Aviva is one of the largest providers of home insurance in Canada. They offer different levels of protection for homeowners as well as endorsements (add-ons) to extend your coverage. In this article, we’ll discuss how you can customize your Aviva home insurance policy to suit your needs and budget. This helps tailor your insurance to protect what you value most.
By-law Costs
Did you know that if you rebuild your home, you’ll need to meet today’s bylaws? This may include upgrading materials, changes in design, and more to make your home safer. Your insurance covers debris removal and rebuilding your home as it was – not including the extra costs of bringing it up to code.
Bylaw coverage covers these expenses. It’s also now included in some of Aviva’s home insurance policies – ask your broker if yours includes this protection.
Claim Protector
Claim Protector is similar to accident forgiveness on a car insurance policy. It protects your claims-free discount for the first claim made on your home insurance policy. It is an extra cost, but it can save you a ton if you end up making a claim.
Disappearing Deductible
You could also opt for the Disappearing Deductible add-on coverage. This endorsement reduces your deductible by 20% for every consecutive claim-free year you have until the deductible is $0. Keep in mind though, once you make a claim the deductible returns to the original amount and the disappearing deductible clock is reset. You’ll need to be claims-free each year to claim the 20% reduction until your deductible has disappeared once more.
Earthquake Coverage
Damage caused by earthquakes and other earth movement is not covered by a standard home insurance policy. You can extend your Aviva home insurance to include protection for this type of damage with the earthquake endorsement. Keep in mind that it has a separate deductible that is 5% of the total coverage limit.
Glass Breakage Coverage
With Aviva’s Glass Breakage coverage, homeowner’s pay at little as $25 per year to cover the cost of replacing glass in your home. This coverage also has a separate deductible of $15.
Green Weather Assure
Aviva’s Green Weather Assure coverage is available to homeowners as well as condo-owners. It helps pay the costs associated with replacing lost or damaged household items with more environmentally friendly products. Premiums start at $25 per year for $25 000 worth of coverage.
Green Home Power
Aviva’s Green Home Power is available to homeowners with solar panels or wind turbines that are on the property and used to generate power for your own personal consumption (or attached to the local power grid). This extra coverage will cover damage breakdown and business interruption and liability due to the panels or turbines and costs as little as $100 per year.
Home Repair Assure
Aviva’s home repair assure endorsement helps cover repairs for essential systems in your home should they suddenly breakdown. This does not cover maintenance, but it can help if your furnace suddenly quits in the middle of winter.
For as little as $50 per year, homeowners can add the coverage to help cover emergency repair expenses. Even better is that any claim made against Aviva’s Home Repair coverage won’t count against your homeowner policy and won’t impact your claims-free discount your disappearing deductible or your claims-free protector endorsements.
Home-Sharing
If you’ve got your property listed on a home-sharing website like Airbnb, this add-on will ensure you’re covered if something happens with your guests. It offers the following coverage:
- Fair rental value (compensation for loss of rental income)
- Loss or damage to personal belongings or the buildings
- Up to $1500 of a guest’s lost or damaged property
- Liability arising with a short-term rental
- Intentional acts criminal acts or failure to act by a guest
Customers are also given flexibility in price based on their current home insurance policy premium the number of days they are planning to host and individual risk characteristics. If your home insurance premium was $1200 here are examples of your home-sharing premium options:
- Option 1: Renting your entire home for up to 90 days in a year. – $240
- Option 2: Renting your entire home for up to 180 days in a year. – $480
- Option 3: Rent a portion of your home to multiple guests for short terms year-round. Usually, this is a bedroom or a basement suite. – $240
- Option 4: Rent an income property (a place you do not live in) to multiple guests for short terms year-round. In Alberta and Ontario $480 in all other provinces $240.
Option 4 is only for rental income property owners and home-sharing insurance is not intended for long-term rentals to one individual. The renting must be managed through a network such as Airbnb.
Protection from water damage
Aviva was the first insurance company to offer Overland Water protection. As an add-on to your homeowner policy, this coverage protects your home if it’s damaged due to water accumulation due to rain or melting as well as from damage caused by the overflow of bodies of fresh water like rivers. It doesn’t cover damage caused by intentional breaches of dams, dikes, levees or other man-made structures.
Overland water is packaged with sewer backup coverage and is not available to all homeowners. It has its own limit and deductible as well.
Collector Coverage
If you have a valuable collection such as coins, stamps, or sports cards, ensure it’s protected with Aviva’s Collector Enhancement. This ensures your collection is adequately protected for its actual value.
Property in Storage
If you find yourself storing precious belongings in an off-site secured storage facility, the Property in Storage add-on can help. For pennies a day this coverage will protect your belongings from damage and loss resulting from named perils such as fire and theft.
Security Enhancement
The Security Enhancement protects your family and your assets from loss due to any type of theft including identity theft. It can also help with loss prevention and recovery through lock replacement and life assistance programs.
Tech Enthusiast
For the homeowner who has invested in electronic devices, there’s the Tech Enthusiast Enhancement. This endorsement gives you additional coverage for your electronic devices. You’ll get a lower deductible enhanced coverage for data recovery and restoration and bolstered coverage if your electronics are lost stolen or damaged.
Family Enhancement
For $65 per year, the Family Enhancement endorsement gives you extra coverage and features you need for your household. This includes higher limits for pet expenses and family members living away from home including unlimited access to life assistance programs. For instance, kids attending college will have $15 000 of coverage for personal property located in a university dorm while property owned by elder-parents in a home is doubled to $10 000 of coverage.
Rental Income
If you rent out a room or portion of your home, you can add Aviva’s Rental Income coverage that covers loss or damage to a rental unit. The rental income endorsement will cover the missing rent that would be paid by the tenant until the unit is repaired and and once again inhabitable. Rates start at $2 and there is no additional deductible.
Note: Endorsements described in this article may change, no longer be offered or be replaced with another endorsement. These endorsements may not be available to all homeowners or in all locations.
Talk to your broker for more information about Aviva’s home insurance endorsements and your policy.
