Mortgage Helper | The reality
Insurance Once There Is a Tenant
The cheapest mistake to avoid in this whole hub: tell your insurer what is actually happening in your home.
The short answer
A tenant changes what your insurer is covering, and an unauthorized suite can change whether they cover it at all. Disclose the actual configuration when you buy, not at claim time. Your tenant's belongings are their responsibility, and requiring tenant insurance is normal.
Disclose the configuration
Policies are written on what the insurer was told. A home with a rental unit is a different risk from an owner-occupied one, and an unauthorized unit is a different risk again.
Failing to disclose is not a technicality. It is the thing that turns a claim into a dispute at the worst possible moment.
Whose belongings are whose
Your policy covers your property and your liability. Your tenant's belongings are theirs to insure, and requiring tenant insurance in the tenancy agreement is standard and sensible.
It also protects you, because a tenant with no coverage and a loss is a tenant looking for someone to be responsible.
The strata deductible, again
If the home is a strata, the strata policy has a deductible and a claim originating in your unit can make you responsible for it. Water damage deductibles in particular can be substantial.
A tenant increases the number of ways a claim can start in your unit, which makes deductible coverage on your own policy more worth having, not less.
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Common questions
Do I need different insurance if I rent out a suite?
Almost certainly. A home with a rental unit is a different risk from an owner-occupied one and policies are written on what the insurer was told. Disclose the actual configuration when you buy rather than at claim time.
Does my policy cover my tenant's belongings?
No. Your policy covers your property and your liability. Your tenant insures their own belongings, and requiring tenant insurance in the tenancy agreement is normal and protects both of you.
What about the strata deductible?
If a claim starts in your unit you can be responsible for the strata's deductible, which for water damage can be large. A tenant increases the ways a claim can start, so coverage for that exposure on your own policy is worth confirming.
Where these figures come from
- VanPlex active listings, MLS® data
Active townhouses, half duplexes, and row houses built in the last two years across Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley.
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Find homes with a suite
Every figure in this hub comes from listings you can open. Search the full set and combine a suite with price, bedrooms, parking, and distance to a station.