{"id":1943,"date":"2026-08-03T08:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/2026\/08\/03\/is-your-cottage-underinsured-the-hidden-fire-risk-costing-owners-thousands\/"},"modified":"2026-08-03T08:00:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-03T13:00:55","slug":"is-your-cottage-underinsured-the-hidden-fire-risk-costing-owners-thousands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/2026\/08\/03\/is-your-cottage-underinsured-the-hidden-fire-risk-costing-owners-thousands\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Your Cottage Underinsured? The Hidden Fire Risk Costing Owners Thousands"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>For many GTA residents, the cottage is more than a getaway\u2014it\u2019s a significant asset. However, as Ontario faces record-breaking wildfire seasons, industry experts are sounding the alarm: your current policy may not cover the true cost of a rebuild. With labour and material costs surging, relying on outdated coverage limits could leave you exposed to massive financial gaps. Unlike standard urban policies, cottage insurance is highly nuanced, often excluding detached structures like bunkies or docks unless specifically noted. Experts like Anne Marie Thomas from the Insurance Bureau of Canada and Chris Stirling of Stirco Insurance advise owners to audit their coverage annually, document property features with photos, and verify if they have &#8216;guaranteed replacement cost&#8217; coverage. Don&#8217;t wait for a wildfire to discover your protection is insufficient. Read the full analysis at thestar.com to learn how to safeguard your retreat.<\/p>\n<p><!-- RealEstateToday Source Article --><\/p>\n<div style=\"display:none\" data-original-url=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/business\/personal-finance\/rising-wildfires-underinsured-cottages-what-ontario-property-owners-need-to-know-before-its-too-late\/article_e0f19ba9-3311-4744-a16b-f7a089ac07bc.html\"><\/div>\n<p><em>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thestar.com\/business\/personal-finance\/rising-wildfires-underinsured-cottages-what-ontario-property-owners-need-to-know-before-its-too-late\/article_e0f19ba9-3311-4744-a16b-f7a089ac07bc.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read the original article<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n<p><!-- RealEstateToday Instagram Handles --><\/p>\n<div style=\"display:none\" data-instagram-handles=\"@td_canada,@rbc\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rising wildfire risks are exposing dangerous gaps in Ontario cottage insurance. Is your policy enough to cover a total rebuild today?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[178,206],"tags":[824,792,265,295,933],"class_list":["post-1943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-market-data","category-residential","tag-cottage-country","tag-insurance","tag-ontario","tag-real-estate-investment","tag-wildfire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.realestategtatoday.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}