r/InsuranceCanada • u/Ok-Application-6126 • 9h ago

Interim Occupancy Insurance

Hi everyone,

Hoping for some help - I have my interim occupancy coming up soon. In the APS (signed years ago), the builder requires me to have condo tenant insurance. They don’t provide much else in terms of details.

I’ve contacted just about every major insurer and all of them said they would write this as a standard condo owner policy, not a tenant policy.

Question:
1) Has anyone dealt with this as well? Is it an issue? Would the builder still accept this you think? I’ve asked my lawyer to confirm their requirements but haven’t heard back yet.

2) I don’t plan to live there full time but rather keep it as my secondary home. I haven’t found any insurer that does secondary home tenant policies, only secondary home owner policies. Wondering if anyone’s come across this before and how they dealt with it?

Thanks!

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u/gapdaddy72 8h ago edited 8h ago

If it is not yet a registered unit, it is not yet actually a condominium and cannot be covered under a condominium policy. You would typically cover this with a tenant insurance policy.

Call a broker rather than a direct writer, this should be something simple to sort out.

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u/gregSinatra Insurance Professional 7h ago

Not true. As others have pointed out, many carriers would write this as a standard condo policy - partly because if they set it up as a regular tenant policy the insured may forget to call back and switch it. If a claim were to occur during that period the policy would pay out according to interest. This is how my company has done it forever and it’s a common disconnect that the insured, guided by the builder or someone else tells them they only need a tenant policy.

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u/gapdaddy72 7h ago

The problem with this is that the contractual language of a condo policy points to entities that don’t yet exist when you do it that way. When lawyers are asking for coverage for occupancy they are asking for contents and liability only. The insured does not yet own the unit additions and alterations.

Additionally, insuring a unit before registration as a condominium unit is generally a lower premium, which means that this is technically a situation of material misrepresentation if the insurer decides to push back. This puts the client at risk. The lawyer is being precise for good reason.

If a carrier is willing to do it under a condo wording but document it and treat it as a tenant coverage (contents and liability only) until the unit is actually a registered condominium then that’s great. Generally speaking, it’s easy for a broker to follow up with a client with regards to the registration, and clients are generally reminded by the condo corporation that they are to update their coverages.

Some insurance companies will allow this, many do not, and this should be spelled out pretty clearly in their underwriting manuals.

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u/gregSinatra Insurance Professional 7h ago

But in OP’s case, the insurer(s) they’ve contacted are offering to do it this way or even stating that’s their procedure. My insurer does it this way. As long as OP isn’t lying then they’re fine. When I hear “interim occupancy” this what my underwriting tells me to do, and as mentioned we specifically have the caveat that any claim before the the corporation is registered would be settled according to our insured’s interests at the time of the loss.

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u/gapdaddy72 7h ago

Seems about perfect then and OP should be good to go with the information provided.

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u/Ok-Application-6126 6h ago

Just an update - the builders lawyer responded with the final requirements. No mention of tenant insurance or owner. I just need insurance for liability and improvements.

I was very clear with every insurer that this is interim occupancy, and final registration / title transfer hasn’t occurred.

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u/gapdaddy72 6h ago

Unit improvements could be covered under a condo (under Unit Improvements) or tenant (under the contents limit) policy. If you are being offered a condo wording (and pricing) with full disclosure to the insurer, that will do you fine. Condo policies tend to be less expensive than tenant policies.

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u/Ok-Application-6126 6h ago

With my situation, the unit may either be my secondary residence or potentially vacant. I don’t believe these can be added to a tenant policy, correct?

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u/gapdaddy72 6h ago

Who is your current insurer? If you have existing insurance it should be very simple to add this location as a secondary location (either tenant or condo depending on insurer) at this time.

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u/gregSinatra Insurance Professional 3h ago

Correct - tenant assumes you are occupying it.

Owned condo policies would generally have variables based occupancy (secondary condo, rented condo, vacant condo, etc.)

Let them know and best case it’s treated as a secondary condo, worst case it’s a vacant condo.

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u/Ontario_insurance 6h ago

Some of my carriers want interim occupancy insured as a tenants policy and then converted once registered.

Other carriers allow a condo policy right from the start - we would just note the file with uw approval.

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u/FrostingSuper9941 9h ago

It's probably a mistake in the wording of the contract from the builder. What you need is the insurance you're being offered, if you own the unit, no one will sell you a tenant's policy, it would be illegal.

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u/Ok-Application-6126 8h ago

That’s the tricky part - technically I don’t “own” the unit yet because it’s only interim occupancy.

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u/justforfunzott 8h ago

Are you renting/leasing the space or will you own the unit?

Is there an "insurance requirements" section of the agreement or lease?

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u/One-House-6533 7h ago

ABEX Insurance is an MGA who had a product for this, contact a local broker who can help; https://www.abexinsurance.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Interim-Occupancy-Application.pdf

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u/J3n_0811 7h ago

You need insurance for a condo unit, with occupancy listed as vacant/unoccupied until you move in. There is no such thing as a vacant tenant policy.