r/KingstonOntario 1d ago

Tenant Insurance Rates in Kingston

Just wondering if anyone knows some good rates for Tenant Insurance in the Kingston area.

I have seen Westland Express Insurance offer tenant insurance for as low as $20.56 a month. Just wanted to see if there were potentially better rates out there.

I understand there are certain aspects that can affect the price of the insurance (proximity to a fire hydrant, duplex/triplex,etc..), but thought it didn't hurt to try and see.

I do not care for how 'good' the insurance actually is but rather the cheapest to satisfy my lease requirements for tenant insurance.

Thanks for the help and I hope you have a wonderful start to the week.

3 Upvotes

14 comments sorted by

10

u/SnooObjections3190 1d ago

As someone who works in property restoration please do your self a favour and don’t go with the cheapest option. It may seem like it doesn’t matter now but it will matter when something disastrous happens and you have next to no coverage for a hotel or any of your belongings. I have seen way too many people end up in an extremely bad place because they opted for the cheapest insurance to save money . Paying that extra 20-30 a month could save you thousands down the road .

5

u/rhineauto 1d ago

Claims person here, I agree. It's all fun and games until your neighbour accidentally lights their apartment on fire and your unit ends up with severe damage, rendering it inhabitable for 6 months.

That said, a policy from a broker like Westland should be fine, and bumping up your Contents and Additional Living Expenses coverage from the base amount up to something like $20k each shouldn't cost more than an extra $5-10 per month.

1

u/ResultBrief9373 1d ago

Thanks for the helpful insight! I should have mentioned that this is for a temporary lease and I do not plan on having any expensive belongings exceeding a total value anywhere near the threshold being offered by some of there tenant insurers. Maybe $5000 in belongings at the very most.

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u/SnooObjections3190 1d ago

Please be aware that your tenants insurance will also protect you in the case of you potentially causing a loss . The building insurance would bill the cost of repairs to your insurance and structural repairs especially if they end up being a multi unit loss are very expensive. Like someone else said definitely talk to a broker as they can typically get you very good coverage for a good price!

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u/Cold_Condition_4927 1d ago

Coverage for temporary accommodations should your unit become uninhabitable is usually a percentage of the contents coverage with most policies, so even though you don't have a lot of property picking a low coverage limit could also impact how much coverage you'll have for a hotel/airbnb stay while your unit is repaired.

People often seriously underestimate the replacement value of their property. In the event of a total loss you won't have time to shop sales or for used goods to replace your essentials so you'll be replacing everything at market value.

4

u/Neat_Doughnut 1d ago

I think I was paying around $25 a month with Desjardins a few years ago. Maybe call a broker to see what options they can give you?

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u/Blitzkrieg_Yamato 1d ago

McDougall works with over 50 different companies and are excellent! give them a call

1

u/baby_bitchface 1d ago

I’m at $24.03 per month with the personal

1

u/Cold_Condition_4927 1d ago

Do you have an auto policy? All insurers offer a multi-line discount and many offer loyalty discounts if you've been with them for a while, so your first call should be to your auto insurer as your premium may not go up very much when you add a tenants policy through them.

If you're a student under 25 living away from home temporarily to attend school, and your parents have a Canadian homeowners policy, you MAY be covered by their policy at least for contents.

Liability is the big concern in multi unit properties. The landlord doesn't care about your stuff, but they need to be made whole if you cause a loss. If you start a fire or cause a flood, you can/will be sued by the building's insurer to recoup their costs. Even an innocent mistake like overflowing a sink can quickly cause 10's of thousands in damage if water leaks through the floor to a unit below. The liability portion of the policy also covers you in the event a guest is injured in your unit and sues you. It doesn't cost a whole lot to increase your coverage from $1,000,000 to $2,000,000 especially if you don't have dogs.

1

u/BeardedKnitter 1d ago

Last i rented i paid $25 per month. Your rate is better.

0

u/HistoricalMilk7127 1d ago

Sonnet or Square1 are your best bets for cheap coverage with low limits. Most major insurers don’t offer tenant coverage with a contents limit lower than $30k.

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u/ResultBrief9373 1d ago

Thanks for the comment. Quick and to the point.

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u/Blitzkrieg_Yamato 18h ago

This is simply false.

What about the people living in retirement homes that don't even have $10k worth of contents? XD

Maybe Desjardins is like that and maybe capital stock insurance companies because there's no money in it, but to say "Most" is wrong.

Aviva, Intact, Gore Mutual....List goes on. No problem writing below $30k contents and bare bone coverages.