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Real Estate & Property Management Insurance

We’ll match all your property with the right coverage

If you’re a real estate agent or a property manager, it’s important that you have the right insurance to protect your business. You’re dealing with expensive assets as well as a wide variety of people, so ensuring you’re covered when it comes to lawsuits is critical. At Rogers, our experienced and professional real estate and property management insurance brokers will be able to help you determine your insurance needs, take care of the price shopping, and advise and advocate when it comes to claims, insurance, and risk management.

As a leading independent brokerage in Canada, Rogers has access to a large number of markets. This means that we work for you – not an insurer. You’ll also get truly competitive real estate and property management insurance quotes and a choice with your coverage.

We offer free realtor and property management quotes online, by phone, or in-person at one of our locations. Contact us today or continue reading below to learn more about this important protection.

Areas We Serve

Real Estate vs. Property Management Insurance

Realtor insurance is slightly different from property management insurance. While there are many overlaps, these two occupations aren’t the same: the main difference being selling real estate versus managing it. This means different risks and therefore, different insurance.

What is Real Estate/Realtor Insurance?

What kind of insurance does a real estate agent need?

Real estate or realtor insurance is coverage tailored for real estate agents. It should include protection for your office and its contents as well as liability coverage to help cover your legal expenses if you’re sued.

A real estate agent may need these types of insurance coverage:

  • Commercial Property
  • Commercial General Liability
  • Professional Liability
  • Cyber Liability
  • Crime Coverage
  • Consumer Deposit and Commission Protection Insurance

We’ll discuss these in more detail later on.

What is Property Management Insurance?

What type of insurance should a property manager have?

Property management insurance is specialized coverage for property managers or management companies. The type of coverage you need will depend on if you own the properties you manage or not.

Here are some types of insurance a property manager should have:

  • Commercial Property
  • Commercial General Liability
  • Professional Liability
  • Cyber Liability
  • Director’s & Officers Liability
  • Crime Coverage
  • Equipment Breakdown

If you own a condo or apartment building and manage it, you may need specialized commercial policy known as a master condominium policy.

Real Estate & Property Management Insurance Coverage

Below, we’ll discuss exactly what realtor and property management insurance covers.

Commercial Property

This protects the physical property belonging to your real estate agency or property management company. This can include your office or real estate you own, as well as any contents that belong to you. This can help you repair or rebuild your physical structures and outbuildings (like fences, sheds, and garages) and replace your belongings, including furniture, computers, and other equipment.

These are most common perils that you’re protected against:

  • Fire
  • Smoke
  • Explosion
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Lightning
  • Weight of snow or ice
  • Impact of vehicle or aircraft
  • Vandalism and other malicious acts
  • Theft
  • Sewer backup*
  • Overland water (flooding)*
  • Groundwater*
  • Earthquake*

Your individual policy may vary depending on your coverage options and your insurer. The items marked with an asterisk (*) generally require the purchase of add-on coverage, although comprehensive policies may include them.

Some insurers also offer physical damage coverage for service lines and will include or offer bylaw protection, which covers the costs of upgrading your building to current code after an insured loss.

Commercial General Liability

If someone is hurt or has their property damaged, they can hold you liable. For example, let’s say a family comes to your realtor office to discuss buying a home. One of their children trips, and breaks an arm. They may decide to sue you.

This protection can help cover damages and legal expenses if this happens.

Professional Liability

This protection is critical for realtors and property managers. When you provide a service or professional advice, your clients may decide to sue you if they feel that service or advice has caused them financial loss. Even if you’re innocent, you’ll need to cover your defence costs. Professional liability insurance can help cover your legal expenses if you’re sued for financial loss by a client as a result of your professional service or advice (or failure to provide it).

Cyber Liability

You likely have a lot of information stored digitally and you may even process transactions electronically. This means cybersecurity is very important, as hackers can gain access to this data or disrupt your network and systems. Unfortunately, more and more Canadian businesses are being targeted. Cyber liability helps you navigate and recover from a cyberattack or data breach.

Crime Coverage

This protection covers you for crimes such as employee theft and dishonesty, fraud, forgery, and counterfeit funds. Due to the nature of the business for realtors and property managers, this is good coverage to have.

Equipment Breakdown

If your essential equipment suffers a mechanical or electrical breakdown, this insurance will help cover repairing or replacing it. Computers and printers also count as equipment!

Directors & Officers Liability

While applicable to any company, this is especially important for property managers. This coverage can help cover your legal expenses if you’re sued for misrepresentation, fraud, wrongful dismissal, discrimination, and more.

Consumer Deposit & Commission Protection

Consumer deposit insurance protects your clients in the event fraud, insolvency or misappropriation occurs with their money.

Commission protection protects you from missing out on your commission due to fraud, misappropriation, or insolvency.

Keep in mind that there are limits on your insurance. Not every risk can be insured against. For example, not every type of lawsuit is covered and most policies won’t cover you if your actions were intentionally harmful. Wear and tear and damage caused by rodents, vermin, or insects is also not covered. Your realtor and property management insurance broker will be able to explain exactly what is and isn’t covered by your policy and answer any coverage questions you may have.

Commercial Real Estate Insurance

If you’re a realtor or property manager who specializes in commercial real estate, the insurance will be very similar to the above. You will likely want to opt for higher policy limits as commercial real estate can involve assets and transactions worth a lot of money.

It’s important to ensure your tenants are properly protected with a minimum of commercial general liability and commercial property insurance for their contents.

Renovating Your Properties

If you’re overseeing a renovation, be sure to inform your insurer. Renovations can change the replacement value of the building and add risks. If you don’t tell your insurance company, you could have a claim denied or be left with no coverage at all.

You should obtain a course of construction or builder’s risk insurance policy to protect your assets during the construction or renovation phase.

Cost of Real Estate & Property Management Insurance

Cost of Realtor Insurance

The cost of realtor and property manager insurance will be different. For real estate agents, the factors impacting pricing include:

  • The location of your office
    • Claim rate of the area
    • Crime rate of the area
    • Proximity to a fire hydrant and fire station as well as any hazards like a river
    • Frequency and severity of natural disasters
  • The building your office is in
    • If you own or rent
    • The building age, square footage, and type of build
    • The age and type of roof
    • The age and type of systems such as heating and plumbing
  • The number of employees you have
  • The value of the contracts/transactions
  • Your insurance and claims history
  • Your credit rating
  • Your insurance options, such as coverage, deductible and policy limits

There may be additional factors, depending on the realtor insurance company.

Cost of Property Management Insurance

Property managers will see the cost of their insurance change based on the following:

  • The location of your office
    • Claim rate of the area
    • The crime rate of the area
    • Proximity to a fire hydrant and fire station as well as any hazards like a river
    • Frequency and severity of natural disasters
  • The building your office is in
    • If you own or rent
    • The building age, square footage, and type of build
    • The age and type of roof
    • The age and type of systems such as heating and plumbing
  • If you own the buildings you manage
    • Location and the building itself will also become important if you do
  • The number of employees you have
  • The value of the contracts
  • Your insurance and claims history
  • Your credit rating
  • Your insurance options, such as coverage, deductible and policy limits

This may vary depending on the individual property management insurance company.

How to Get the Cheapest Real Estate & Property Management Insurance

A note of caution: cheaper isn’t always better when it comes to insurance. While the budget is important, you need to balance price with coverage. Our real estate & property management insurance brokers can help you determine your needs and find you the best coverage for the best price.

Here are a few other ways you can save:

  • Bundle your insurance with a single company
  • Pay annually rather than monthly
  • Maintain good credit or work to improve it
  • Increase your deductible
  • Install risk mitigation devices (like sump pumps)
  • Install security or damage monitoring devices (like water alarms or security alarms)
  • Establish good risk management practices within your company
  • Review your insurance annually with a realtor/property management insurance broker

Work with the best Real Estate & Property Management Insurance brokers

As a leading independent brokerage in Canada, Rogers has the experience to ensure you have the best protection for the best price. Our staff of professional real estate and property management insurance brokers also provides exceptional customer service as part of our hands-on, human-first approach to insurance.

We can deliver competitive realtor and property manager insurance quotes because we have access to a large number of insurance markets. That means true competition for your business and a choice with your coverage.

Contact us today for a real estate or property management insurance quote – online, by phone, or stop by in-person.

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