Don’t Wait For a Flood To Find Out Your Insurance Won’t Pay Out.

When one of Toronto’s top real estate agents tells you to check your insurance documents, it’s worth listening. Michael Prior, founding broker of The Prior Group at Revel Realty and one of the leading agents in Toronto’s west end, has spent years watching homeowners make the same avoidable mistake: assuming their home insurance actually covers them.

“Are you actually covered?” Prior asks in his latest video. It’s a short question with a surprisingly complicated answer for many Toronto homeowners — and the time to find out is not after water is pouring into your finished basement.

The Problem With Assuming You’re Covered

Most homeowners buy their insurance policy, file it away, and move on. They pay the premium every year and take quiet comfort in the idea that they’re protected. But as Prior points out, the gap between what you think you’re covered for and what your policy will actually pay out can be enormous.

One of the most common scenarios he sees? Flooding. Specifically, basement flooding — a real and recurring risk for Toronto homeowners given the city’s aging storm infrastructure and increasingly intense weather events. The assumption is that flood damage means your insurer cuts a cheque and your home gets restored. The reality, according to Prior, is often very different.

“Sometimes insurance companies will not pay for the remodeling or the refinishing of a basement, but just the mold remediation if you have a flood,” he explains. That distinction — between covering the environmental damage and covering your actual finishes, flooring, and renovation work — can translate to tens of thousands of dollars coming out of your own pocket.

The MGA Problem Most Homeowners Don’t Know About

Prior also flags a structural issue that catches many Toronto homeowners off guard: MGA coverage, or policies held through a Managing General Agent, which pools multiple underlying insurers. When a claim comes in on an MGA policy, it doesn’t go to one company for approval — it can go to several. “If you’re covered by an MGA, you’re going to have to wait for multiple companies to approve your payout,” Prior says. In a situation where your home has been damaged and you need to act fast, that delay isn’t just inconvenient. It can be financially and emotionally devastating.

This is the kind of structural detail that rarely gets explained at the point of sale, and it’s exactly the kind of thing the best real estate team in Toronto’s west end wants their clients to understand before they’re in a crisis.

What You Should Actually Do

Prior’s advice is practical and immediately actionable. Rather than leaving your policy sitting in a drawer, take some time to understand what type of coverage you actually have. A simple way to start: describe your coverage to an AI tool like ChatGPT. Ask it to break down what’s covered, what’s excluded, and what scenarios might leave you exposed. Then take those findings to a qualified insurance broker and ask the hard questions.

The key mindset shift he’s pushing for: “It’s not the cheapest insurance package that’s going to get you paid. It’s the one that has all the things you need covered.” In a city like Toronto, where detached and semi-detached homes in neighbourhoods like Roncesvalles, Bloor West Village, Swansea, and Parkdale regularly trade at $1.5M to $2.5M and beyond, the difference between adequate and inadequate coverage is not a rounding error. It’s a financial catastrophe.

If you don’t currently have a trusted insurance broker, Prior and the team at The Prior Group are happy to make a referral. This is part of what separates a great real estate experience from a transactional one — the relationship and the expertise extend beyond closing day.

Why This Matters More Than Most People Realize

As one of the top real estate agents in Toronto advising move-up buyers, growing families, and long-term homeowners across the city’s west end, Prior has a front-row seat to what happens when things go wrong. A home is the largest asset most people will ever own. Protecting it properly isn’t optional — and it’s not something you should figure out after a loss event.

Review your policy. Use the tools available to you. Work with a broker who explains not just the premium, but the protection.

To connect with Michael Prior or anyone at The Prior Group for an insurance broker referral or to talk about buying or selling in Toronto, call 647-376-7367, email mike@thepriorgroup.com, or visit thepriorgroup.com.