Buy or renew insurance

Agents, Brokers, Direct Writers
Insurance is a significant financial investment. You wouldn’t just hand over $2,000 for a car without doing your homework. Why would you when you buy insurance?
Here are some of the things you may need to know or think about:
Where can you buy insurance?
You can buy insurance three ways:
from a broker who deals with a number of companies and tries to find you the best deal; or
from an agent who sells insurance for just one company; or
directly from an insurance company, through a call centre and/or website (companies that sell insurance this way are called “direct writers”).


You Have Rights... and Responsibilities
Check out the insurance industry’s Code of Consumer Rights and Responsibilities . The code summarizes core rights that consumers enjoy when purchasing home, car or business insurance. These include the right to clear information about coverage and the claims settlement process, and the right to information about how an insurance sales representative is being paid.
But consumers have responsibilities, too. For example, an informed consumer will be aware of his/her key duty to share pertinent and timely facts about his/her car and property with an insurer. Insurance is a contract, and the insurer and the consumer share a responsibility to act in good faith at all times in their dealings with each other.


How to Find a Broker, Agent or Direct Writer
To find a direct writer you can:
contact the trade association for direct writers, the Canadian Association of Direct Response Insurers, at www.cadri.com or 416-773-0101 for a list of their members.
To find an agent you can:
ask for a referral from a trusted relative, friend or business associate.
To find a broker you can:
ask for a referral from a trusted relative, friend or business associate; or
contact the insurance brokers’ association in your province or the Insurance Brokers Association of Canada at www.ibac.ca.
If you want to find a broker who sells insurance for a particular company, contact that company directly or visit their website. They will be able to direct you to an appropriate broker.


What to Look For When Choosing an Agent or Broker
Your agent or broker should be:
willing to take the time with you to understand your insurance needs and recommend the appropriate policy options;
willing and able to explain your policy and coverage in clear, precise language; and
appropriately licensed in your province.
Note: Every province has its own licensing bodies for brokers and agents. To verify whether an insurance agent or broker is licensed to sell insurance in your province, contact the appropriate licensing body for your province.

What You Can do to Control the Cost of Insurance
Ask your insurance representative about the following options for lowering your premium:
increasing your deductible or your share of the cost of a claim. By increasing the amount you are willing to pay, you will decrease your premiums;
dropping collision coverage on an older car;
package deals for insuring your car and home or more than one car with the same insurance company;
installing an approved theft deterrent system in your vehicle;
choosing a car with a lower-cost insurance rating. You can find this out by looking at the IBC publication, How Cars Measure Up.
In addition to shopping around and comparing prices and features, drivers can further help their insurance premium costs by:
Building a consistent accident and conviction-free track record.
Adjusting how your car is used. If you live in a metropolitan area, consider taking public transit to work to keep annual kilometres down.
Checking with your insurance representative to see about excluding certain high-risk drivers from a policy so that good drivers are not penalized with a higher premium.
Ensuring that the insurance company has an accurate VIN on record for the car. The VIN is your car’s identity – what insurers use to confirm the kind of car you drive. Obviously, some cars are more expensive to insure. You could be paying the premiums for a different – more expensive make or model – car.


Tips to Remember
What isn’t covered: Ask your insurance representative what isn’t covered by your insurance policy.
Pay your premiums: Non-payment of premiums, under certain circumstances, is reason to cancel your insurance. A cancelled insurance policy on your history makes you a more uncertain risk for another insurance company.
Tell the truth: When talking to your insurance representative, don’t “forget” any details. If you neglect to disclose some important information about you or whatever you are insuring this could cause big problems down the line.
Consider how much risk you are willing to absorb: You know about deductibles, they are the reality of the insurance process. If you were to have a claim, how much could you comfortably pay for yourself; at what dollar value would you consider submitting a claim? If this amount is different than your current deductible, contact your insurance representative to make the adjustment.
Stay the course: Try not to switch insurers in the middle of the year. Wait until your contract is up before switching insurers; this way you’ll avoid any early cancellation penalties.
There are deals: Ask about multiple vehicle discounts or a discount for insuring your home and car together with the insurer.
And before you do switch to another insurer …
Ask about discounts: Ask your current insurer if they have discounts to reward your loyalty. It may end up being financially better to stay put.


Scam Alert
Remember the old saying “if it’s too good to be true, it probably is?” This applies to insurance as well. Recently, there have been a number of documented cases of people posing as insurance brokers or agents or offering “discount” insurance, often from an insurance company that doesn’t exist. If you’re not careful when you’re shopping for a deal on insurance, you could end up the victim of a costly and serious fraud.
A common scam involves fraud artists using a slightly altered name of a legitimate insurance company. Ads appear in local papers with a phone number to call. When you call, you may be surprised when you’re offered a much lower premium than what you’ve been quoted elsewhere. It’s tempting, but don’t be a victim.
Remember:
A legitimate insurance company, broker or agent will never ask:
for money up front;
for a signing fee;
for first and last months’ premiums, a security deposit or a down payment; and/or
that a payment be sent through a wire transfer or to an unidentified post office box.
Insurance companies are licensed by federal and/or provincial regulators. Brokers and agents must also be licensed by provincial regulators. These regulators keep lists of the insurance companies, agents and brokers that are licensed to do business in their respective provinces. Some allow you to browse their lists on the Internet. Others you will have to contact by phone or in person.
Licensing – insurance companies: If you would like to check whether a particular insurance company is licensed in your province, the following provincial regulators offer web-based lists:
Alberta
British Columbia
New Brunswick
Newfoundland and Labrador (scroll down to table V of the Annual Report of the Superintendent of Insurance)
Ontario
Québec
If you live in another province and would like to check up on an insurance company’s business status, please call the regulator directly. Click here to visit the Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators’ website for contact information.
Information about federally regulated