Choosing a home insurance provider rarely comes down to coverage or price alone. It’s also about convenience, customer service, and the flexibility of your options. For example, you may currently be considering belairdirect, a well-known brand in much of Canada. Although they offer insurance for homeowners, condo owners, and tenants, as with any provider, there are potential drawbacks to consider.

To help you make an informed decision on whether belairdirect aligns with your needs and preferences, this article will outline the potential pros and cons of belairdirect home insurance. How much weight you give to each factor is ultimately up to you and will depend on your priorities and what matters most for your situation.

✅ Backed by Intact Financial Corporation

As part of Intact Financial Corporation, the largest property and casualty insurer in Canada, belairdirect draws from a strong financial foundation. This relationship may make drivers feel more confident in belairdirect’s ability to meet its obligations to policyholders.

❌ Restricted to Belair products and pricing

As the policies sold by belairdirect are underwritten by Belair Insurance Company Inc., you’re limited to their products, pricing, and discounts. This is a key difference between buying from a provider like belairdirect and working with a broker. A broker compares the prices and offerings of multiple carriers to find the best price for you, while belairdirect only offers options underwritten by Belair Insurance Company.

✅ Optional coverage for water and sewer lines

One of the optional types of coverage belairdirect offers is exterior water and sewer line protection, which is designed to cover the cost of repairing or replacing broken service lines on your property. If this is a concern for you, it provides the option to add coverage where you feel it’s most needed, separate from other water damage protections like overland flooding, above-ground water, or sewer backup.

❌ Poor online reviews

As of April 2025, belairdirect’s customer review rating on TrustPilot was just 1.4 out of 5 stars and 1.8 out of 5 stars on InsurEye. While these customer reviews may highlight some concerns, unhappy customers are generally more likely to leave reviews on platforms like this than satisfied ones.

✅ Available in several provinces, but not everywhere

Home insurance is available to residents of Ontario, Québec, Alberta, British Columbia, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, and Newfoundland and Labrador. However, it is not for those living in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Canada’s territories.

❌ Need to call to cancel

If you need to cancel with belairdirect, the company states in its FAQs that you must do so “by phone.” While cancellation might not be top of mind right now, limited online options – especially for cancellations – aren’t ideal, particularly for those who prioritize convenience in managing their policies.

✅ Rewards for referrals

For customers, belairdirect has created a referral program as a way to reward those who bring in new policyholders. While referral programs are common in the insurance industry, you likely won’t feel compelled to participate unless you’re already well-connected or ready to invest the extra effort.

❌ Bundling savings potentially limited

Like most insurance providers, belairdirect advertises that you can save money by buying both your home and car insurance with them. While this can offer some savings, a mix-and-match approach to bundling – where products and pricing from multiple carriers are considered – could potentially help you truly maximize your potential savings. 

belairdirect vs. YouSet home insurance

While getting a home insurance quote from Belairdirect is a good starting point, the only way to know for sure if it’s the best possible price out there is to compare it with quotes from other providers, like YouSet.

Since 2017, YouSet has been making it easier for Canadians to buy home and car insurance online. Why spend hours manually comparing quotes when our proprietary technology can do it all for you in less than 4 minutes? Not only that, but we’ll also have Canada’s top insurance providers competing for your business, ensuring you get the best price year after year. With over 300,000 users and an average online review rating of 4.9 stars, YouSet is a broker well worth considering. 

Best price year-after-year

YouSet’s algorithms are designed to do one thing - find you the best price. Not just the first time you buy, either. If your price increases at renewal, we’ll alert you and even help you re-shop with another carrier.

Transparent renewals

Anytime a YouSet insurance policy comes up for renewal, our team will make sure you’re paying the best price possible for your policy. If that’s no longer working, we’ll help you re-shop another carrier for a better deal.

Mix-and-match approach to bundling

YouSet is the only digital broker in Canada that automatically compares the cost of bundling home and car insurance from a single carrier against the cost of mix-and-matching home and car carriers. Whichever option offers the maximum savings is the one we present to you.

Buy, manage, and renew your policy online

How much easier would it be if you could purchase a policy, personalize it to fit your needs, make modifications to it, and renew it, all without having to make any phone calls or wait on hold? With YouSet, you can do all that and more with our self-serve features.

Highly reviewed by Canadians

With an overall rating of 4.8 out of 5 stars on Google, the general consensus among YouSet users is that YouSet is making it easier to find affordable insurance and buy it online at the best price year after year. 

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