Insurance for Your Home or Cottage
One of the most frequent topics of conversation around owning property in Muskoka involves insurance. Just as its important to hire a local real estate agent to buy or sell, an local insurance company will be able to more appropriately assist you with the intricacies of insuring recreational waterfront property in the area they serve.
In Muskoka, I always suggest my clients speak to Stephen Moller, Partner at Muskoka Insurance Brokers. I’ve asked Stephen to share a few of the reasons why you should utilize a local firm and to outline for us why insurance premiums have risen.
STEPHEN: Thanks Jack. As a local insurance brokerage, we have always felt that we were able to provide a product and a service to our clients over and above what is available elsewhere. Muskoka Insurance Brokers specializes in seasonal property insurance, and we are always keeping up to date on current changes and coverages to best advise our clients. As the cottage insurance industry changes, there are a few factors we see that is causing rate increases across most markets:
Cost of Cottage Construction
Building materials, labour costs and availability of contractors are all factors that are driving up our cost of construction in Muskoka. In the event of a loss, often we do not have the luxury to wait 1-2 years to schedule a contractor to repair or rebuild, so there could be a premium paid to have construction started quickly.
Severity of Weather-Related Claims
Climate change is a hot topic in our industry, and Muskoka isn’t immune to weather related claims. Over the past five years, we have seen extreme windstorm damage, forest fire damage and most recently, catastrophic flooding damage to many waterfront homes, cottages and boathouses.
Increased Liability Exposure
As Muskoka develops and grows, so does the liability exposure. One of the more recent changes is the increase in rental usage of seasonal properties which creates an increased risk for not only property damage, but for liability claims.
Having a local insurance broker such as Muskoka Insurance Brokers look after your home, cottage and watercraft insurance needs can help in a number of different ways, including:
Insurance Companies - Choice
Not only do we underwrite with some of Canada’s largest insurance companies, we also underwrite with some specialized companies that can have a larger appetite in the cottage market. This can provide better coverage at a reasonable cost backed by exceptional claims service.
Muskoka Insurance Advice
All of our brokers live in Muskoka. We see the risks and we see the claims year round. We also have the experience to know what discounts are available to you and what coverages are important to have. Many times, we will meet our clients at their property to better understand the risk.
If you have any questions on the current coverage of your Muskoka waterfront home or cottage, market trends or simply just some advice, I would be happy to help. Although renewal can be the most practical time of year to review coverage, if you have some gaps in coverage, it is important to find out now.
Wishing everyone a Happy 2024!
Stephen
JACK: Thanks for your knowledge and advice Stephen! You can contact Stephen directly by emailing him at [email protected] or phone 705-687-6606 (Office) or 416-333-7265 (Cell). Follow @muskokainsurance on Instagram and on Facebook.
