Coverage A

What is Coverage A?

Canadian home insurance providers often base their homeowners policies on the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s (IBC) standard homeowner’s forms. These forms are like templates for home insurance policies. They divide coverages into sections A through G. Coverage A is for the house itself, alternatively known as the building or dwelling.

Many insurers’ policies retain the A through G naming scheme from the IBC basic forms. Square One’s policies do not. Square One policyholders will find the equivalent of Coverage A within Section 3 – Property Coverages.

Even though most home insurance policies are based on IBC’s forms, each insurer puts their own spin on it. If every insurance provider offered policies with identical wordings, there wouldn’t be much point in having different providers, would there?

As you read on to learn more about Coverage A, remember the golden rule of insurance: always check your policy wordings for specifics about your coverage.

What does Coverage A include?

As mentioned at the beginning, Coverage A is for the dwelling at an insured premises.

Dwelling (or building) refers to the main structure insured by the policy, the one in which people live. Outside of the insurance world, it’s usually called a “house.” Premises refers to the entire property. That is, everything within the lot lines of the land owned by the insured.

Note that Coverage A identifies what is protected by the policy, but doesn’t necessarily explain what it’s protected from. That’s typically discussed elsewhere in the policy, in the form of named perils (if you have a named perils policy) or exclusions (if you have a comprehensive policy).

The standard Coverage A includes:

1. The dwelling, and any attached structures.
2. Permanently installed outdoor equipment, anywhere on the premises.
3. Outdoor swimming pools and attached equipment, anywhere on the premises.
4. Construction materials and supplies located on or next to the premises that are intended for use on the premises.

Most home insurance policies are structured such that all of the stuff within Coverage A shares one insurance limit, with separate limits applying to each of Coverages B through G.

Now, let’s dig into each of the Coverage A items a bit:

Dwelling and attached structures

Dwellings are typically houses, but they can take many forms, like mobile homes or cottages. The main structure on the premises that people live in is considered the dwelling. The dwelling is the primary subject of the home insurance policy.

Coverage A also includes structures attached to the dwelling, like decks or garages. As long as there’s no open space between the building and the structure, you can generally consider the structure attached. Structures that aren’t attached are the subject of Coverage B.

Permanently installed outdoor equipment

This part of the coverage refers to stuff that’s not part of the dwelling but is still permanent. Things like children’s play equipment, sprinkler systems attached to the dwelling, or satellite dishes all fall under this definition.

The key is that they’re “permanently installed,” which means they’re fixed to the ground by concrete or by some other method. If you can pick it up and move it, it’s not permanently installed.

This equipment can be located anywhere on the premises; it doesn’t have to be part of the main building.

Outdoor swimming pools

Coverage A also includes outdoor pools. Each insurer may define “pool” differently. The size of your pool and whether it’s above-ground or in-ground will affect its coverage. Some insurers, including Square One, include hot tubs as well.

Coverage A also extends protection to pool-related equipment, like pumps, heaters or covers.

Construction materials and supplies

Coverage A also includes construction materials stored on or adjacent to the premises. The materials must be intended for use at the premises for building, altering or repairing the dwelling or other structures.

It’s also essential to inform your insurer about plans for construction or renovation. You also need to tell them if the home is going to be vacant at any point during the work. Even when a policy includes coverage for construction, it’s usually on the condition that you make the insurance provider aware beforehand.

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