Second homes, short-term rentals, strata units and seasonal living — different from insuring a house you live in year-round.
Whistler and Pemberton are not simply Squamish further up the highway. A large share of property is second homes, revenue property or strata units, and a large share of the local economy is seasonal and tourism-driven. Standard residential assumptions frequently do not apply, and standard forms frequently do not fit.
A property that sits empty for weeks at a time is rated differently from one occupied every day, and many policies carry conditions about unoccupancy that owners are unaware of until a frozen pipe becomes a declined claim. If your place is empty midweek or through the shoulder season, that is worth saying out loud when the policy is written.
This is the single biggest gap I see up the highway. Most standard home and condo policies do not cover short-term rental activity. Renting your place out — even occasionally, even to friends of friends — can void coverage you assumed you had. Platform-provided protection is not the same as a policy, and generally does not replace one.
If you rent your place out at all, tell me. It is fixable when it is disclosed and expensive when it is not.
Whistler has a lot of strata property, and BC strata deductibles have risen a great deal. Your own policy is what stands between you and a share of that deductible, plus your contents, your improvements and your liability. Loss assessment coverage is the piece most owners are short on, and it is usually inexpensive to correct.
Pemberton and Mount Currie are a different property market again — acreage, outbuildings, farm use and much longer distances to a fire hall. That has its own page: insurance for Pemberton and Mount Currie.
The whole Sea to Sky corridor, from Lions Bay through Squamish and Whistler up to Pemberton and Mount Currie. I am licensed across BC, so distance is not the constraint.
Usually not. Most standard policies exclude short-term rental activity, and renting out your place without telling your insurer can jeopardise coverage. It needs to be disclosed and arranged properly.
Yes. Occupancy patterns affect both the rate and the policy conditions. A property that sits empty for stretches needs to be written as what it actually is.
If the strata claims, owners can be assessed for a share of the deductible. Loss assessment coverage on your own policy is what responds, and many owners carry too little of it.
Often yes, though outbuildings, farm use and distance to a fire hall all matter. Tell me what is actually on the property and I will tell you honestly whether I can place it well.
One question at a time, save and come back to it, and a real person at the end.
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