Calculate Your Canadian Home Insurance Costs

First, we'll ask you about:

• Your name
• Your date of birth
• Who occupies the house?
• When did you move into the property?

The next step is when we gather policy information:

• When do you want to start a policy
• Do you have a current policy?

The third section asks you about discounts you may be able to receive. For example:

• Do you plan on bundling home insurance with other products?
• Do you have monitored fire and burglar alarms?
• Do you have deadbolt locks on all entrances?
• How many fire extinguishers do you have?
• Do you have a sprinkler system?
• Do non-smokers occupy the home?
• How many mortgages do you have on the property?

Once the questionnaire is filled out, you will receive:

• Quotes from insurers willing to write you a policy
• The lowest quote is shown first and includes information about the insurer or brokerage and their contact information.

That's it, and in minutes you'll be connected with the provider of your lowest quote so you can get a new home insurance policy the same day. It's free and simple to use.

Why is it hard to find an accurate homeowners insurance calculator online? Because there are so many variables to consider. When it comes to saving money on your home insurance payments, the amount you save will be based on how much insurance you buy. Below, we list some of the factors that determine your home insurance premium.

How much home insurance you intend to purchase: This can vary depending on the amount of coverage you want. You can purchase additional coverage for damage caused by earthquakes, sewer backups, or roof ice damming.

The cost of rebuilding your home: As average home prices rise across Canada, your policy may not cover the whole cost of rebuilding your home. To address this concern, some homeowners add a guaranteed replacement cost to their provision, which may in turn bump up their insurance premiums.

How much your contents are worth: There’s often a limit on how much coverage is available for contents. If the limit is lower than the value of your contents, you will likely want to purchase additional coverage.

The following factors may contribute to your home insurance premiums, which refer to the interest rate you pay the mortgage lender on top of paying for the policy:

Mortgage lender: Some lenders may require you to buy additional coverage, which means you’ll have to pay higher premiums.

Additional fees: You may face extra fees if you don’t pay your premiums on time. For example, if you make automatic payments using a credit card and you cancel the card without providing the insurance company with a new method of payment, the insurance company can charge you a late fee. Avoiding additional fees can be an effective way to save on your home insurance premiums.

Once you’re through with our calculator, your home insurance premiums can be down to the dollar.

Remember those other factors we were talking about? We’ve listed a few of them for you below, but this isn’t the whole list. Not nearly. Our property insurance calculator will evaluate all these factors — and more — to figure out exactly what kind of coverage you might need. Once you know, it makes getting a home insurance quote much easier. But, for now, scroll down to see what variables you may need to consider.

Location: The location of your home can make a difference. If your neighbourhood has a higher number of claims than other neighbourhoods, the insurance company may increase your premiums.

Fire hydrant/station proximity: Living close to a fire station might mean being woken up in the middle of the night, but it could also lead to lower premiums because there’s a reduced chance of substantial property damage. In urban areas, this isn’t much of an issue. However, this could result in higher premiums if your home is in a rural or remote area.

The age and condition of your home: A home is more susceptible to damage as it ages. Old pipes can leak or the roof may begin to deteriorate. Renovating and repairing your home to avoid age-related repairs can lead to lower premiums.

Whether you work from home or rent out your home: Working from home means there could be additional items in the home that need to be insured, resulting in higher premiums. As a landlord you don’t need coverage to protect your tenant’s personal belongings, but you do need liability insurance in the event someone is injured on your property. This can push up your premiums.

How many claims you’ve made in the past: Making a number of claims can lead to higher premiums.

Your age: It may be difficult to maintain your home as you grow older. This increases the possibility of damage to your home and your premiums may also rise.

Your home’s heating system: A home with oil heating usually has a higher risk profile than those with a gas furnace or electric heating because of the possibility of a leaky oil tank. Additionally, a wood stove can increase the risk of a house fire or carbon monoxide poisoning. As a result, if your home has either of these, you may need to pay higher premiums.

There are four basic types of homeowners insurance in Canada:

Comprehensive - The most inclusive home insurance available. It covers both the building and its contents within it from all perils and losses, except for any risks that have been explicitly left out of your policy. Because it is the most comprehensive type of policy, it is also the most expensive.

There are two types of risk insurance companies don’t usually include in any home insurance policy:

• Uninsurable perils, which are events that pose so much risk that insurance companies won't cover them.
• Optional coverage, which is not automatically included in home insurance like sewer back-up or earthquake coverage, for example, you live in an area prone to such events

Basic or Named Perils - This type of home insurance policy insures your house and personal property for perils specifically named within the policy. This is the least expensive type of home insurance policy.

Broad - A broad policy is a good mid-range policy that can cover more than just a basic plan, without breaking the bank on premiums. It covers more than named perils but less than what is covered by a comprehensive plan.

No-Frills: Very basic coverage for properties that don’t meet normal underwriting standards.

Personal Liability: You are protected in case you cause damage to someone else’s property, or harm to someone, unintentionally. This coverage applies to you should these events occur anywhere in the world.

These add-ons will naturally cost more at the front-end but may save you money in the long run should you run into extensive repairs and replacement costs.

You can start on comparison sites like LowestRates.ca. A few minutes of your time, and a few pieces of information about your home insurance needs, and we’ll do the rest. We’ll out you provide you the cheapest quotes from more than 50 of Canada’s top home insurance providers. We’ll also connect you to a licensed broker that can talk you through your best options.

Similarly, you can talk to a broker who represents multiple insurance agencies or directly to an insurance provider to see what offers and discounts they may offer. The choice is yours.

There are many ways to reduce your home insurance premiums including:

Bundling: Most insurance providers will offer a discount for your loyalty when you bundle home and auto insurance under one company. It saves them money, and that is passed down to you.

Increasing Deductibles: By agreeing to pay more upfront for repair and replacement costs, you are taking some of the risk factor away from your provider. The lower the risk, the more you can save on your home insurance premium.

Paying in One Lump Sum – Paying your home insurance premiums once a year saves your provider administrative costs and headaches that occur when you pay once a month. Some of that savings is passed on to you.

Membership: Some organizations such as alumni groups or unions offer their members discounts on home insurance.

Being Claims-Free: Home insurance providers look at past claim histories to predict your future claims. The more you have, the higher risk you are. Staying claims free will help keep rates down.

Having a Security System: Protecting your home with a good security and smoke detection system can reduce the risk of damage and costs to your home.

Good news. LowestRates.ca offers policies to renters and condo owners. If you’re in the market for either of these policies, you can fill out the property insurance form and select the Condo Insurance or Tenant Insurance option on the first page. If you’re looking for more information about either of these products, feel free to visit our dedicated Condo Insurance or Tenant Insurance pages.

We’ve already told you why home insurance calculators won’t give you an accurate quote. Here’s why our quoting tool will. Our quoter will take into account the value of your home and its contents, your location, square footage, and other factors that contribute to your home insurance costs. In addition, you’ll have the option to include add-ons to your policy according to your needs and preferences.

A calculator is a rough estimator of home insurance payments. By using LowestRates.ca’s home insurance calculator, your annual insurance bill could be reduced by hundreds of dollars, because you’ll be able to see if there’s an insurance company that can offer the coverage you need for a lower price.

All you have to do is fill out the form above with your postal code and hit the ‘Get Started’ button. Then, you’ll be taken to a window where you’ll be asked to fill out some information about you and how you use your home. You’ll then be redirected to a selection of home insurance companies from multiple brokers and insurance companies across Canada. Just like that.

An insurance premium, also known as a rate, is the amount you pay for an insurance policy. This can be paid on a monthly or annual basis. When you fill out a form to compare house insurance rates with our calculator tool, this is what you’ll be shown.

Premium payments can be made on a number of different schedules, depending on your provider. Common payment frequencies include annually or monthly. Our home insurance calculator will show you your monthly payments as well as your annual costs. Regardless, a broker or agent will be in touch with you shortly after you complete the form to secure your rate. They’d be happy to answer any questions you have about payment frequency.

An actual cash value policy means the claims payment is based on the current value of the product in a similar condition that needs to be replaced. For instance, if a 10-year-old dryer is damaged, the payment is based on the current value and not the cost of buying a new dryer. Premiums for this type of policy are lower than a replacement cost value policy.

A replacement cost value policy means that the claims payment is based on the value of replacing the product with a brand new one that’s a similar make or model. Premiums for this type of policy are higher than an actual cash values policy.

Endorsements are additional types of coverage (such as sewer backup endorsement) that can be added to your insurance policy.

This is the amount you have to pay towards damages before the insurer will pay. If, for example, there’s $5,000 in damage to your home and you have a $500 deductible, you will pay the first $500 in damage and the insurance company will pay the rest. A higher deductible will lead to lower premiums.

Depreciation is a decline in value of an item over time.

Perils are unexpected or accidental events.