All-Risks Insurance Brokers Kitchener

15 years in the Ontario insurance world! 15 years of adapting, learning, advocating, and building relationships that last far beyond a renewal date.

Here’s the scoop on co-insurance. 🚨

To all commercial property owners: you’ve probably seen this clause buried in your insurance paperwork.

You should understand it.

⚠️ Co-insurance is a penalty clause, and it applies even on a partial loss.

I’m seeing a growing number of commercial properties that are unintentionally underinsured. In most cases, it’s not because the owner knowingly chose lower limits.

It’s because inflation and rebuild costs have increased so dramatically over the last few years.

A building that was properly insured 5 years ago may no longer be adequately insured today.

👇 Here’s an example:

🏢 A commercial building currently costs $10,000,000 to rebuild.

📑 The policy has an 80% co-insurance clause.

That means the building must be insured for at least $8,000,000 to avoid penalty.

But the policy still reflects an older rebuild value of $5,000,000 from years ago.

🔥 Then a fire happens.

Not a total loss but a partial loss causing $1,000,000 in damage.

Because the building was significantly underinsured relative to today’s rebuild cost, the insurer applies the co-insurance formula.

💸 Instead of receiving the full amount of the loss, the insurer may only pay approximately $625,000 before deductible.

Ouch.

The property owner is now responsible for the remaining balance out of pocket, despite having insurance in place. 😬

This is becoming more common because rebuild costs have surged due to:

🔨 labour shortages
📦 material inflation
🏢 building code upgrades
🚢 supply chain disruptions
💰 increased contractor pricing

The good news? Properly insuring to value does not always mean a massive premium increase.

A big part of what we do as brokers is advocate for our clients by:

✅ structuring coverage correctly
✅ negotiating with underwriters
✅ finding competitive markets
✅ protecting the asset properly without overpaying

In many cases this year, we’ve increased building limits substantially to reflect accurate rebuild costs and still delivered overall savings for the client.

🎯 The goal is not just “cheap insurance.”

The goal is making sure the building actually responds properly when there’s a loss.

I was talking to a business owner the other day and he said something that stuck with me… “All the good commercial brokers have retired.”

At first I kind of laughed it off, but the more I thought about it, I sort of get what he meant.

There used to be a lot more focus on actually understanding a business… how it operates, where the exposures are, what would actually happen in a claim.

Now a lot of the conversation is just around price... And that’s where things go wrong.

Commercial insurance isn’t something you just shop once a year and hope for the best. If it’s not structured properly, you don’t find out until something happens and by then it’s too late.

This past year has been a big commercial focus. We are leaning more into this side of the business. Sitting down with owners, going through their operations, making sure what they have actually makes sense.

Really, at the end of the day, the policy only matters when there’s a claim... and that’s not the time to be guessing.

From time to time I meet brokers who feel like they’ve hit a bit of a ceiling.
They’re good at what they do. They care about their clients. But they start wondering if there’s more out there for them in this industry.

More growth.
More opportunity.
More room to build something of their own.

As our office continues to grow, we’re looking to connect with RIBO-licensed brokers who may be ready for that next step.

At All-Risks Insurance Brokers in Kitchener, we focus on helping brokers grow their career; whether that’s expanding into commercial insurance, building strong referral networks, or developing deeper expertise in the market.

We want to grow with you.

If you’ve been thinking about what your next chapter in insurance might look like, I’m always happy to have a confidential conversation.

📩 [email protected]

Sarah

Proud to build in Kitchener Centre —> Canada’s Innovation Capital.

People love to say innovation in Canada happens in Toronto
.... Sure.

But the people actually building things? That’s right here in Kitchener Centre.

This region isn’t just startups and tech founders in hoodies (although we have plenty of those too). 🙂

It’s advanced manufacturing, contractors who can barely keep up with demand, and engineering firms taking on larger and larger projects. It’s consultants scaling nationally, and family businesses quietly expanding year after year.

Innovation here doesn’t just live in code. It lives in factories, on job sites, in machine shops, and in boardrooms where real decisions are being made.

Waterloo Region earned the title “innovation capital.” It wasn’t handed to us.

Business owners here just think differently. We’re practical, strategic and we’re not afraid to take calculated risks.

But growth isn’t simple! It’s more employees, bigger contracts, municipal work, cross-border exposure, and higher revenue. Your business changes —> and so does your risk.

That’s why commercial insurance can’t just be something you renew once a year and forget about. It has to evolve with you. It has to protect your balance sheet. It has to anticipate issues before they become claims.

I’m proud to work with the builders, founders, contractors, engineers, and manufacturers shaping this region.

Kitchener Centre isn’t just growing..... It’s LEADING.

And I’m proud to protect the businesses that make that happen.