Why It’s Important To Put Insurance at the Top of Your To-Do List

If you search “What should I consider first when buying a house?” you’ll find results explaining things like location, purchase price and mortgages. What you won’t find are recommendations on homeowners insurance. The part that also isn’t mentioned is that, in order to qualify for your mortgage, insurance is a necessity.

Although homeowners insurance is often one of the last things prospective homeowners consider, it is by far one of the most important pieces of the puzzle and should be considered long before the completion of any purchase. This is especially important in British Columbia during the summer months.

What may not be commonly known is that one of the conditions for approval of homeowners insurance is that there cannot be an active forest fire within 25km of the home. With British Columbia’s fire season averaging over 1200 hundred fires per year in the last 3 years, covering hundreds of thousands of hectares and costing the province hundreds of millions in damages, buyers (who will be applying for mortgages) need to consider any active wildfires. And if there aren’t any at the time of offer, consider that there very well may be prior to the completion of the purchase. 

Once you’ve made an offer on the home of your dreams and that offer has been accepted, reach out to your insurance broker of choice to get the ball rolling on securing (binding) your policy. They will be able to bind your policy for you up to 30 days prior to your completion date. This means that even in the unfortunate event of a wildfire beginning after your offer is accepted, you will have an agreement in place and will be able to move ahead with your purchase.