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Home Upgrades to Help Protect Your Home and Save

Date updated: 2026-08-06

© TD Bank Financial Group (2026). All rights reserved. Authored by: Christina Frechette

TL;DR – How can home upgrades help protect your home and support your coverage?

  • Focus on what you can control: Improvements that help protect your home, can make a difference in how your home holds up over time. 
  • Build resilience into your home: Upgrading materials and key systems, like your roof, plumbing, or heating, can help your home better withstand weather and wear over time.
  • Add layered protection: Security and monitoring systems can help detect issues earlier and may help you qualify for savings on your home insurance policy.
  • Keep your policy up to date: As your home changes, reviewing and/or updating your policy helps ensure it reflects your current needs and the improvements you've made.

Bottom line: Thoughtful upgrades today can help protect your home, support your coverage, and contribute to savings over time.

Wondering which home improvements can help protect your home and help manage insurance costs in Canada? The right upgrades can help reduce the risk of damage, support your coverage, and in some cases, even help you save.

If you’re looking to make your home safer and protect your investment, here are some practical places to start.  

Start with the right support

Before making upgrades, it helps to know you don't have to figure it out alone.

If you have both home and car insurance with TD Insurance, you already have access to Legal and Home Assistance at no additional cost. This can help you find a trusted prequalified contractor for renovations, repairs, or maintenance and get confidential, over-the-phone legal advice for personal matters, like contractor disputes or home-related questions.

Having the right support in place can make it easier to move forward with confidence and make informed decisions for your home.

Focus on what you can control: your home and how it’s protected

1) Prevent common causes of home damage

Many effective home upgrades focus on everyday risks, especially water damage, one of the most common and costly types of home insurance claims in Canada. Taking steps to detect, prevent and prepare for issues, especially during seasonal changes, can help reduce both the likelihood and severity of damage.

Upgrades to consider

  • Install water leak detection systems can help catch issues early.
  • Add automatic water shut-off devices or a backwater valve can help stop water damage at the source and limit how far it spreads.
  • Use a sump pump with backup power can help manage excess water during storms or power outages.

Tip: If you're a TD Insurance homeowner customer and you've installed an eligible water protection device, you may be eligible for savings. Be sure to update your policy to reflect the added protection and help qualify you for savings through the TD Insurance app (navigate to "Modify Dwelling") or contact us.

Keep in mind

These steps can help prevent damage or limit its impact, so you're better prepared if something goes wrong.

2) Make your home more resilient

The materials and condition of your home play an important role in how it withstands weather and everyday wear.

Choosing more resilient options can help reduce damage over time. In Canada, there's growing evidence that homes with climate adaptation features also see increased protection and resale value over time1. You may want to explore municipal, regional or federal programs that offer grants or funding to help offset upgrade costs.   

Upgrades to consider

  • Improve landscaping and adhering to FiresmartTMCanada principles, like maintaining a 1.5 m perimeter free of vegetation and combustible materials around your home to help reduce wildfire risk.
  • Ensure the ground around your property slopes away from your home helps direct water away from your foundation or basement.
  • Replace an aging roof or upgrade exterior materials with more durable, weather-resistant options. You may want to explore roofing materials designed to better withstand specific risks, such as hail or fire (e.g. Class 4 shingles for hail, Class A for fire). Replacing your roof or siding with durable and weather-resistant materials can also influence how repairs are handled or what is paid out in the event of a claim.
  • Update older electrical or plumbing to help reduce the risk of fire or water-related issues and may be considered as part of your home's overall insurance risk profile.
  • Switch from oil to electric heating, can help improve on energy efficiency, help you save money on your energy bills, and may improve how your home is evaluated for insurance purposes.
  • Add energy-efficient upgrades such as energy-efficient windows insulation or solar panels can help lower ongoing energy costs and, as a bonus, reduce your environmental footprint.
  • Replace an aging hot water tank, especially if it's nearing 15 years to help prevent unexpected leaks and help avoid potential coverage issues if damage occurs.
    • Tip: If you're a TD Insurance homeowner customer, damage caused by a hot water tank is generally covered when the unit is less than 15 years old at the time of loss.
  • Replace or maintain fuel or oil tanks, especially exterior tanks that are approaching 14 years, can help reduce the risk of leaks or environmental damage, which can be very costly to clean up, and help support continued eligibility for coverage.

Did you know?

If you're a TD Insurance homeowner customer with the Enhanced home package, the Eco-Efficient Rebuild feature lets you choose more environmentally friendly or resilient materials when repairing your home after a covered loss, at no additional cost to you, up to 10% of your claim (up to $50,000).

3) Add protection that could help you save

Install security and monitoring systems

Home security upgrades are one of the clearest ways to improve protection while potentially unlocking savings.

Upgrades to consider

  • Install a monitored alarm system for fire or theft
  • Water leak detection devices
  • Connected home systems that can alert you or a monitoring provider when an issue is detected.

Why it matters
Homes with monitored systems that detect fire, theft, or water damage, may be eligible for savings, if your policy reflects them. They can also detect issues faster and speed up response time, helping reduce the severity of damage if something happens.

4) Update your home insurance policy after making upgrades

Upgrading your home is only part of the equation; keeping your insurance policy up to date is just as important. After any significant change, review and update your coverage to help ensure it continues to reflect your home's features and coverage needs.

Things to consider

  • Finishing your basement may increase the potential cost of water damage – review your Extended Water Damage coverage and update your policy to reflect these changes. 
  • Upgrades can affect rebuild costs – update your policy to help avoid being underinsured.
  • Replacing key systems, like your roof, heating, plumbing, hot water tank, fuel or oil tanks, can influence how your home insurance premium is calculated and what coverage applies. Be sure to keep your policy aligned as these components are replaced or upgraded. 
  • Reviewing optional coverages available can help add protection where you need it.

Take advantage of available discounts

Many savings opportunities aren’t tied to your home itself and are often overlooked.

Depending on your situation, TD Insurance home policyholders may be able to uncover additional savings2 through:

What about factors outside your control?

Your home insurance premium is based on several factors, like your home itself, its location, and coverage. Some, like where you live or proximity to fire services, aren't easy to change.

These may include:

  • Distance to fire hydrants or emergency services
  • Exposure to flooding or severe weather
  • History of past damage

While you can't control these, being aware of them can help inform your maintenance, upgrades and future home purchases.  

The bottom line

The most effective way to manage your home insurance costs is reducing risk where you can.

By making upgrades that help prevent damage, choosing coverage that fits your needs, and keeping your insurer informed, you’re taking a more proactive approach that can help protect your home, and potentially improve your premium, over time.

If you’re unsure where to start, a policy review with an advisor can help you better understand your coverage, discuss potential savings opportunities and ensure your policy reflects any changes you've made to your home. TD Insurance customers can connect with a licensed advisor by logging into  MyInsurance or by contacting us directly.

1 https://insurance-portal.ca/article/climate-adaptation-measures-may-increase-home-sale-prices/

2  Conditions apply. Subject to eligibility rules.

The content on this page is for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Coverages and discounts described herein may be subject to additional eligibility criteria, limitations and exclusions. In the event you make a claim, potential indemnification is also subject to the receivability of the claim and the type of coverage you bought.

In the case of conflict between the content on this page and your policy wordings, your policy wordings shall take precedence.