International Student - Home Insurance

[pejay60]

Hello all, hoping someone has some experience with hating international high school students and home insurance.

We had a student backup one of our toilets and the water went through to a large part of ceiling below and now it needs to be taken out and repaired. I hadn’t reported the students on my insurance, as I wasn’t aware that I needed to as they aren’t tenants, they are under-age, and have their own liability insurance.

Now my insurance (TD) is telling me that they will no longer insure me because of the students. They said that they wouldn’t provide insurance to ANY person who has international students, as they don’t have a fixed lease.

There must hundreds/thousands of people in Canada who host international students and have TD insurance, so this seems unreasonable.

Can anyone advise on this? Any thoughts in general?

 

[sovereignone]

@pejay60 You could push for a reconsideration via the Underwriting department, but the cancellation is likely coming with their sign-off in the first place. Home insurance is not as regulated as auto insurance, and so insurers are free to establish their own underwriting rules including what they will and won't insure. The simple fact is, renting out a home is a higher risk, and short-term rentals or rentals outside a fixed or annual lease are riskier still. Your insurer is vindicated by the fact that they've now paid out a claim. Your best bet is to shop around.

 

[pejay60]

@sovereignone Thank you for the reply. However, the house is not rented out. It is a homestay student who is underage. The same as having a foster child would be.

TD has clarified that it’s because there is no lease, but these are not considered tenants, per the landlord tenancy act, so how can insurance consider them to be a tenant.

We are struggling to find other insurance now, as we have an open claim (from someone trying to drive through the front of the house on Dec).

Anyway, it’s pretty sad that people are penalized for something that is not clearly written anywhere, including in the policy or online. I’ll be seeking legal advice to find out what we can do now, as this has put us in a very difficult situation.

 

[sovereignone]

@pejay60

Thank you for the reply. However, the house is not rented out. It is a homestay student who is underage. The same as having a foster child would be.

There is a difference. Your policy wording would define who an Insured is; you, your spouse, dependent children, etc., but most policies would also extend that definition to anyone who is in your legal custody. A foster child would meet that definition, a homestay student would not.

TD has clarified that it’s because there is no lease, but these are not considered tenants, per the landlord tenancy act, so how can insurance consider them to be a tenant.

Just like police don't decide fault for the purposes of insurance at the scene of an accident, the tenancy act would not define a tenant for the purposes of insurance. An insurer might look to that act for guidance, but for insurance purposes most insurers would define a tenant more broadly as someone who is unrelated to you and not dependent upon you who is residing in your home.