Ontario landlords insurance for commercial properties

Like all business insurance, premiums for commercial landlords vary widely based on a number of factors. For landlords, the main factors are the type and value of the buildings, the nature of the tenants’ businesses, the quality and maintenance of security systems, fire alarms and sprinklers, and proximity to fire hydrants. Talk to one of our commercial insurance experts today about the specifics of your commercial real estate business, and they will be happy give you a detailed quote.

Because your business owns property, the most critical coverage for commercial landlords is commercial property insurance to protect the buildings themselves from fire, flood, vandalism and other perils that could damage the structure.

Like any business, commercial landlords also require commercial general liability insurance to protect against potential legal action against the business. This can also include a certain amount of contents coverage if your business owns equipment or machinery that is housed at a rented site.

Business interruption insurance includes coverage for lost rental income if the property is damaged and your tenants are unable to use the space for a time during repairs.

Equipment breakdown coverage might also make sense to protect against a sudden failure of critical equipment like boilers, elevators, HVAC and phone systems.

The main difference between insurance for an apartment building and insurance for a mall, industrial park or office tower is that residential tenants are all treated as if they present the same risk, whereas some commercial tenants may be viewed as higher or lower risk by insurers. Coverages would be very similar, although rates for an apartment building would be higher than they would be for most commercial buildings.

Insurance for a condo corporation is not a landlord policy at all, since the corporation is an entity made up of all the individual unit owners. Technically, the owners live there, much like a house. That said, a condo corporation policy is very different from other commercial property policies in that the corporation insures only common parts of the building, and the unit owners insure their units.

Absolutely they should. From a landlord’s perspective the most important coverage tenants should have is called tenant legal liability, which pays for any damage that they as tenants might cause to the rented property.

Yes, we do. Many standard insurance companies in Canada don’t cover landlords who own property that’s being leased out to licensed cannabis producers, distributors, retailers, medical cannabis clinics, or other cannabis-related operations.

But we work with a number of insurers who specialize in this kind of rental property. If you rent space to a company operating in the cannabis industry, our commercial insurance experts will be happy to help ensure your business has the protection it needs.

Being an outlet for over 70 of Canada’s top insurers means we have access to some of the best coverages and prices you’ll find anywhere. We’ll work with you to create an insurance policy that’s right for your specific business needs and budget.

In addition to that, our team of commercial insurance experts will help you get the most out of your coverage. Here’s a few examples of how they do that:

Track inflation costs
We’ll keep track of the replacement cost of your property as inflation rates and construction costs increase so you’re always fully covered.

Fill coverage gaps
We’ll check that there are no gaps in your business insurance so you can rest easy knowing you won’t be getting any costly surprises.

Remove duplications
We’ll break down what should be covered by your tenants’ insurance policies, so you don’t have any unnecessary coverages.