The 30-Day Countdown: Why Property Checks Are the Secret to Saving Your Cottage

Owning a cottage in Ontario is the dream—until it becomes an insurance nightmare. Whether you’re in Muskoka, the Kawarthas, or along Lake Huron, there’s a ticking clock on your place the moment you lock the door and head back to the city.

In the world of insurance, there’s a huge difference between a cottage that’s “lived in” and one that’s “left alone.” If you aren’t careful, a month of silence at the lake could mean your coverage disappears exactly when you need it most.

The “30-Day Rule” Explained

Most standard home insurance policies in Ontario contain some version of a 30‑day unoccupancy rule. If your cottage is left unattended for more than 30 consecutive days, your insurer may treat it differently and can reduce or even void coverage if they weren’t notified or specific conditions weren’t met. As noted by comparison platforms and brokers, once that 30‑day window has passed without proper arrangements (such as a vacancy permit or required inspections), you may be at real risk of a denied claim.

Paying your premiums isn’t enough. Insurance is based on risk, and an unchecked cottage is a high‑risk property.

Unoccupied vs. Vacant: Why It Matters

It sounds like semantics, but in insurance language, these two words have real consequences:

• Unoccupied: You intend to return, the furniture is still there, and utilities are on. This is how most seasonal cottages are treated.

• Vacant: No one lives there, there’s no real intent to return soon, and the place is often empty or nearly empty.

  
  

While cottages are typically considered unoccupied rather than truly vacant, the risks of long absences are similar. Insurers point out that the longer a property sits without checks, the more likely small issues become major losses—exactly the kind of scenarios where coverage can be reduced or denied if policy conditions weren’t met.

The Real Risks of the “Empty Cottage”

So why are insurers so strict? Because without regular checks, little problems become very big, very expensive ones.

1. Frozen Pipes and Water Damage

In an Ontario winter, it doesn’t take long for a furnace failure to turn into a disaster. If you keep water on during the winter and:

• The heat goes out, or

• A heated heat‑trace line trips at the GFCI, or

• A line freezes in a crawl space or exterior wall

  
  

…you can end up with burst pipes and thousands of dollars in water damage and mold. If nobody has checked the cottage in days or weeks, that damage can be extensive—and your insurer may cite the 30‑day rule or inspection requirements when you file a claim.

2. Power Outages and “Offline” Protection

Power reliability is a big, and often overlooked, risk in cottage country:

• Power outages can knock out your furnace, sump pump, or well pump.

• Heated water lines and heat‑trace cables commonly run through GFCI outlets; when there’s a surge or blip, the GFCI can trip and silently shut the line off.

• Security cameras and smart devices go offline when power or internet drops, which means you can’t rely entirely on remote monitoring to prove you’ve been “watching” the property.

  
  

Without someone physically checking that breakers are on, GFCIs are reset, and systems have come back online after outages, you can have a false sense of security—and a big fight at claim time.

3. Vandalism, Theft, and Animal Damage

Vacant‑seeming cottages are magnets for:

• Break‑ins and vandalism—with no neighbours nearby in the off‑season, damage can go unnoticed for weeks.

• Animal damage—squirrels, raccoons, and mice can chew wiring, nest in insulation, and create serious fire hazards.

  
  

Because empty cottages are higher risk for exactly these issues, insurers often charge more or limit coverage when they aren’t regularly monitored.

Proving You Checked: Time‑Stamped Photos and Documentation

One of the most practical (and overlooked) things you can do is create proof that you actually checked on the property—especially in winter.

Many insurers require “regular inspections by a competent person” (for example, every 3–7 days when it’s below freezing). To back that up:

• Ask whoever does your checks (you, a neighbour, or a property check service) to take time‑stamped photos each visit—outside shots and key spots inside (thermostat, mechanical room, under sinks, crawl spaces).

• Keep those images in a shared folder (e.g., a cloud drive) labeled by date and time.

• If you use a professional property check or home watch service, keep their reports and invoices as part of your documentation.

  
  

In a claim situation, being able to show a series of dated photos and logs demonstrating that you complied with your policy’s inspection requirements can make the difference between a paid claim and a denied one.

Rising Cottage Premiums Raise the Stakes

All of this is happening against a backdrop of rising insurance costs. According to Statistics Canada’s Consumer Price Index, the price of home and mortgage insurance increased by about 39% in the five years leading up to December 2023 (as reported by Cottage Life).

While that figure is for home and mortgage insurance nationally, rural and cottage‑country areas in Ontario have seen some of the steepest hikes, with rural properties experiencing premium increases of 15–18% in a single year as severe weather and flood/wildfire risk drive up claims and rebuild costs Cottage Life.

In other words, you’re paying more than ever to protect your cottage. Failing to meet basic conditions—like regular, documented property checks—is an expensive way to discover that, practically speaking, you were not insured when it mattered.

How Regular Property Checks Protect Your Cottage and Your Coverage

The good news: keeping your coverage intact is usually straightforward if you’re proactive.

1. Confirm the Rules With Your Broker

Before you close up in the fall or leave for a long stretch, ask:

• How many days can my cottage be unoccupied before coverage changes?

• How often does someone need to check on it in winter?

• Do you require written logs, photos, or a professional service?

  
  

2. Arrange Reliable Property Checks

Consider hiring a cottage property check or home watch service that:

• Visits on the schedule your insurer expects (often every few days in deep winter).

• Checks heat, power, water, and visible signs of damage.

• Provides written or digital reports and, ideally, date‑stamped photos.

  
  

3. Use Tech—But Don’t Rely on It Alone

Smart thermostats, leak detectors, and cameras are great early‑warning systems—but:

• They can’t flip a tripped GFCI or reset a breaker.

• They can’t drain a line, shovel snow, or inspect under the cottage.

• They go offline during power or internet outages—often precisely when you need them most.

  
  

Insurers still expect a physical inspection schedule to be followed.

The Bottom Line

Your cottage is likely one of your biggest investments—and one of your favourite places. But in the eyes of your insurance company, a beautiful, empty cottage that nobody checks on is a bundle of unmanaged risk.

Regular, documented property checks—ideally with time‑stamped photos—aren’t just good maintenance. They’re your best defence against:

• Frozen pipes and power‑related failures

• Undetected vandalism or animal damage

• An insurer saying, “Sorry, your policy conditions weren’t met,” at the very moment you’re relying on a policy whose premiums have climbed steeply in recent years.

  
  

A simple, well‑documented property check routine ensures that when you unlock the door in the spring—or need to file a claim in the winter—your cottage, and your coverage, are still there waiting for you.