# Watch Your Auto Insurance Renewals



## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Got our auto renewal in the mail a few weeks ago. Our previous insurer was sold so this years renewal came from another company. Higher rate.

But, when I checked the policy detail to compare it against a another quote I discovered that they had increased the deductable from 500 to to 1000. Did not see any notice of this...the only heads up was on the policy document.

We switched carriers. New policy saved us 400.


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## Numbersman61 (Jan 26, 2015)

ian said:


> Got our auto renewal in the mail a few weeks ago. Our previous insurer was sold so this years renewal came from another company. Higher rate.
> 
> But, when I checked the policy detail to compare it against a another quote I discovered that they had increased the deductable from 500 to to 1000. Did not see any notice of this...the only heads up was on the policy document.
> 
> We switched carriers. New policy saved us 400.


I'm sure a number of us would be interested in the names of the various insurers.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

We had that happen when State Farm was sold to Desjardin. Saved $$$ by going to CAA.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

It was Canada Direct -they sold to Bel Air.

We were very sorry to see Canada Direct sell. They had excellent service, reasonable premiums.

State Farm moved us to another insurer for our condo when they exited the business. Service is not great so far so we will switch that over to Meloche as well when the policy is up for renewal.


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## motl (Mar 3, 2014)

Numbersman61 said:


> I'm sure a number of us would be interested in the names of the various insurers.


It isn't useful though unless you happen to live in the same area as the OP and have very similar risk characteristics.

Insurers these days rely on individualized rating, which means each specific insured person and their property (ie. auto, home) gets rated based on their particular risk factors. Jim and John can live next door to each other in similar sized homes and pay vastly different premiums with the same insurer, for example. Moreover, different insurers have different target markets and different segments that price them out. Some, for example, will have much better rural homeowner rates than others. 

Your best bet will always be with a broker over a direct writer, unless of course you want to personally shop your policy every year. Direct writers sometimes offer cheap rates (typically the banks) but their service and claims experience is often quite poor. Moreover, it's more difficult for you to know if you're receiving a fair premium without doing a lot of legwork. Brokers don't cost you anything more and have access to a number of insurers to ensure you're getting a good price - every year if you request they shop your policies annually. And because of individualized rating, having access to a number of markets will always be better than parking your policies with a direct writer since insurers regularly adjust their risk appetites and rating models.


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## agent99 (Sep 11, 2013)

ian said:


> Service is not great so far so we will switch that over to Meloche as well when the policy is up for renewal.


Before SF, we were with Meloche (TD affinity group) and had a terrible time with our Home insurance. 

At one time, we called to let them know we would be away for a few months and that we had done all the things they required. One related to heating. Mentioned we had turned Heat Pump off and would rely on baseboard heaters set to low level (as well always had). They picked up on the heat pump - said they did not know we had one. Explained it was a replacement for failed air central air conditioner and that it provided heating and cooling. As a result, they bumped our home's replacement value and insurance up by large amount (15%?). After I complained we went through a long unpleasant negotiation. They eventually had an independent appraiser check our house out. He agreed house was not worth what they had calculated, but made a mistake in his report as to original build date (he used date for earlier dwelling on same site). This resulted in even higher insurance rate. They would not correct the error. Very unpleasant experience dealing with them, and I had not even made a claim! 

Switched to local SF agent who was great. But then they sold to Desjardin who I did not want to deal with. Switched to CAA and so far so good for cars and home.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

I find it interesting how many people switch their insurance to a new company.

One mutual company (Gore Mutual) recently told the government they have 230,000 policies in effect. 

To increase the number of "mutual" policyholders with 5 years duration with the company, it would include 40,000 to 50,000 policies.

It looks like only about 20% of policies last more than 5 years with a company.

We have been with the same property insurer for 32 years. I believe that is about a 1% rate of duration.

I guess we are what are known as "lazy consumers" who can't be bothered changing all the time.


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## olivaw (Nov 21, 2010)

ian said:


> It was Canada Direct -they sold to Bel Air.
> 
> We were very sorry to see Canada Direct sell. They had excellent service, reasonable premiums.
> 
> State Farm moved us to another insurer for our condo when they exited the business. Service is not great so far so we will switch that over to Meloche as well when the policy is up for renewal.


We were also switched to Belairdirect but our deductible remained at $500. The insurer is Intact. 

My wife in an accident earlier this year. The service was excellent.


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## SMK (Dec 10, 2015)

sags said:


> We have been with the same property insurer for 32 years. I believe that is about a 1% rate of duration.
> 
> I guess we are what are known as "lazy consumers" who can't be bothered changing all the time.


It may have been a costly mistake to not have at least compared quotes from time to time. People don't switch because it's fun to do so, but because of poor service and unfair increases. It's easy and fast, so why not?

When we switched some years ago, our combined auto and home insurance decreased by about $800, so considerable savings. We remain claim free, and would switch again if hundreds less could be paid elsewhere.


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## motl (Mar 3, 2014)

sags said:


> I find it interesting how many people switch their insurance to a new company.
> 
> One mutual company (Gore Mutual) recently told the government they have 230,000 policies in effect.
> 
> ...


Really not sure what you're trying to prove here, other than loyalty ... which doesn't actually get you very much with your insurer. Or at least not as much as you'd think.

Insurance companies implement new rates pretty consistently, at least every few years. Sometimes this is a hike across the board but more commonly it's a redefining of risk appetite. So while the insurer may have had competitive rates for semi-protected (fire hall but no hydrant) homes last year, the new rates this year heavily emphasize an urban focus which means those semi-protected locations can expect (big) increases. Of course people are free to ride out these variations, but by doing so they are inevitably going to pay more for insurance than if they shopped their policies regularly (or at least following any major change in premium). Why one would believe that a single company in a market of dozens would carry the best value for 30 straight years is beyond me.

Consumers on sites like this are often hypercritical, but you still find some people have blinders every once in a while.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

I did a quote a few years ago on Kanetix and it was a royal pain in the butt.

All that information to fill out and then you have to deal with each company to read the fine print in their policy to see what they include and exclude in their coverage. The internet "quoted" price was either wrong or was a policy with a lot of liability exclusions.

It isn't worth the bother to me.


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## motl (Mar 3, 2014)

Makes sense, but that is also why many people work with brokers. It's simply much easier to pass on all that work to someone else while still getting the benefit of competitive pricing.


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## JWC (Nov 6, 2014)

We had the exact same experience from them with our renewal. Ended up going to a broker and got a better policy for $450 less.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Last month I went to add another car to our policy. The price quoted to add until Oct renewal was $131. Then the agent realized that that she had used our old postal code (we recently moved). Rate went up to $159. Hate that.


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