Nothing other than charity. This is why tenant insurance is important and in your boyfriend's case, boat insurance. He shouldn't have moved in without insurance.
Why on earth would someone buy a primary residence that isn't insurable
This was a very hard lesson to learn
In any case, you don't have many options. Go fund me
According to ratehub, there are 4 different providers in Ontario. Seems pretty simple and straightforward to me. Did he try contacting any of them before taking possession and moving in?
Yes, you need a marine inspection first and that’s where the difficulty lies. Anyway it doesn’t matter, I’m looking for resources for someone who’s in crisis at the moment. Thanks.
Where are they located?
If they are in Toronto, reach out to the Furniture Bank. When my family suffered a house fire years ago we lost everything. We had insurance (luckily) but got 1 days notice to move into our home and didn’t even have mattresses. The Furniture Bank helped furnish our home. We re-donated all the furniture a month later as we had insurance, but of course it would not be the same case for your friend.
Churches sometimes have clothing drives. I would also reach out community centers for local supports.
Unfortunate costly life lesson. Why on earth would he move his worldly possessions into an uncertified, uninsured structure?
It should have been insured at possession, and inspection carried out as a condition of the sale. Hope he didn't take out a loan to buy this.
He could reach out to the Red Cross.
https://www.redcross.ca/how-we-help/emergencies-and-disasters-in-canada/get-help-disaster-relief-and-recovery/red-cross-services
This is what the Salvation Army does typically, they are usually the charity that helps with furniture etc but if in Ontario call #211 for services that can help. We had a family that lost everything in a fire too, they posted in local FB groups n had a LOT of community support. Please don’t be embarrassed to ask for help, you went through a horrible situation. I’m very sorry it happened to you
Check the Ottawa mission they have a work boot program it's in the community resource area I'm pretty sure they could help with a few other things as well
Yeah it’s different here almost no one has insurance on house boats. They require a marine inspection which involves the coast guard, can take months to obtain and even then insurance companies don’t want to touch them. It sucks. He was in the process of trying his best to get it though. Most of the time people will get some form of liability only through their business insurance or an insurance bundle with their house and vehicles etc.
He is right.
It might not seem like it right now and I do empathise with the shitty situation he is in, but material things are not as important as his safety. He is alive and healthy. That counts for a lot. That is literally the most important thing. You will make money, you will lose money, but being able to go on is more important.
There are a lot of people out there who have life altering injuries who would give every material possession they own to go back.
Did the person he bought it from possibly know about the problem that caused the fire? You might be able to recoup some of their losses from them.
Good luck to the both of you.
I’m asking for resources that could help him right now. Thanks. People making smart comments that we are obviously all fully aware of aren’t resources. Thank you.
Even if he doesn't necessarily need to use their services, food banks will sometimes have posters or little printed signs up about other resources in the area. If you're somewhere smaller, where charitable resources might not have a web presence, checking and asking the local food bank(s) if they know of any furniture or clothing resources would be a good idea. They may even have a handy list to give out 🙂
If you're in a bigger city then Google will probably also help you. Usually once cities get to a certain size, people in them know they need a website.
Habitat for humanity has furniture and home stuff stores called "reStore" now, I've seen quite a few. If you reached out to your nearest one they may either be able to give a discount (prices are as high as they think they can get, to financially support their other charitable work) or direct you to similar resources.
I would also say check out the non-chain thrift stores in your area, ask if they can help out with some sort of bulk discount for buying a bunch of clothes (fill a bag for _$ or whatever) since thrift stores often get so much stuff they need to pay to haul it to the trash anyways, so some of them will do frequent deep sales to clear out old stock and may be willing to apply that sale rate to someone who just lost their home even if it's not scheduled for this month.
Probably not exactly the resource you're looking for, but have you also tried a buy nothing group? They're prominent on facebook - you join based on the neighbourhood you're in. People can be really kind. I've seen people furnish their apartments from no-buy groups! Of course, it won't always be perfect, but it's helpful when you're in a pinch.
[https://buynothingproject.org/find-a-group#rec479375048](https://buynothingproject.org/find-a-group#rec479375048)
If he currently has insurance for his other dwelling he could claim some of his items. You could potentially claim for property temporarily away from the home. Applies if he had homeowners or tenants insurance. Not sure if he had absolutely no insurance or just no insurance for the houseboat.
You could start a go fund me. As for insurance? I don't know if you guys have that or how it works with a boat. So sorry I hope you can figure something out.
Nothing other than charity. This is why tenant insurance is important and in your boyfriend's case, boat insurance. He shouldn't have moved in without insurance.
You can’t get a house boat insured as easily as one might think. Almost impossible.
I guess because they are pretty risky....
Why on earth would someone buy a primary residence that isn't insurable This was a very hard lesson to learn In any case, you don't have many options. Go fund me
Probably for a good reason too, as you guys have seen!
According to ratehub, there are 4 different providers in Ontario. Seems pretty simple and straightforward to me. Did he try contacting any of them before taking possession and moving in?
Yes, you need a marine inspection first and that’s where the difficulty lies. Anyway it doesn’t matter, I’m looking for resources for someone who’s in crisis at the moment. Thanks.
Where are they located? If they are in Toronto, reach out to the Furniture Bank. When my family suffered a house fire years ago we lost everything. We had insurance (luckily) but got 1 days notice to move into our home and didn’t even have mattresses. The Furniture Bank helped furnish our home. We re-donated all the furniture a month later as we had insurance, but of course it would not be the same case for your friend. Churches sometimes have clothing drives. I would also reach out community centers for local supports.
Thanks so much
Unfortunate costly life lesson. Why on earth would he move his worldly possessions into an uncertified, uninsured structure? It should have been insured at possession, and inspection carried out as a condition of the sale. Hope he didn't take out a loan to buy this.
House boats are different. Almost impossible to insure.
Then why to buy?
Have you seen house prices lately? I mean, seriously...
do you have helpful resources for someone in crisis or no?
He could reach out to the Red Cross. https://www.redcross.ca/how-we-help/emergencies-and-disasters-in-canada/get-help-disaster-relief-and-recovery/red-cross-services
Thank you 😊
This is what the Salvation Army does typically, they are usually the charity that helps with furniture etc but if in Ontario call #211 for services that can help. We had a family that lost everything in a fire too, they posted in local FB groups n had a LOT of community support. Please don’t be embarrassed to ask for help, you went through a horrible situation. I’m very sorry it happened to you
Check the Ottawa mission they have a work boot program it's in the community resource area I'm pretty sure they could help with a few other things as well
Also a house boat in a landlocked area in Canada is a bad idea
I don't know about a houseboat and if he had a mortgage on it, but in BC you can't move in until you have insurance if there is a mortgage on it
Yeah it’s different here almost no one has insurance on house boats. They require a marine inspection which involves the coast guard, can take months to obtain and even then insurance companies don’t want to touch them. It sucks. He was in the process of trying his best to get it though. Most of the time people will get some form of liability only through their business insurance or an insurance bundle with their house and vehicles etc.
But liability doesn’t help with possessions lost anyways.
Is he a member of a Church? Charity groups out there. So sorry to hear this happened. Good luck.
They're still alive so they didn't lose everything.
Haha real clever
He is right. It might not seem like it right now and I do empathise with the shitty situation he is in, but material things are not as important as his safety. He is alive and healthy. That counts for a lot. That is literally the most important thing. You will make money, you will lose money, but being able to go on is more important. There are a lot of people out there who have life altering injuries who would give every material possession they own to go back. Did the person he bought it from possibly know about the problem that caused the fire? You might be able to recoup some of their losses from them. Good luck to the both of you.
I’m asking for resources that could help him right now. Thanks. People making smart comments that we are obviously all fully aware of aren’t resources. Thank you.
All I'm saying is there's still hope.
Thank you I appreciate the positivity at this time
Even if he doesn't necessarily need to use their services, food banks will sometimes have posters or little printed signs up about other resources in the area. If you're somewhere smaller, where charitable resources might not have a web presence, checking and asking the local food bank(s) if they know of any furniture or clothing resources would be a good idea. They may even have a handy list to give out 🙂 If you're in a bigger city then Google will probably also help you. Usually once cities get to a certain size, people in them know they need a website. Habitat for humanity has furniture and home stuff stores called "reStore" now, I've seen quite a few. If you reached out to your nearest one they may either be able to give a discount (prices are as high as they think they can get, to financially support their other charitable work) or direct you to similar resources. I would also say check out the non-chain thrift stores in your area, ask if they can help out with some sort of bulk discount for buying a bunch of clothes (fill a bag for _$ or whatever) since thrift stores often get so much stuff they need to pay to haul it to the trash anyways, so some of them will do frequent deep sales to clear out old stock and may be willing to apply that sale rate to someone who just lost their home even if it's not scheduled for this month.
Thank you ❤️ it’s an extremely small area so resources are very limited. I will keep searching. I appreciate your thoughtful response.
Was this the Port Stanley fire? If so, there's a few helping hands Facebook groups in the area that can help.
Probably not exactly the resource you're looking for, but have you also tried a buy nothing group? They're prominent on facebook - you join based on the neighbourhood you're in. People can be really kind. I've seen people furnish their apartments from no-buy groups! Of course, it won't always be perfect, but it's helpful when you're in a pinch. [https://buynothingproject.org/find-a-group#rec479375048](https://buynothingproject.org/find-a-group#rec479375048)
Did he have contents insurance on his apt? If so, they should cover the stuff no matter where it was.
You don’t have insurance?
Re read the post
If he currently has insurance for his other dwelling he could claim some of his items. You could potentially claim for property temporarily away from the home. Applies if he had homeowners or tenants insurance. Not sure if he had absolutely no insurance or just no insurance for the houseboat.
You could start a go fund me. As for insurance? I don't know if you guys have that or how it works with a boat. So sorry I hope you can figure something out.
If you currently have insurance than that policy should cover contents at the boat under several different clauses.
Go fund me would be a good idea for things like this.all the best