If you recently bought a cottage, congratulations! You are well on your way to creating amazing memories at your home away from home. But before you get started on anything else, take a moment to think about protecting your investment with cottage insurance. With the right plan, your cottage insurance will protect you from losses that occur while you are staying on-site and after you return home. Here’s what you need to know before signing up:

Types of Structures Eligible for Cottage Insurance

Cottage insurance plans cover many different types of structures, including:

  • Lakeside cabins
  • Island getaways*
  • Log cabins
  • Waterfront hideaways

Standard Cottage Insurance Coverage

Cottage coverage types vary dramatically based on a number of factors. Some policies equally match the coverage found on a “Comprehensive Homeowners Policy” while other cottage insurance offerings are much more limited only covering against of fire and other limited perils, sometimes known as “Fire and Extended Coverage”. To find out what coverage options you qualify for, we recommend speaking with an experienced broker who has access to multiple cottage insurance companies.

Potential Policy Discounts

Cottage insurance premiums are determined based on many factors such as the distance to the nearest responding fire hall as well as the source of heating (e.g. woodstove) which may require a recent safety inspection to qualify for insurance coverage.

So when compared to your home insurance rates, these plans are rather expensive because you will likely only spend a small fraction of the year there, and this in turn increases the risk of something going awry without intervention, causing extensive damage and higher claims.

You can save money on your annual insurance costs by seeking discounts from your broker. Many companies offer a discount for those who insure their autos, home, and cottage with them.

Another way to decrease your annual expense is by installing safeguards that keep minor incidents from escalating, such as:

  • Insured Age
  • Non-Smoker
  • Monitored Alarm
  • Water Leak Alarms
  • Cottage Age
  • Claims Free
  • Mortgage Free

With alarm devices on your side, you can catch problems as they arise and intervene if possible to keep damage to a minimum. As you maintain a policy without filing claims, your annual premium will likely go down as well.

How to Sign Up for an Insurance Policy

In addition to spending time at the property and having year-round access to it, most insurance providers tend to require you to have maintain coverage on your primary residence and then add the cottage insurance as a “secondary coverage” to your plan. To do so, all you have to do is give your broker a call and discuss adding this type of coverage to your policy. They will let you know about the terms before you sign up, so you can determine if the plan is right for your needs.

Make sure to let your insurance broker know if you plan to rent out the cottage, or if you will be using or storing any additional off-road vehicles, including boats. They will need to know all the details to offer the right level of coverage to fully protect you from potential losses.

With a cottage insurance policy, you can get the right level of coverage you need so you can focus on having a great time in your new home away from home. If you need any help in that process, simply reach out to our team at Wayfarer Insurance Group today.

 

*Note: Only some insurance providers offer coverage for cottages in remote locations, such as on an island. Island cottages tend to increase insurance premiums as they are more difficult to access, making repairs expensive as you will have to transport labour and supplies over by boat or flying them in, and in case of an emergency, the hard-to-access location limits the reach of the fire department and other emergency respondents. For more information, simply give us a call at 1-844-929-4768 and we’ll be more than happy to help.

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