Your cottage is like your home. It's a mix of all those things you're intrigued by, comforted by and in love with, things that you couldn't imagine living without. It may have been in your family for generations or a new property you recently built yourself. Your cottage is also likely one of your most valuable personal assets. Because of this, it's absolutely critical that it is properly insured not only in terms of the right amount of insurance but also the proper coverages.

Generally, your cottage is insured on the same policy as your principal residence. However, most cottage policies contain a limited amount of coverage, particularly when compared to your home. In fact, insurance companies offer a wide variety of cottage policies - some with bare bones coverages and others almost identical to an all-risk form made for a principal residence. If you haven't reviewed your cottage policy recently, you should do so immediately to ensure you have the proper coverages in place.

Some of the more important coverages to consider for your cottage policy include:

		Personal Property - some policies exclude any coverage for personal property (furniture, appliances, clothing, etc.) permanently kept at the cottage or include only a very limited amount of coverage (around $5,000). You may have to purchase separate contents coverage. Better policy forms include contents coverage, often up to 70% of the value of the cottage building.
		Replacement Cost - some policies also provide only actual cash value coverage on personal property. That means you will get just a few dollars for twenty-year-old furniture destroyed in a fire (depreciation is factored into the settlement). Make sure your policy includes full replacement cost on personal property.
		Burglary or Robbery - often losses arising from burglary or robbery are excluded under a basic cottage policy. This could leave you empty-handed should thieves clean out your cottage. Make sure this coverage is included on your policy.
		Vandalism or Malicious Acts - like burglary and robbery coverage many policies exclude damage arising from vandalism or malicious acts. This would leave you responsible for paying for any repairs caused by vandals who may have smashed windows, sprayed graffiti on your buildings or tore down out buildings.
		Outbuildings - garages, boathouses, tool and storage sheds and even guest cabins are not covered under a standard policy. To properly protect them, separate outbuildings coverage or a policy form that extends coverage to all structures located on the property must be purchased.

There are many other items such as outdoor plants, trees and shrubs, fences and gardening equipment where coverage is either entirely excluded or very limited.

Of course, we can also provide coverage for all of your other cottage needs including sailboats, motorboats, ATVs, snowmobiles and personal watercraft.

If you would like us to review your cottage insurance policies or provide you with a free, no obligation quotation, please call our office at (905) 890-0090 or 1-800-813-4450.