Every week we’ll highlight the best question sent to our resident insurance expert, Anne Marie Thomas. This week’s question, about home insurance pricing, comes from Alex.
Alex asks:
“Is home insurance greater for homes near a forest?”
According to Natural Resources Canada there are almost 7,500 forest fires a year. But, as Anne Marie explains, proximity to a forest doesn’t necessarily factor into your home insurance premium.
“Whether you are near a forest is not so much the issue that would concern an insurance company as much as how your home is protected from fire,” Anne Marie says.
“Is the home in a rural area or an urban area? If your home in an urban area that is fire hydrant protected, your premium will be lower than if your home is in a rural setting that is protected by a fire department only and not a hydrant,” she continues. “The reason being is that in the event of a fire, if you are in an urban area with easy fire hydrant access, the risk of a total loss to your property is less likely to occur than if you live in a rural area where it could take longer for help to reach your property which poses a greater risk of increased damage.”
Whether your home is located near a forest or not, if a fire causes damage to your home, the cost to repair or rebuild would generally be covered by your home insurance policy.