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Questions and answers

1. Q:  We are contenplating a vehicle for our daughter. We have have been told that we would have to list her as the principle driver on a third vechicle but that rates would be cheaper if we kept that vehicle in our name rather than hers. Is that true?
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   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.
2. Q:  My Husband was recently caught drinking and driving, and now my insurance is going to be cancelled, we have 2 different policies. Our Broker tells me that if we put all the cars(3) in under my insurance the rates will not go up is this true?
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   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.
3. Q:  Hi, My car was vandalised and written off now my insurance company are suing me for the premium which I canceled after the car was written off is this legal?
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   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
4. Q:  Is there any set amounts for the opcf 20? I recently had my car totaled, not at fault, the insurance company stopped paying for my rental 24 hours after settlement was agreed on. I was left with paying for the vehicle for 4 days myself (my son worked out of town and needed a vehicle), then I still have no vehicle until my new one is ready. I have not received the cheque from the insurance company as of yet. I will be without settlement cheque or vehicle for at least 5 days before I see the money, possibly longer. I read somewhere that you are covered up to $900.00, some companies it is higher. I don't think it's fair that they can make us take the rental back, before we receive the settlement cheque.
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   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.
5. Q:  When you have an accident and your car is a write off, is the insurance company allowed to deduct the deductible off the settlement. I had heard that they were not allowed to do this. When I questioned the insurance company, they said the law has changed. Is this true?
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   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.
6. Q:  I have been renting for the pass 4 years after my major at fault accident, unable to get insurance because i have bad record. I guess my question are, Does renting a car build insurance record? How many years before they erase your accident record? Any insurance who take client with the bad record?
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   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.
7. Q:  I was in an accident, I hit a deer! My insurance company advised me to go through the collision center they deal with! The problems I am having with this is, is that the collision center manager is not informing me of what the damage is and that my involvement is not necessary, he said he will take care of it throught the insurance company. My insurance claimer is only available between 9am- 5pm but I work those hours, so, therefore I have no communication regarding this matter! Can I get a second opinion? Should I be more involved? What happens if the repairs are not to my liking? Can I choose to have a different insurance claimer that is available later in the evening? Can I request O.E. parts only? Do they have to tell me if remanufactured parts are going to be used, and can I stop it?
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   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.
8. Q:  My question is .. my friend went to work for a cab company and upon walking into the cab office one day, she seen a fax that had come from her previous insurance company noting her accident that she had, approximately 10 years ago and it also stated that she had received a money claim and how much was paid to her on each specific date. I thought that any accident you had was wiped off your record after 6 or 7 years, is it still ok for the insurance company to be providing that information after that time and also, is it Legal for them to inform her employer that she received a settlement and for how much?
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   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.
9. Q:  I am wondering about something I have heard through friends about comprehensive coverage. What I have been told, if you have coverage on one policy, you do not need it for the others. Example: 2 cars and house policy, you would only need it on one of the three policies. Is this true?
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   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.
10. Q:  What can an Independant Insurance Broker do for me?
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    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.

Expert tips

1. Have you properly protected your greatest investment?
   
   
   
   For most people, their house is the biggest financial investment they make. As a homeowner, it is your responsibility to ensure you have enough coverage to protect your investment and financial security. Your independent insurance broker will be able to help you by using an evaluation tool that will help to determine the rebuilding cost of your home. The rebuilding cost is different and independent of market or resale value.
   
   
   
   Did you know that rebuilding costs have inflated by as much as 60% over the past 5 years in some areas of Ontario…KW, Cambridge and Guelph are some of those areas!
   
   
   
   In order to obtain proper coverage, follow these tips:
   
   
   
   - Answer all of the questions your broker asks to the best of your knowledge / ability
   
   ~ Leaving out information for the sake of paying less in premiums can cost you more at the time of a claim!
   
   
   
   - A conscientious broker will inspect your home to verify relevant information and determine an appropriate limit of insurance
   
   
   
   - Make sure you notify your broker if you make any renovations
   
   
   
2. REVIEWING YOUR PROPERTY INSURANCE POLICY
   Value Added: If the value of your home climbs or if you make major renovations, discuss with your broker whether your policy adequately accounts for these changes.
   
   The Fine Print: Read any notices you receive from your insurer carefully; these can spell out significant changes in coverage. Contact your broker if you have any questions or concerns.
   
   Make a Movie: When it comes to possessions, go through your home with a video camera to create a visual record of your belongings. Make two copies and ask a relative or friend to hold on to one, or store it in a safety deposit box.
   
   Rider in a Storm: The loss of especially valuable possessions (jewelry or antiques, for instance) may not be adequately covered by your policy because of special limits found in your policy wording. Contact your broker to discuss how you can properly insure your valuables.
   
   What Goes Up: Don't assume you have sufficient inflation protection built into your policy. Have your broker show you exactly how you are protected and ask them to evaluate your rebuilding cost.
   
   Code Red: Would repairing or rebuilding after a loss require you to meet any new building, zoning or other codes? Check with your local building department, and review what your policy covers.
   
   Business picking up: Many people work at home or supplement their regular income through a business run out of their home. Homeowners policies often exclude coverage in these situations unless specific arrangements have been made and extra coverage purchased. Do not hide it from your broker as this extra coverage may be tax deductible and will help you to protect your home!
   
   Better Coverages for a Small Price
   
   Insurance: It is always about finding the lowest possible price. When it comes to your safety, and the items you cherish or value the most, it would be better to have the best coverage for a fair premium, than simply just the bare minimum. This is especially true as it relates to liability type situations. More and more we are seeing considerable increases in the dollar amounts being awarded by the courts.
   
   1.As a start, and a rather inexpensive approach to protecting yourself, consider increasing the liability limits on your home and automobile policies from 1 million to 2 million dollars. The average cost for increasing your liability to 2 million on your automobile policy is approximately $6 more per month. And the average cost for increasing your liability to 2 million on your home policy is approximately $2 per month. That is cheaper than buying coffee at Tim Hortons everyday.
   
   2.Another area where you can increase your protection is by purchasing what is known as an Umbrella Liability Policy. Picture what an umbrella looks like. When opened it gives protection from the rain. Thats the same principal as the Umbrella Liability Policy, only it protects you from exhaustive litigation costs and hardships should a court find you to be legally liable. Umbrella Liability Policies provide world wide coverage, and are excess to your existing insurance policy. So for example, if you carry 2 million in liability on your automobile policy and have purchased a 5 million dollar Umbrella policy, should that unfortunate vehicular mishap occur and a court awards the third party a judgment of 7 million dollars, you would be protected up to that amount. What a great advantage at a very low cost. The average costs are laid out below:
   
   Additional 1 Million Dollars / $9 a month
   Additional 2 Million Dollars / $14 a month
   Additional 3 Million Dollars / $17 a month
   Additional 4 Million Dollars / $19 a month
   Additional 5 Million Dollars / $21 a month
   
   3.Another area where you can look to have better coverage for a small price is by carrying what is most commonly known in the insurance industry as an Accident Waiver. An accident waiver is added to your automobile policy for a low average cost of around $3 per month. The idea behind this very valuable protection is that when you have your first at fault accident, in most cases, the insurance company will treat it as a freebie and allow you to keep your current rates instead of having them skyrocket. The accident will still remain on your record (up to 6 years), but it will not affect your rates. Some conditions can apply and you should ask your Independent Insurance Broker about the details of this. What another great feature to take advantage of!
   
   4.Lastly in this batch of tips are the OPCF 20 and the OPCF27. The OPCF20 Transportation Replacement is often referred to as rental car coverage. This very valuable coverage provides a replacement vehicle in the event that your own vehicle is damaged, destroyed, or stolen. The idea is usually to provide a replacement vehicle (or reimbursement there of) with the similar type of vehicle that you own.
   
   Have you ever gone to rent a vehicle and had to pay for the insurance on it? If you have, you will likely know that the cost can often be around $18 a day. Well, insurance companies have come up with a great coverage known as the OPCF27- Legal Liability for Physical Damage to a Non-owned Vehiclec. In essence this means that you do not need to purchase the physical damage insurance from the rental agency. You do need to know that in the event of a claim, your own insurance will apply, and there is a maximum dollar amount payable. As a further cost effective measure, most insurance companies have packaged both the OPCF 20 and the OPCF27 together at an average cost of approximately $50.00 per year or about $4.16 per month!
   
   Be sure to call and speak with your Independent Insurance Broker to find out more about each of the coverages mentioned above. There are always certain conditions or in some cases limitations that may apply and you will want to be well informed. Most importantly, the wrong time to be finding out what is not on your policy is after a loss has occurred! Call today and be sure you are properly protected, and remember, at Erb and Erb, all our policies come complete with someone who cares!

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