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Before You Sail Off: Independent vs Cruise Line Insurance for Protecting Your Trip Jun 20th
Booking a cruise comes with a few crucial decisions. How long you want to be at sea, which ports you’d like to visit, whether you’d like an adventure-filled experience or you simply want to relax in the sun; these are a few of the choices you’ll make as you design your trip.
While.... More »
10 travel insurance myths to stop believing now + MORE Feb 23rd
Travel insurance can be tough to understand, and if you’re not reading the fine print, you could be relying on inaccurate myths to inform your coverage decisions. Luckily, InsurEye, a Canadian insurance education site has compiled a massive list of 111 insurance myths that are out there. We’.... More »
BREAKING: Ontario Car Insurance Rates Increase + MORE Apr 20th
Here at RateSupermaket.ca, we keep you in the loop of different ways to save, whether it be on your mortgage, through investments, or on your car insurance. The Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO) has reported that Ontario car insurance rates have increased by 1.24 per cent on average..... More »
Financial planning in your 70s + MORE Oct 7th
When most people think about financial planning, they think about saving and investing for retirement. That is certainly a part of it, but financial planning is much more holistic.
Here are a few financial planning strategies for those approaching or into their 70s. If you are not there yet, bookmar.... More »
ObamaCare's Hotel California Sep 4th
Democrats work to ban an affordable health insurance option..... More »
Is the CMHC’s mortgage insurance calculator wrong?
– moneysense.ca
Q: MoneySense says that a 20% home down payment waives any mortgage loan insurance premium. However, when I enter a purchase price of $250,000 with a down payment of $50,000 on the CMHC’s website calculator it gives me a mortgage insurance premium of $2,500, not $0. What gives?
—Jonathan Kuzub, Ottawa
A: As you rightly point out, a down payment of at least 20% of the purchase price should eliminate the need for mortgage loan insurance. I tried both the CMHC and Genworth calculators with an even more dramatic example—a down payment that covered 80% of the purchase price—and it still showed that I would have to pay insurance of $300. The CMHC disclaimer states that, “This calculator will return a premium amount regardless of the down payment amount entered.” The reason is that many lenders will still purchase mortgage loan insurance on homes with a down payment of more than 20%—they just don’t pass on the cost to the borrower. I personally think the calculator would be more useful if the algorithm used an “if/then” statement to eliminate this confusion…
—Jonathan Kuzub, Ottawa
A: As you rightly point out, a down payment of at least 20% of the purchase price should eliminate the need for mortgage loan insurance. I tried both the CMHC and Genworth calculators with an even more dramatic example—a down payment that covered 80% of the purchase price—and it still showed that I would have to pay insurance of $300. The CMHC disclaimer states that, “This calculator will return a premium amount regardless of the down payment amount entered.” The reason is that many lenders will still purchase mortgage loan insurance on homes with a down payment of more than 20%—they just don’t pass on the cost to the borrower. I personally think the calculator would be more useful if the algorithm used an “if/then” statement to eliminate this confusion…
Home insurance you didn’t know you had
– moneysense.ca
You purchase home insurance to protect you from catastrophic losses, such as an all-consuming house fire, or a massive back-up of sewage water in your basement. But did you know your everyday home insurance policy can often protect you for perils that are not always so obvious? We talked to Wayne Ross, vice president of claims at Aviva, on the coverage you already have, but don’t know about, along with a few add-ons that may be worth exploring. (Caveat: every insurance provider and policy are different so double-check with your insurance provider.)
What your home insurance already protects against
→ Mortgage rate protector
In the event of a big loss, where you find yourself displaced from your home as you rebuild, this coverage will protect your mortgage rate. For example, when you get your mortgage you negotiate for a five-year fixed rate at 2.65%. But in year two, you have a massive electrical fire that prompts extensive rebuilding that takes the better part of six months. In that time, the five-year fixed rate jumps to 3…
What your home insurance already protects against
→ Mortgage rate protector
In the event of a big loss, where you find yourself displaced from your home as you rebuild, this coverage will protect your mortgage rate. For example, when you get your mortgage you negotiate for a five-year fixed rate at 2.65%. But in year two, you have a massive electrical fire that prompts extensive rebuilding that takes the better part of six months. In that time, the five-year fixed rate jumps to 3…
