Preparing for Disaster: Earthquake Insurance for your Home or Business

Marci • March 19, 2013

Preparing for disaster:  earthquake insurance for your home or business

 

With the devastating financial toll of the Feb 2011 earthquake in New Zealand predicted to reach $16-billion, many people in British Columbia are considering whether they should insure their homes and business against losses due to earthquakes.  And with good reason.

 

According to the Geological Survey of Canada, there is approximately a 10% chance that a subduction (oceanic plate) earthquake – similar in force as the catastrophic earthquake that killed over 300,000 people in the Southeast Asia – will occur off the coast of BC in the next 50 years.

 

There is a 12% chance that a crustal or shallow earthquake – similar to the Christchurch earthquake – would strike Vancouver in the next 50 years.  This type of earthquake could easily cause over $30-billion of structural damage to the city

 

Why should I have earthquake insurance?

 

A Habitat Insurance, we believe that the main objective of insurance is to protect you from a devastating loss from which you would find it difficult to financially recover.  A home or business is usually the most valuable asset that you will ever own.  So you must ask yourself,  “Could I easily recover without financial assistance if my home or business were damaged or destroyed by an earthquake?”  If the answer is no, you should seriously consider buying earthquake coverage.

 

Facts about earthquake insurance in BC

 

Earthquake insurance provides coverage for loss of or damage to personal property and buildings. It is optional coverage in all property insurance policies.

 

Earthquake rates are on the rise:  during the last 12 months, we have noted that many insurance companies have increased their premium rates and, with large losses such as those in New Zealand, this is a trend likely to continue.

 

If you own a detached home and have earthquake insurance, you will have coverage for the building and a certain percentage of coverage will be “built in” to the policy for personal property.  For example, a house valued at $500,000 replacement cost will be insured at $500,000 building cost with 80% ($400,000) for personal property.  (Depending on the insurance company, lower limits for personal property can be chosen. )

 

Insurance deductibles are always higher for losses due to earthquake.  Your house insurance or business policy may state $500 to $2,500 deductible for specific perils such as water damage.  Earthquake deductibles are typically stated as a percentage of the total loss.  So, if you have a 5% deductible on your $500,000 home, you will be responsible to pay the first $25,000.

 

A special note for condo owners about earthquake insurance

 

A condo owner policy provides coverage for your personal property, not the building.  (The building should have its own separate strata policy with earthquake coverage. )  You may also choose to add earthquake coverage to your condo policy.  We highly recommend that you do this, as your policy will can provide up to about $25,000for building earthquake deductibles coverage.

 

To illustrate the point more clearly, imagine this scenario:  your building is damaged/destroyed by an earthquake.  The condo owners will be responsible for paying the building earthquake insurance deductible.  A large strata building can be easily valued at $20,000,000; a total loss with a 10% deductible would result in a $2,000,000 earthquake deductible to pay.  If there is not enough money in the strata’s reserve fund, the remainder of the deductible to be paid will be divided between all of the condo owners.  If you have a condo owner’s policy with earthquake coverage, your insurance company will pay your portion of the deductible, up to the indicated policy limit.  If you don’t have earthquake coverage, your policy will likely pay no part of the earthquake deductible.

 

Condo policy limits can vary substantially for insurance deductible coverage.  Check with your broker about this important point.

 

How to pay less for earthquake coverage

 

Here are a few ways to reduce your premiums for earthquake coverage:

 

Location:   Premium rates for earthquake insurance in the Lower Mainland are highest for areas such as Richmond and parts of New Westminster, which would likely be most devastated by an earthquake.  You will pay lower rates elsewhere.

 

Deductible:   Ask for a higher earthquake deductible on your insurance policy.  For example, the standard earthquake deductible on your business or house insurance policy may be 5%.  You could opt instead for a 10% deductible.  Keep in mind that your deductible payment will also be much higher in the event of an earthquake claim.

 

Choose a lower personal property limit:   If you are home owner, some insurance companies will allow full value coverage for the building and a lower limit for personal property.  Ask your broker if this option is available.

 

 

 

If you have any questions about earthquake insurance for your home or business in British Columbia, or you would like a quote, please contact us:

 

Habitat Insurance Agencies, Ltd

 

Grace Catao – Managing Partner

 

Tel. 604-438-5241 / Cell 778-997-2583

 

Copyright © Habitat Insurance Agencies Ltd.   All rights reserved.

 

Disclaimer:  This article is designed to provide information for personal use only.  Please consult your professional insurance broker for further information. Habitat Insurance Agencies Ltd is not responsible for any legal disputes of this matter.

 

Share

Alternative Lending Provides You With Options

By Marci Deane • February 19, 2025
Alternative lending refers to any lending practices that fall outside the normal banking channels. Alternative lenders think outside the box and offer solutions to Canadians who wouldn’t otherwise qualify for traditional mortgage financing. In an ideal world, we’d all qualify for the best mortgage terms available. However, this isn’t the case. Securing the most favourable terms depends on your financial situation. Here are a few circumstances where alternative lending might make sense for you. Damaged Credit Bad credit doesn’t disqualify you from mortgage financing. Many alternative lenders look at the strength of your employment, income, and your downpayment or equity to offer you mortgage financing. Credit is important, but it’s not everything, especially if there is a reasonable explanation for the damaged credit. When dealing with alternative lending, the interest rates will be a little higher than traditional mortgage financing. But if the choice is between buying a property or not, or getting a mortgage or not, having options is a good thing. Alternative lenders provide you with mortgage options. That’s what they do best. So, if you have damaged credit, consider using an alternative lender to provide you with a short-term mortgage option. This will give you time to establish better credit and secure a mortgage with more favourable terms. Use an alternative lender to bridge that gap! Self-Employment If you run your own business, you most likely have considerable write-offs that make sense for tax planning reasons but don’t do so much for your verifiable income. Traditional lenders want to see verifiable income; alternative lenders can be considerably more understanding and offer competitive products. As interest rates on alternative lending aren’t that far from traditional lending, alternative lending has become the home for most serious self-employed Canadians. While you might pay a little more in interest, oftentimes, that money is saved through corporate structuring and efficient tax planning. Non-traditional income Welcome to the new frontier of earning an income. If you make money through non-traditional employment like Airbnb, tips, commissions, Uber, or Uber eats, alternative lending is more likely to be flexible to your needs. Most traditional lenders want to see a minimum of two years of established income before considering income on a mortgage application. Not always so with alternative lenders, depending on the strength of your overall application. Expanded Debt-Service Ratios With the government stress test significantly lessening Canadians' ability to borrow, the alternative lender channel allows expanded debt-service ratios. This can help finance the more expensive and suitable property for responsible individuals. Traditional lending restricts your GDS and TDS ratios to 35/42 or 39/44, depending on your credit score. However, alternative lenders, depending on the loan-to-value ratio, can be considerably more flexible. The more money you have as a downpayment, the more you’re able to borrow and expand those debt-service guidelines. It’s not the wild west, but it’s certainly more flexible. Connect anytime Alternative lending can be a great solution if your financial situation isn’t all that straightforward. The goal of alternative lending is to provide you with options. You can only access alternative lending through the mortgage broker channel. Please connect anytime if you’d like to discuss mortgage financing and what alternative lending products might suit your needs; it would be a pleasure to work with you.

Benefits of Working with an Independent Mortgage Professional

By Marci Deane • February 12, 2025
If you need a mortgage, working with an independent mortgage professional will save you money and provide you with better options than dealing with a single financial institution. And if that is the only sentence you read in this entire article, you already know all you need to know. However, if you’d like to dig a little deeper, here are some reasons that outline why working with an independent mortgage professional is in your best interest. The best mortgage is the one that costs you the least over the long term. An independent mortgage professional can help you achieve this. Mortgages aren’t created equally. Oftentimes slick marketing leads us to believe the lowest “sticker price” is the best value. So when it comes to mortgage financing, you might assume the mortgage with the lowest rate is the best option. This isn’t always the case. When considering a mortgage, your goal should be to find the mortgage that will cost you the least amount of money over the total length of the mortgage. There are many factors to consider, such as your specific financial situation, the rate, initial term length, fixed or variable rate structure, amortization, and the penalties incurred should you need to break your mortgage early; the fine print matters. An independent mortgage professional can walk through all these factors with you and will help you find the mortgage that best suits your needs. Sometimes taking a mortgage with a slightly higher rate can make sense if it gives you flexibility down the line or helps you avoid huge payout penalties. Working the numbers with an independent mortgage professional will save you money in the long run instead of just going with what a single lender is offering. Save time by letting an independent mortgage professional find the best mortgage product for you. Let's face it, getting a mortgage can be challenging enough on its own. Everyone’s financial situation is a little different and making sense of lender guidelines is a full-time job in itself. So instead of dealing with multiple lending institutions on your own, when you work with an independent mortgage professional, you submit a single mortgage application that is compared to the lending guidelines of various mortgage lenders. This will save you time as you don’t have to go from bank to bank to ensure you’re getting the best mortgage. Simply put, an independent mortgage professional works for you and has your best interest in mind, while a bank specialist works for the bank and has the bank's best interest in mind. It’s no secret that Canadian banks make a lot of money. It seems every quarter they turn billions of dollars in profit (despite the economic environment). They do this at the expense of their customers by charging as much interest as they can and structuring mortgages to their benefit. It’s all about the alignment of interest. Bank employees work for the bank; the bank pays them to make money for the bank. In contrast, independent mortgage professionals are provincially licensed to work for their clients and are paid a standardized placement or finder’s fee for matching borrowers with lenders. When you work with a single bank, you only have access to the products of that bank. When you work with an independent mortgage professional, you have access to all of the lenders that mortgage professionals have relationships with and all their products. Working with an independent mortgage professional will save you money, time, and provide you with better mortgage options. Plus, you have the added benefit of working with a licensed professional looking out for your best interest, providing you with the best possible advice. If you’d like to know more or to discuss mortgage financing, please connect anytime; it would be a pleasure to work with you.

How to Ensure a Smooth Home Purchase

By Marci Deane • February 5, 2025
Chances are, buying a home is one of the most important financial decisions you’ll make in your life. And as mortgage financing can be somewhat confusing at the best of times, to alleviate some of the stress and to ensure your home purchase goes as smoothly as possible, here are six very high-level steps you should follow. While it might seem like the best place to start the home buying process is to browse MLS on your phone and then contact a Realtor to go out and look at properties, it’s not. First, you’re going to want to work with a licensed independent mortgage professional. When you work with an independent mortgage professional, instead of working with a single bank, you’ll be working with someone who has your best interest in mind and can present you with mortgage options from several financial institutions. The second step in the home buying process is to put together a mortgage plan. Unless you have enough money in the bank to buy a home with cash, you’re going to need a mortgage. And as mortgage financing can be challenging and not so straightforward, the best time to start planning for a mortgage is right now. Don’t make another move until you discuss your financial situation with an independent mortgage professional. It’s never too early to start planning. As part of your mortgage plan, you’ll want to figure out what you can afford on paper, assess your credit score, run some financial scenarios, calculate mortgage payments, and have a clear picture of exactly how much money is required for a downpayment and closing costs. You’ll also be able to discuss which mortgage product is best for you, considering different mortgage terms, types, amortizations, and features. Now, what you qualify to borrow on paper doesn’t necessarily mean you can actually afford the payments in real life. You need to consider your lifestyle and what you spend your money on. Understanding your cash flow is the key. Make a budget to verify you can actually afford your proposed mortgage payments and that you have enough funds to close on the mortgage. No one wants to be house-poor or left scrambling to come up with funds to close at the last minute. If everything looks good at this point, the next step will be to get a preapproval in place. Now, a pre-approval is more than just typing some numbers into a form or online calculator; you need to complete a mortgage application and submit all the documents requested by your mortgage professional. Only proceed with looking at properties when you’ve been given the green light from your mortgage professional. When you’ve found a property to purchase, you’ll work very closely with your mortgage professional to arrange mortgage financing in a short period of time. This is where being prepared pays off. As you’ve already collected and submitted many documents upfront during the preapproval process, you should be set up for success. However, remain flexible and provide any additional documentation required by the lender to secure mortgage financing. Once you have firm lender approval and you’ve removed conditions on the purchase agreement, don’t change anything about your financial situation until you have the keys. Don’t quit your job, don’t take out a new loan, or don’t make a large withdrawal from your bank account. Put your life into a holding pattern until you take possession of your new home. So there you have it, six steps to ensuring a smooth home purchase: Work with an independent mortgage professional. Put together a mortgage plan. Figure out what you can actually afford. Get a pre-approval. Provide the necessary documentation. Don’t change anything about your financial situation until you take possession. If you’d like to discuss your personal financial situation and find the best mortgage product for you, let’s work together. We can figure out a plan to buy a home as stress-free as possible. Please connect anytime; it would be a pleasure to work with you.
Share by: