Whether you live in a house, a condominium or a rental unit, the Kanetix,ca property and home insurance Quickguides will help you understand the ins and outs of choosing an insurance policy that fits your needs.

House insurance
If you own your own house, then you'll want to protect not only your physical building, but all the things in your house too. A standard house insurance policy will ensure that if something like fire, vandalism or theft occurs, then you will be properly looked after and your valuables will be replaced.

You also need to think about protecting any other structures that exist on your property, like a detached garage. As well, in the event that your house is damaged, and you need to move out for a while, you may want to consider investing in insurance that will help pay for out-of-pocket expenses like hotel rooms and food.

As a homeowner, it is possible you may be held liable for accidents that people have while on your property. What's more, you may accidentally damage other people's belongings either in your own house, or somewhere else. A well-structured house insurance plan will make sure that you're covered for any of these unforeseeable events.

Tenant or renters insurance
If you're moving into your first apartment, you might think you don't have anything of real value. A CD player, computer and some clothes may not look as if it's worth much, but when you have to replace it with something new, it could break your budget. Say you've bought a computer on credit and it's destroyed by fire or stolen. You're still responsible for paying the balance to your creditor, even though you no longer have the item.

As a tenant or renter in someone else's building, it's a wise decision to take out a tenant insurance policy. It protects both your contents and your liability exposure. You see, as a tenant, you're responsible for harm you might cause to any part of the building you live in, or to others who live or visit there. If you forgot to turn off the water in the bathtub while you're talking to your friend, you could flood out your neighbours. You would be responsible to repair any resulting damages.

Condominium insurance
When you purchase a condominium, you own your "unit" and own a share in the common areas of the condominium -- the roof, basement, elevator, heating room, lobby, swimming pool, parking garage, or garden. As a condo owner, you may be held responsible for harm you might cause to any part your building, or to others who live or visit the condominium complex. A condominium insurance policy can remove some of the financial worries of condominium ownership.

You'll need two separate policies to protect your investment.

• Your own insurance policy. The insurance policy provides coverage for your personal property, structural improvements to your unit and additional living expenses if you are the victim of fire, theft or other disaster listed in your policy. You will get liability protection to protect you for harm you might cause to any part of the building you live in or to others who live in or visit the condominium complex.

An important feature of your own insurance policy is loss assessment. As a condominium owner, you share responsibility with others in your building for common property. Loss assessment protects you from damage to these common areas. See the condo coverage section for more details.

• A "master policy" purchased and provided by the condominium board. This covers the common areas you share with others in your building like the roof, basement, elevator, heating room, lobby, swimming pool, parking garage, or garden for both liability and physical damage.

Sometimes the condominium corporation is responsible for insuring the individual condominium as it was originally built, including standard fixtures. In this case, you'd only be responsible for insuring your personal property and any alterations you or a previous owner have made to the original structure of the condominium, like remodeling the kitchen or bathtub.

In other cases, the condominium corporation is responsible for insuring only the bare walls, floor and ceiling. You'd be responsible for insuring your personal property, plus things like the kitchen cabinets, built-in appliances, plumbing, wiring and bathroom fixtures.

Take the time to find out what's included in the condominium corporation's policy. You can then decide what to include in your personal insurance policy.

Limitations in house insurance, condo insurance or tenants insurance policy coverage
Your standard house insurance, condo insurance or tenants insurance policy will have limitations in theft coverage for jewellery and furs, silverware, business property, bicycles, money, boat and motor. If you own any of these special items, it's a good idea to consider adding additional coverage to your policy.

Paying a house insurance, condo insurance or tenants insurance deductible
When you make a claim, a small portion of the claim is always paid by you first, then your insurance company pays the rest. The portion you pay is called your deductible. The amount of your deductible affects the price of your insurance policy. The higher your deductible, the less the cost of your insurance premium.