Car Insurance
Some provinces (British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and Quebec), have government-run car insurance companies or plans.
Private insurance companies also sell car insurance in all the provinces and territories.
You must have liability insurance to cover losses you may cause to other people from an accident.
You must also have insurance to cover you if you are injured.
If you want, you can buy collision insurance to pay for damage to your car or comprehensive insurance to cover theft, vandalism, and other perils.
Questions to ask:
· What kind of insurance does the law require me to have?
· What other coverage can I buy? What will it cover?
· Will I get a rental car if my car is being repaired?
· Does this insurance cover me when I am driving a rental car?
If you are in a collision:
Always call the police if someone is hurt, if there is a lot of damage, or if the other driver may have broken the law (for example, drunk driving).
Write down the police officer’s name and badge number.
The police officer will get all of the important information from the other people in the accident and give it to you.
If you don’t call the police, move your car to the side of the road if you can.
If you can’t move your car, turn on your hazard lights if possible.
Write down what happened, the time, date, and place, the speed of all cars and the road conditions. Make a drawing of the accident.
Get names, addresses, and phone numbers of the other car owners, passengers, and anyone who saw what happened (witnesses).
Get insurance information from all the drivers, including the driver’s licence and plate numbers and the names of their insurance companies and brokers.
Don’t say you caused the accident or promise to pay for anything.
Call your insurance company right away if you are in an accident that must be reported to the police or if anyone may be making a claim.
Some provinces have no-fault car insurance laws, so each driver claims benefits from his or her own insurance company.
Then the insurance company of the at-fault driver (the one who caused the accident) pays back the other insurance companies.
Making a Claim
If you are going to make a claim against another driver, tell that person as quickly as possible. You can also tell that person’s insurance company.
A claims examiner from the insurance company will call you about your claim. This person will look after your claim at the insurance company.
The insurance company will send an adjuster to see the damage. Some adjusters work for insurance companies and some are contractors.
Don’t fix anything until the adjuster has seen what happened or the insurance company agrees to get it fixed.
The insurance company may want you to take the car to a repair shop that the company uses for repairs.
If you have collision insurance, your insurance company will pay for the repair or replacement of your car.
The insurance company can also choose to give you the cash value of the car (the amount it was worth right before the accident).
The insurance company may decide the car is a write-off.
This means the cost of repairing the car and the salvage value (amount the company can get by selling it for parts) is more than the cash value of the car.
Then the company will pay you the cash value and sell the car for salvage.
If the insurance company is repairing your car, you should end up with a car that is as good as yours was just before the accident.
The car can be repaired with used parts.
If your car is worth more after the repairs (such as if a rusty door is replaced with a good door), you may have to pay for the increase in value (“betterment”) of your car.
If the part is important for car safety (like tires), the insurance company will use new parts and you may have to pay for betterment.
Using Insurance
Your premiums will increase if you make more claims, so try to be careful to prevent losses.
For example, get deadbolt locks on your outside doors at home so that thieves can’t get in easily.
Turn off your car’s engine and lock your car doors, even if you are just going into a store for a minute.
If a claim isn’t much more than your deductible, don’t claim it.
Your premiums may go up or you may have problems renewing your insurance.
Check every year to see if your insurance needs have changed. You may need more insurance or less insurance.
Problems with Insurance
You must always try to fix the problem first by talking to the insurance company yourself.
If you can’t fix the problem yourself, you can get help from the OmbudService.
You can’t go to court about the problem while you are using the OmbudService.
You can’t use the Ombudservice if you have already been to court about this problem.
If you have a problem with home, auto, or business insurance, you can call the General Insurance OmbudService at 1-877-225-0446.
If you have a problem with life or health insurance, you can call the Canadian Life and Health Insurance OmbudService at 1-888-295-8112.
If the OmbudService can’t fix your problem, you may want to go to court.
Find a lawyer who specializes in insurance problems.
Ask about the lawyer’s fees.
If your case is for personal injuries, the lawyer usually gets paid from the settlement (court decision on how much you get paid), not in fees.
If your insurer goes out of business, you are covered for unpaid claims up to a limit.
For property insurance, the limit is $250,000.
You can also get back part of your money for premiums you already paid for that year (up to $700).
You may get all of your claim money back after the insurer’s bankruptcy is settled.
You need to get insurance from a new company right away.
For life and health insurance, your insurance will be transferred to another company and you will keep at least 85% of the benefits you had.
If you had deposits with the insurer, you will get up to $100,000 of your money back.
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