Residents of the Land of the Living Skies have a lot of choice when it comes to protecting their most valuable asset – their home – from the unexpected. But choosing the right home insurance policy isn’t simply a case of finding the cheapest, and it’s important for everyone to understand all of their options so they can make an informed decision.
To help you do just that, here we have provided details on home and property insurance in Saskatchewan, including coverage options, cost considerations and other pertinent information. Let’s start with some local insurance providers; the table below shows some of the most trusted insurance companies operating in the province.
You might be wondering: do I really have to have home insurance? Unlike auto insurance, home insurance is not a legal requirement in Saskatchewan; technically this means that all homeowners and renters can choose not to have any. However, if you have a mortgage on your home, your mortgage provider will almost certainly mandate a minimum level of home insurance coverage as a condition of borrowing. And even if this isn’t the case for you, insurance is by far the best and most cost-effective way to protect yourself against financial catastrophe.
There are a couple of different types of property insurance available in Saskatchewan; although all three are given the moniker “home insurance”, they are actually all different. They are:
Homeowner’s insurance covers the physical buildings that constitute a home (including detached structures), personal belongings within the home, and personal liability in the event that someone is injured on the property. It is the most common form of property insurance.
There are different levels of protection within homeowner’s insurance:
Saskatchewan isn’t known for its large condo population, but there are still quite a few residents living in this form of abode, especially in urban areas, and condo insurance is the appropriate form of insurance in these cases. Condo insurance is very like homeowner’s insurance, but it only covers the named unit within a condo building - not the larger building’s structure. So your personally owned property is protected, but the condo building itself should have its own insurance policy to cover the common areas and main structure of the property. Condo insurance is generally cheaper than homeowner’s insurance.
Lastly, for the roughly one quarter of Saskatchewians who don’t own their own home, there is the option of tenant’s insurance (also known as renter’s insurance). Tenant’s insurance does not cover physical structures, but it does cover your personal belongings within the building (including items in storage cages in shared areas), as well as personal liability in the event that you cause damage to the building or your rented unit. Tenant’s insurance is the cheapest form of property insurance.
Saskatchewan has a private property insurance market, boasting both national and local companies. This means that Saskatchewians searching for property insurance have a lot of choice, and they can choose to get their insurance in a couple of different ways:
Whichever route is preferred, the private nature of the insurance market means that shopping around is always recommended, so you can find the best deal.
The average property insurance costs in Saskatchewan are:
These prices are the average, but the range can be either much higher or lower, depending on individual circumstances. There are in fact a lot of factors that influence the exact cost of a property insurance policy, including:
You will need to provide information on all of the above in order to get an accurate estimate of your insurance costs.
Saskatchewan isn’t as well-known for natural disasters as some other provinces, but there are still some risk factors specific to this province that affect the overall cost of insurance (for everyone). This includes extreme cold, fluctuating temperatures, storms, and tornadoes. Some of these events are not covered under basic insurance policies, so be sure to discuss more comprehensive coverage or add-ons with your insurer if you’re in a high risk area.
Saskatchewians must purchase their home insurance from one of the dozens of private insurance companies operating in the province. Some of these companies are listed in the table at the top of the page. There are no public property insurance options in the province.
Shopping around is the number one way to save on your home insurance, but you may also try:
Yes, absolutely, and protecting your vacation home is important. You can often add vacation property coverage (or mobile home coverage) to your main homeowner’s insurance policy to save money. You can also take out a separate policy.
The Superintendent of Insurance regulates the insurance industry in Saskatchewan. This includes licensing, oversight, complaints and discipline.
Although Saskatchewan’s insurers are regulated by a provincial authority, it is up to each individual insurer to calculate and set their own rates.
No, unless you run a home business, in which case you will need business insurance coverage as well as your standard homeowner’s coverage. In this case, only the supplemental business insurance will be tax deductible.
Technically, yes, any individual insurance company can deny you coverage, but this is very rare. If you are denied, you can ask why and potentially solve the problem or find another provider.
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