A home insurance policy in Simcoe, like everywhere else, is meant to protect you financially if something disastrous happens to your home. Although your home may seem sturdy enough to take anything that can be thrown at it, it is essential to remember that life tends to throw curveballs at you when you're not expecting them. It is in these unforeseen circumstances you'll be glad that you protected yourself in the first place. 

Disasters such as a fire could start innocently and spread quickly, catching you off guard. A harsh storm could cause severe wind damage to your home, damage your walls, and shatter windows. Also, note that homeowners insurance covers more than just the home itself. If someone breaks into your home and steals your most valuable possessions, or a guest gets injured on your property and decides to sue you, a proper policy can protect against these as well. Given the many things that could go wrong, protecting such an expensive investment only makes sense. Even if nothing happens, insurance will give you a very welcome peace of mind.

Legally, house insurance is not mandatory. However, it is highly recommended that you protect something so valuable. Furthermore, many financial institutions won’t approve your mortgage if you don’t have home insurance. Home insurance also protects many of your possessions, so make sure to create a home inventory list. Suppose a fire, storm, or other disaster damages or destroys your home. In that case, your most valuable asset and many of your other possessions could be gone entirely, resulting in you having to pay to replace these items out of pocket. You could also face lawsuits due to things happening on your property or theft of valuable items. While an insurance policy can't prevent these disasters, it can ensure that if they occur, you can financially recover from such an incident and keep your life in order during a tough time.

Although there are a variety of situations where Simcoe home insurance will cover you, there are a few situations that your coverage does not protect against. These situations include:

• Damage that is the result of wear and tear and the product's natural lifetime running out
• Damage that happened due to poor maintenance
• Damage that is done intentionally, such as by starting a fire
• Damage due to water seeping in over time 

Please note that there are also many individual items that often require their own insurance policy, such as jewellery insurance, which can be covered for an additional cost. For a complete list of what isn't covered and what type of additional coverages are available, you should speak with your Morison Insurance broker to find out more.

Luckily, there are steps you can take to lower your premiums. These include the following:

• Increase your deductible
• Avoid making a claim on minor incidents to keep your claims history clean
• Bundle your home and auto insurance policies
• Install water damage prevention devices (sump pump/backwater valve/automatic shut-off valve) 

Please note that this is not a complete list of ways to lower your insurance premium. If you would like to know more ways to lower your costs or would like a Simcoe home insurance quote, please speak with your Morison Insurance broker to find out more.

You'll be happy to know that even after you can lower the base price of your Simcoe home insurance, there are home insurance discounts that will let you save money even further. Some of these discounts include:

• The home alarm discount
• Loyalty discount
• Mortgage-free discount
• New home discount
• Non-smoker discount
• Water mitigation discount
• Unfinished basement discount
• Renewal discount
• Multi-property home discount

Please note that this is not a complete list of possible discounts you can receive, and things will change based on which insurance provider you are with. If you would like to know more possible discounts or would like a Simcoe home insurance quote, please let your Morison insurance broker know, and they will be happy to assist you.

Yes, but it works differently since you don’t own the property. The type of insurance that is recommended in this case is tenant insurance. Tenant insurance protects you in many ways that a property owner’s insurance policy does. Although anything provided by your landlord is insured by your landlord, your own possessions are your responsibility to insure.

It can protect your possessions if damaged or stolen. It can also grant you many of the same legal protections, such as protecting you if someone is injured on your property. If you are forced to move out due to substantial damage to your property, tenant insurance will also cover a portion of your expenses.

If you have any questions about tenant insurance or would like a quote, we recommend contacting your Morison Insurance broker, and they will be happy to assist you.

Yes. This is a form of property insurance known as landlord insurance. Your policy must specify that you are renting out to a tenant who is there long term and that you are not the only one living there. Your property policy would include coverage for the dwelling and any contents such as appliances in the house. While your tenant is responsible for their own possessions as well as their own actions, there are plenty of things that could go wrong that neither of you would be at fault for. You can't control fire or flooding, and as a result, something could happen beyond anyone's control. If property damage like this happens, you are the property owner and, thus, are the one responsible for covering costs such as repairs. Landlord insurance will also cover any of your stolen possessions if there is a break-in.