Most owners discover this clause at the worst possible moment: after water damage. Here is what changed, and what can be done beforehand.
What Intact changed
Intact revised its roof underwriting, with changes applied uniformly across Canada and aligned with Insurance Bureau of Canada direction:
- Standard asphalt shingle: coverage capped at 20 years.
- Superior materials (metal, slate, certain membranes): up to 50 years.
- Beyond the cap: an exclusion endorsement applies, with a $5,000 deductible for water intrusion, and no coverage for damage to the roof itself.
- One year's notice is given before standard coverage is withdrawn.
Intact is not alone in this direction. Several insurers are tightening terms on ageing roofs, and refusal of water damage coverage on a roof over 20 to 25 years old, or visibly poorly maintained, is a documented scenario.
The word that matters: negligence
Beyond age, nearly every home insurance contract contains a reasonable-maintenance concept. A claim can be refused if the insurer establishes that the damage stems from clear negligence, a roof nobody has climbed in fifteen years, with thick moss and missing granules, defends itself poorly.
Non-renewal of the policy is also possible.
What it means for a Saguenay homeowner
Recall the regional context: the real-world lifespan of asphalt shingle in Quebec is 18 to 22 years, against an advertised 25 to 30. The 20-year insurance cap therefore lands exactly in the zone where most roofs are still functional but no longer young.
Three situations, concretely:
- Roof 12 to 17 years old. You have time, and this is the best moment to document its condition and protect it. It is also the window where treatment makes the most sense.
- Roof 18 to 22 years old. The question becomes pressing. Check your policy terms now, not at renewal.
- Roof over 22 years old. You need to know exactly where you stand, on insurance and on structure. A documented inspection becomes a negotiating tool.
Three things to do this week
- Call your broker and ask: what age limit applies to my roof, and does an endorsement already apply to my policy? Five minutes.
- Find the installation date. Deed of sale, invoice, pre-purchase inspection report. Without a date you are negotiating blind.
- Get the covering's real condition documented. A dated written report with photos beats an impression every time. It works in front of an insurer and in front of a buyer.
A maintained, documented roof is not just a roof that lasts longer. It is a defensible file.
What a treatment changes, and what it does not
Let's be precise, because this is a subject where exaggeration would be easy. A surface treatment does not change your roof's age as an insurer understands it. It does not reset the clock, and we will not claim otherwise.
What it does deliver: a covering cleaned of moss and lichen, a surface that repels water better, and above all a dated, documented maintenance record. In a conversation about negligence, that documentation is not nothing.
If your roof is already at the end of its useful life, the right answer is still replacement. We will tell you so.