Tenant’s insurance
What is the difference between tenant insurance and renter’s insurance?
A question that is often asked is “What is the difference between renter’s insurance and tenant’s insurance?”
Although both terms are used in everyday language, the Insurance Bureau of Canada and belairdirect use the term tenant’s insurance and refer to it as such within any documents and communications.
Why do you need tenant’s insurance?
Even though you’re not the owner of the home, as a tenant, you should protect yourself and your personal property. Your landlord’s insurance only covers the building and the assets that they own. Their insurance policy may not cover personal property that belong to tenants if it gets damaged.
Tenant insurance can therefore protect your personal belongings in the event that they are either lost or damaged in a covered incident. This may include personal items such as clothing, your furniture and any personal items within your rented property.
Tenant insurance also provides you with liability coverage in the event that someone hurts themselves while on the property you rent and may help pay for medical bills, property damage and lawsuits.
Finally, tenant insurance can help you get back on your feet after a covered incident by reimbursing living expenses if your place of residence becomes uninhabitable.
What is covered by tenant’s insurance?
With tenant’s insurance coverage from belairdirect, the following could be covered in the event of a covered incident:
Your personal property
This includes the things you own, wear or use while you’re in your rented space, like jewelry, clothes, shoes, and electronics. It’s taken you a long time to amass all of your possessions. Tenant insurance can help ensure that you don’t have to start from scratch after a covered incident.
Additional living expenses
If your rental dwelling becomes unfit to live in due to a claim, you may be eligible for financial help to cover living expenses so that you can get your life back to normal as quickly as possible.
Personal liability coverage for tenants
You can rest easy knowing you’re covered if ever somebody accidentally gets injured on your rented property or a covered incident causes damage to somebody else’s property. This may cover things like medical expenses, lawsuits and property damage. Liability coverage may also protect you if ever you injure someone accidentally or cause property damage anywhere in the world.
S.O.S. Identity: The identity theft insurance protection
With the amount of information people share online these days, identity theft has unfortunately become a growing concern for Canadians. That’s why belairdirect offers you S.O.S. Identity, a service that provides you with legal information and professional advice in the event of identity theft or a cyberattack.
You'll also be able to get reimbursed for up to $25,000 in costs related to restoring your identity. What's more, there's no deductible to pay, and using S.O.S. Identity will not constitute a claim on your tenant insurance policy.
As an added bonus, you'll also get free access to LifeSpeak, the health and wellness platform.
Add S.O.S Identity to your belairdirect tenant insurance policy today for only $1/month $1.25/month and save up to 50%.
Get a quick, online tenant insurance quote to get the peace of mind that you deserve.
Frequently asked questions about tenant's insurance
Still have questions about tenant’s insurance? We’re here to help.
1 - Does tenant insurance cover damage to the occupied home and/or the building?
Tenants are held financially responsible for the harm they cause to any part of the building in which they live. Your liability coverage will protect you if you cause accidental damage to the building – whether to your unit or to the whole building.
2 - Is it legal to require renter's insurance?
Although there’s no law about having renter's insurance, landlords can require a tenant to buy and maintain tenant's insurance as a requirement of the lease. In addition, requiring tenants to purchase their own insurance policy is the only real way to protect their possessions.
3 - I am a student renting an apartment, but I go back home during the holidays. What should I do before leaving?
Before leaving, unplug appliances. When you're gone, have a friend check on your apartment daily to ensure there is no water damage, and ask them to clear snow from the balcony, etc.
Make sure you check the terms and conditions of your policy to confirm that you have adequate coverage.