recommend at least $30,000 to $40,000 in coverage, or more if you own a larger collection of highly-valued items, such as jewelry or even artwork. Insuring high-value items can cost you a little more on your monthly premiums, but it’s worth it to have all those belongings fully insured.

Chances are, your landlord will already have their own insurance coverage. The “master policy,” or your landlord’s insurance, is designed to cover the physical property, including the structure of the building and all common areas. It will also cover the landlord’s liability.

However, the master policy does not cover the tenant’s personal liability, nor will it cover their belongings. Some master policies may cover furniture or appliances that came with the individual units, but will not cover anything you’ve brought in to make your house feel like a home. As such, it’s important that every tenant acquire their own policy, to fill the gaps that a landlord policy will cover. Tenant insurance is inexpensive and sometimes required by landlords.

In Ontario, tenant’s legal liability coverage is automatically included in your tenant insurance package. It is used to cover the losses or damages of a property resulting from the actions of a renter that is occupying a space at the property.

This is important because, A) it is sometimes required by the landlord as a means to protect themselves from the cost of damages a tenant could cause to the physical space and B) mitigates the risk of any legal issue, since the insurance pays for the cost of the damages or losses caused by the tenant.

An extremely basic tenant insurance policy may cost only around $10/month, but since we advise increasing from the bare minimum and acquiring enough insurance to sufficiently pad your personal liability and contents coverage, you’ll find you may pay within the $20-$40 range for your tenant insurance policy. Rates for tenant insurance varies based on the kind of unit that you rent, how many tenants are in that unit, the total value of your contents, any prior tenant/home claims under your name, and the physical location/postal code of the unit.