Questions answered by our expert: Erb and Erb Insurance 2010-07-30 20:35:56 http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/all/ 2010 105.3 Kool FM Thank you for your question. You are correct that the third car would have to have your daughter listed as the principle driver. It will not necessarily be less expensive to register the car in your name though. Many companies will offer multi-vehicle discounts and multi-policy discounts to children who insure their vehicles in the same place that their parents insure their cars and home. One thing to consider is the liability issues surrounding the ownership of a car. When there is an accident and the driver who was at-fault is sued, the owner of the car is almost always named in the suite as well. If you were to register your daughter's car in your name, you would have the potential of being found liable as the owner of the car in the event of a serious lawsuit. If the vehicle is registered in her name, you have insulated yourself against that risk. Another thing to consider is the learning opportunity that comes along with owning your own car and being completely responsible for its upkeep and insurance. If your daughter is the registered owner, she would be the policy holder for the insurance and would be responsible for setting up the policy (which is a legal contract) and ensuring that the policy details are accurate. Many parents appreciate having their children take on this responsibility. Please let me know if you have any other questions. http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-09-03 08:00:00 EDT Thanks for your question. The only way for you to avoid having your insurance rates skyrocket would be to have you as the principal driver on all three cars. You would also have to exclude your husband as a driver on all three cars. To exclude him, you will both have to sign an Ontario Policy Change Form (OPCF) #28a. The OPCF #28a acknowledges that you both understand that he is not allowed to drive the vehicles and in the event that he does, there will be no coverage for physical damage to the car being driven as well as extremely limited liability and accident benefits coverage. If his license is suspended due to his conviction, then this should not be a problem because he's unable to drive anyway. I should also point out that if you have anyone else with a driver's license living in the household, you should have them listed on your policy as well. Typically, insurance companies need to know who is licensed and who might have access to the keys. Children living at home need to be listed unless they have their own vehicle and insurance. Most insurance companies will want to have the children listed as principal drivers if there are more cars than parents in the household. Each car should have a different principal driver. If you have any other questions, please let me know. http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-09-02 08:00:00 EDT Hi there, Thank you for your question. This is a tough one to answer without knowing more details. My initial thought is that you may owe the insurance company for what we call 'time on risk'. If your policy was in force from January 1 and was cancelled on January 31, you would owe payment for 31 days worth of coverage, plus a short rate cancellation fee. Typically if you cancel your policy at any point during the policy term, it will cost you approximately one month more. This is just a quick and rough estimation. Your insurance company will have a short rate cancellation table that would tell you exactly what percentage of the premium you owe for the number of days the policy was in force. I would be able to give you a much more accurate answer by knowing your policy details and payment history. Your independent insurance broker should be able to obtain that information for you. If you have any other questions, please let me know. Kind Regards, ~ Chris http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-06-19 08:00:00 EDT Thanks for your question. There is no set amount for the OPCF 20. Each insurance company can set their own limits for this coverage. Typically we see somewhere between $900 - $1500. This is a maximum limit that an insurer will pay out under this coverage however, in an effort to reduce the amount of money paid out due to a claim, and to keep insurance premiums as low as possible insurance companies will make efforts to settle a claim as quickly as possible so they do not have to pay up to the policy limit. Without knowing all of the details surrounding your particular claim it is difficult to make too many comments. However, I agree that on the surface, it is not fair that you would have been forced to return the rental prior to receiving your settlement cheque. I suggest that you speak directly with your independent broker to see if they can help you with this situation. If your broker is not able to help, or if you are not dealing with an independent broker, your contact is likely directly with the insurance company (this is referred to as a direct writer) and you may not get much help because you deal directly with the insurer’s employees rather than an independent advocate who is looking out for your best interests. If you are not able to get to a resolution that you find suitable, you can always contact the insurance company’s ombudsman. The ombudsman is in place to listen to customer complaints and to try to resolve differences. I hope that this has helped to clarify things for you. Please let me know if you have any other questions. http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-04-21 08:00:00 EDT If your vehicle is written off you are responsible for whatever deductible applies to the particular coverage that will cover the loss. For instance, if you are involved in an accident that is deemed to be your fault as laid out by Fault Determination Charts, then you will be responsible for your Collision deductible. If your car is written off due to vandalism or theft of the entire vehicle, you will be responsible for your Comprehensive deductible. If you are found to be not at fault as laid out by Fault Determination Charts, you will be responsible for your Direct Compensation / Property Damage deductible (which most policies have at $0). In some cases, where the fault is shared by two or more people involved in the accident, you will be responsible for a portion of your deductible depending on which coverages will respond to the claim. The example being if you are found to be 50% at fault and 50% not at fault, you pay half of your Collision deductible and half of your Direct Compensation / Property Damage deductible. The wording of the Ontario Automobile Policy used to allow for the deductible to be waived if the entire vehicle was stolen (and not recovered) or if damage was due to fire. The wording was changed a number of years ago. http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-02-26 08:00:00 EDT Renting a vehicle does not show up on your driving record. When we look at a drivers history, we look for the number of convictions (tickets) that they have had in the past three years, as well as their insurance history and any claims that go along with that. If you have been renting vehicles, you have not been listed on an insurance policy and unless you were involved in an accident during that time, there would be no way for a broker to confirm your history. An accident will affect your insurance premiums for anywhere up to ten years, depending on the company. Each year after the accident, your record will improve and your rates should come down. The number of years since your last accident, together with any convictions and/or license suspensions will help us to determine your rates. In Ontario, anyone who owns a registered and licensed vehicle, and has a valid drivers license is able to obtain insurance, providing they can afford to pay the premium. The fact that they have a bad record does not preclude them from getting insurance. However, the cost might be too high for them to be able to afford insurance. I would be happy to discuss auto insurance with you and obtain a quote if and when you are looking to insure a vehicle. http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-02-26 08:00:00 EDT First of all, the most important question we should be asking is -Are you and everyone else in the car okay? After we establish that you are, we can start worrying about your vehicle. I think that you should have as much involvement in the settling of your claim as you can. We are talking about your car, and it is important that you are satisfied with whatever solution(s) are reached. I believe that the insurance claimer you are referring to is a Claims Adjuster. They are the trained professionals that deal with these types of situations. An adjuster will work with an appraiser and between them, they will look at your vehicle, appraise what damage there is and implement the necessary steps to either fix the damage or provide you with a settlement based on the fair market value of your car. Without knowing who you are insured with I cannot make a comment on the office hours of your adjuster, but they will typically have access to email or the ability to make after hours appointments so that people in your situation are able to discuss their claims procedures. If you are not happy with your adjuster it may be possible to have your company assign a new one. You would need to speak to a claims manager to pursue that avenue. Your independent insurance broker should be able to provide you with contact information. Many insurance companies have preferred shops that they recommend. Often, if you use the services of these shops, there will be an extended warranty on the parts and the labour. With any claim situation, you can choose the shop that does the work. If you do not use a recommended shop, you may not receive a guarantee from your insurance company. I am not 100% sure what you mean when you refer to O.E. parts. If your vehicle is less than 2 years old and has Ontario Policy Change Form #43 or #43(a) ~ Waiver of Depreciation ~ your car should be fixed using new parts from the manufacturer. If your vehicle is older than that, quality aftermarket parts are typically used. Most insurance companies will make sure that their preferred shops are using quality parts. Depending on the age of your car (if it is quite old) there might be no other option but to use refurbished parts, but this is usually a last case scenario and should never compromise the safety of the vehicle. Also, if your vehicle is quite old, it may be very difficult for the shop to match the paint. After repairs, physically, your vehicle should be safe and suffer no negative effects to the performance. However, it may not be possible to make it look brand new or even exactly the way it did prior to your accident. http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-02-26 08:00:00 EDT You are right in that, for rating purposes, most insurance companies do not consider accidents that are over six or seven years old. However, claims records are kept for a much longer period of time. These records will indicate who was at fault in an accident along with the amount of any payout. If your friend gave her drivers license information to her employer along with permission to run a check on her driving record and insurance history, then she has nothing to complain about. http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-02-26 08:00:00 EDT The quickest answer to your question is No, this is not correct. Comprehensive coverage is different when it is part of an Automobile Insurance Policy than it is when it refers to a Homeowners Insurance Policy. The wordings of a Homeowners Policy exclude any coverage for automobiles just as the wordings of an Automobile Policy exclude coverage for property that is not part of the automobile. On an Automobile Policy, Comprehensive Coverage refers to coverage of an insured vehicle when it is damaged by Fire, Theft, Vandalism or other glass breakage, such as stone chips to a windshield. This coverage is optional, carries an additional premium and has a deductible that is usually $300-$500 but can be higher or lower. On a Homeowner Policy, Comprehensive refers to the type of policy purchased. A Comprehensive Policy means that any damage is covered by the policy except for certain types that are specifically excluded, such as terrorism or flood damage. As you can see, if you wish to have the most complete coverage available for your car(s), home and belongings, you will need Comprehensive Coverage on your Homeowner policy as well as each vehicle. http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-02-26 08:00:00 EDT An Independent Insurance Broker is an intermediary that will help you to identify what coverages you need and assist you in setting up insurance policies. A Broker has the ability to protect your home, car and business by placing your policies with different insurance companies according to what coverages and service you require. You will be able to call for unbiased advice regarding coverages, accidents and potential claims. An Independent Insurance Broker can provide information that will enable you to make decisions based on what is best for your unique situation, not what is in the best interest of the insurance company. Your Broker will work for you, not the insurance company. http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ http://www.koolfm.com/experts/view/insurance/erb-and-erb-insurance/ 2008-02-26 08:00:00 EDT