Endorsement

An endorsement is a written modification to an insurance policy that adds, removes, or changes coverage. It's a one- or two-page document attached to the policy, and it becomes part of the contract — wherever an endorsement conflicts with the standard policy wording, the endorsement wins. Insurers use them to tailor a mass-produced policy to one household, and many personal-lines endorsements cost in the tens to low hundreds of dollars per year.

Why it matters to you#

Endorsements are the answer to most exclusion problems. Canadian home policies exclude a long list of activities — short-term renting, larger watercraft, home businesses — and the endorsement is how you buy that coverage back without replacing the whole policy. The flip side: an endorsement you don't have is a gap you may be assuming is covered. If your life has changed since you bought the policy — you started hosting on Airbnb, bought a boat, took in a tenant — your coverage hasn't changed with it unless an endorsement was added. Insurers also use endorsements to restrict coverage, so read any endorsement that arrives at renewal rather than filing it unopened.

In practice#

• Short-term rental endorsement: many home policies treat Airbnb-style hosting as excluded business use. This endorsement adds it back — often for roughly $50–$200 per year, depending on the insurer. Estimate, not a quote.
• Watercraft endorsement: extends liability coverage to a boat above the small-craft limits built into the base home policy.
• Where to check: your declarations page lists every endorsement on the policy, usually by form number and name. If an activity you do isn't reflected there or in the base wording, assume it isn't covered until your broker confirms otherwise.

Endorsements patch specific holes; an umbrella policy raises the whole ceiling. Most households need to know which problem they actually have. Take the 2-minute Lawsuit Exposure Quiz →