Author Topic: Having the right home insurance for a mixed living situation?  (Read 904 times)

falling leaves

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Having the right home insurance for a mixed living situation?
« on: November 14, 2024, 11:04:59 AM »
I have a house in a HCOL area. 

Like many in this super expensive city I have a living situation that is a bit different than what the zoning and in my case my insurance would allow for.

Officially it's a family of 3 living in the legal basement suite with kitchen and bathroom .

Then me and my family occupying the upper 2 floors with 6 bedrooms a kitchen and 2 bathrooms.

So it's officially 2 separate units in one detached home.


What it really is, is 3 separate units on 3 floors.

There are 3 international students each renting a room and living in the 3 bedroom basement suite.

And then on the middle floor there's just myself with a 2 bedroom/kitchen/bathroom suite.

And then on the upper floor, accessible by a different door there are 3 international students living in a 3 bedroom/kitchen/bathroom suite. It was 4 bedrooms and a bathroom up there but about 14 years ago I put a kitchen in where the 4th bedroom was and since then it's been rented as a suite.

So there are 7 people in total in this 8 bedroom 2800 square feet house.

The kitchen was professionally wired by a licensed electrician and the wiring is up to code. In fact the whole house is up to code and passed by the city (except for the upstairs stove which I took out when they came around to do the inspection. Everything was brought up to code when I had the basement suite authorised 9 years ago. All the windows are up to fire egress code, hard wired smoke alarms etc...

All 3 suites have separate entrances, own kitchen and bathrooms.

My middle floor and the upper floor are just separated by a door off my kitchen that's not locked, but we have an understanding that it's private and they have the top floor and me the middle. The basement suite is a separate entrance altogether.

It all works really well. The only thing is that my insurance is for a family of 3 in the basement suite and then me and my 'family' occupying what should be the 6 bedroom and 2 bathrooms upper 2 floors.

In 16 years I've never tried to make a claim off the insurance. I know many other people who have similar setups and I'm pretty sure they just have similar insurance to mine.

Does anyone out there have a similar setup and how is it insured etc? Any insurance people on here who might be able to offer tips on how to shop for the right insurance etc? 

Anyone with short term rentals and how is it insured?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.


GilesMM

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Re: Having the right home insurance for a mixed living situation?
« Reply #1 on: November 14, 2024, 11:12:41 AM »
Call your insurer and explain it to them.  Be sure you understand their definition of "short term rental".  If they won't offer coverage you may need to shop around.


If your insurer is not aware of the rentals they are probably not covered under your current policy which is a risk to you, particularly if a renter gets insured and sues you for liability.