Home insurance in British Columbia: Get a quote and buy online now

No. Sonnet doesn’t cover short-term rentals through any home sharing service, including Airbnb and Vrbo. This applies to all our property policies (homeowners, condo, and landlord). Under the terms of our renters insurance, tenants aren’t allowed to offer short-term rentals of their apartment or house – or a room in their unit – through one of these networks.

Want to know more about how Sonnet covers long-term rentals? Check out our FAQ about renting out your home, condo, or rental property. Or, contact us. We’re here to help.

In general no, your age doesn’t affect your home insurance premium. When it comes to home insurance, it’s the age of the structure or building being insured that impacts your premium – not so much the age of the person buying the policy. The fact is older homes often come with more risk. They can be more prone to fire, problems with older HVAC, roofing and plumbing, and a whole lot more – which means you’ll probably be paying more for your home insurance.

The cost of home insurance varies across the country. Several things can influence the cost of your home insurance with claims being one of the factors. It depends on how likely it is that you'll have to make a claim – and how much that claim will cost.

Here are some of the things your insurer looks at when determining your premium:

• The age, location, and construction of your home
• The type of home you have (single family, townhome, condo)
• Your home’s value
• How often severe weather events (like hail or wildfire) happen in your area
• Any safety measures you have installed (like smoke detectors, etc.)
• The coverages you have, including add-ons
• Your claims history

Getting a quote is the fastest and easiest way to find out how much you could be paying for home insurance in Canada. With Sonnet, you can do it in just a few minutes! Get an online quote today.

Yes, you can cover your vacation property with a separate home insurance policy. Your vacation home must be located in Canada.

If you’re not at your second home during the winter, there are a few things you’ll need to do to protect your home. Drain the plumbing system and close the water inlet to keep the pipes from freezing and bursting. If your vacation home has central heating, set the thermostat low enough to conserve energy but high enough to keep pipes from bursting. Burst pipes due to freezing isn’t covered under your vacation home coverage if you’ve been away from the property for more than 14 days and haven’t had anyone checking on it.

Yes! When it comes to your home insurance costs, where you live can make a big difference. Across Canada, in every neighbourhood there are different types of properties and events, like weather that could affect those properties. Insurance companies are constantly reviewing these factors to better estimate the impact on your home insurance premium, including any claims that you could experience. So for example, if you live in an area that experiences natural disasters causing increased amount of claims, the cost to insure homes in your neighbourhood may increase. Other factors that can affect your home insurance costs are:

• Proximity to a fire station or fire hydrant
• Crime rates
• Traffic patterns
• Distance to other buildings

To see how much your home insurance premium will cost where you live, get a quote with Sonnet. It only takes a few minutes!

If you upgrade your Custom Limits for your special belongings, you’ll receive our Above and Beyond home coverage, which adds three extra perks to your policy:

First Claim Forgiveness. This means your rate won’t increase after your first claim. We’ll pretend it didn’t even happen.

Replacement Cost Guarantee. You’ll have the flexibility to settle claims at replacement cost, even if you decide not to repair or replace the damaged items.

Enhanced Deductible Waiver. We’ll waive your deductible for claims of $10,000 or more. Sorry, this doesn’t include claims caused by earthquakes.

Heads up! These perks cannot be added to a tenant or landlord policy.

Whether it’s a house or a condo, buying a new property is a big investment. But, it’s more than a piece of property, it’s your home. That’s why it’s important for every home and condo owner to buy property insurance in Canada. Without property insurance, you’d be responsible for covering the cost if something were to happen to your home or your stuff, you’d have to pay out of pocket for covering the cost.

Plus, if you have a mortgage on your house or condo, your lender will also likely require you to have home insurance coverage.

During home insurance calculation, insurance companies look at a complex set of factors. These will determine the likelihood of you making a claim – and how much a claim could cost. The higher the likelihood is, the higher your premium will be.

Factors that can affect your home insurance premium include:

• Where your home is located 
  Based on your postal code, an insurer can find out how many claims are made in that area – and why they happen. For example, if your area has frequent windstorms, there could be more frequent claims for damage. This could cause your home premium to be higher than that of a house in an area that doesn’t have windstorms very often.
• Home age and condition 
  The older the building, the higher the likelihood of a claim. That’s because things like old wiring (fuses, for example) are a bigger risk for fire. And, old plumbing increases your risk of claims due to sudden leaks or burst pipes. 
• Heating equipment
  If your home is heated with oil (like it is in many rural areas), your premium could be higher. Oil tank leaks increase risk of damage and environmental hazards. Wood stoves are also a common source of house fires, so they could raise your payments, too. 
• Proximity to fire support 
  If your home is close to a fire station and fire hydrants – like in an urban area – your premium could be lower than a home in a rural location, where travel distance is longer. 
• Number of past claims 
  The longer you’ve been claims free, the lower your premium will be. If you’ve had a claim in the last year, you can expect your premium to go up at renewal. 
• Your age and other information about you 
  As you get older, your premium will tend to decrease. The fact is, many insurance providers consider homeowners with more experience as less risky to insure. Some insurers could also look at your credit score. 
• How you use your home 
  Do you rent out rooms or a basement unit in your house? Factors like this may also impact your premium since they can increase damage and liability risks. 

Depending on where you live, additional coverages are available to add on for certain events that aren’t covered by a standard home policy. These coverages are hail, sewer back up, overland water and earthquake. All of these coverages can be added when making your quote.

Already purchased? You can add on these coverages at any time through your account.

Well, it depends. If there are no more than two renters, you’re allowed to rent part of your house out under your Homeowners Policy. You’re also covered if you have one additional unit within your home that’s rented to one family only.

If you’re renting out a property separate from your home our Landlord Policy will make sure you’re covered if there’s any damage to items that belong to you and the property. Things like major appliances, fixtures or tools (a lawn mower or snow shovel are a couple of examples). If you live in your home, but you have more tenants than our Homeowners Policy allows for, you can purchase our Landlord Policy in addition, to cover you and your home adequately.