Tenant Contents & Additional Living Expenses in Manitoba
Manitoba RTB advises renters to estimate what it would cost to replace their belongings and to ask whether the policy pays replacement cost or cash value. It also says tenant insurance usually includes additional living expense coverage for extra costs while a damaged unit is being repaired.
Key points
Confirm the current tenancy rule and the wording of the actual insurance policy before relying on a general guide.
Confirm the current tenancy rule and the wording of the actual insurance policy before relying on a general guide.
Confirm the current tenancy rule and the wording of the actual insurance policy before relying on a general guide.
Confirm the current tenancy rule and the wording of the actual insurance policy before relying on a general guide.
Build the contents amount from your own household
A useful contents limit begins with the property actually in the rental: furniture, clothing, electronics, kitchen items, bicycles, tools and other belongings. Manitoba RTB recommends estimating how much it would cost to replace everything rather than assuming the household is worth only a small round number.
Replacement cost and cash value can produce very different claim outcomes
The RTB specifically tells tenants to ask whether a destroyed older item would be replaced with a new equivalent or settled at the cash value of the old item. The answer depends on policy wording, and special limits may apply to jewellery, money and other categories.
Additional living expenses are about the extra cost of being displaced
If insured damage makes a unit temporarily uninhabitable, tenant insurance usually includes some additional living expense coverage. Manitoba RTB uses temporary hotel or apartment costs as examples and recommends asking about limits, meals and added transportation costs before a loss occurs.
Verify the current Manitoba guidance
Tenancy rules and insurance products can change. Start with the primary source and then read the actual tenancy agreement and policy wording that apply to the rental.
Manitoba Residential Tenancies Branch — Tenant Insurance: Protect your belongings →