TIPS ON BUYING CAR AND HOME INSURANCE

When you’re looking for insurance on your home or vehicle, you may be tempted to pick the lowest price or buy from a convenient place. More important is whether your claim will be paid.

When disaster strikes, you find out how good your car or home insurance really is. Many customers were shocked after Hurricane Sandy and the Western Canada floods. They found they didn't have the protection they expected. Some insurers stepped up to make exceptions. That's the type of insurer you want if you ever have a claim.

How Premiums Get Set

Actuaries make guesses ("projections") of future claims based on past data and future trends. If actual claims are higher, profits are lower. That leads to pressure to restore profits. (Factors like expenses and investment returns also affect profits).

Raising rates isn’t easy unless competitors do too. Another solution is to quietly cheapen the ingredients.

Example: Since strawberries are expensive, Starbucks coloured their Strawberry Frappuccinos with natural red dye from cochineal beetles. Consumers found out and weren’t pleased. Starbucks wasn’t prepared to use real strawberries but compromised by switching to dye from tomato extract.

Cutting Back

Insurance gets cheapened by cutting back on the protection --- transferring more risk to you. Coverage which was solid last year might deteriorate this year. For car and home insurance, the terms can often change each year when you renew your protection. You might face

• more exclusions
• bigger deductibles
• smaller benefit limits

The Alberta floods showed that premiums may have been similar but some insurers were denying claims their competitors covered despite similar contract wording. Now insurance policies changing after the $1.7B in flood payouts --- even for customers who weren't affected.

Note: Life insurance, disability insurance, critical illness insurance and long-term care insurance are different. Rates are often guaranteed for life and contract wording can’t be changed.

After Hurricane Sandy, about 23% of claims led to no payment. The two main reasons: exclusions and high deductibles. Did these buyers know they weren’t covered? Who advised them?

Since insurers decide which claims to approve and how much to pay out, they can improve their profits by denying claims and/or reducing payouts. Since each claim is assessed separately, trends are difficult to spot. You may recall Hurricane Sandy victims getting short-changed on their flood insurance benefits by the claims adjusters who the insurers trained and employed.

Taking Precautions

There are three keys to getting claims paid for any type of insurance: select an independent advisor who works through an independent distributor and offers products from insurers which keep promises.

If you buy directly from the insurance company, who’s on your side during a dispute? You might get stuck dealing with a by-the-script call centre representative located far away.

If you buy through an association (or group), don’t count on lower prices, stronger guarantees or more lenient claims adjudication. The  association likely receives big financial incentives since insurers compete to get access to the members. As the association becomes dependent on the revenue where are their loyalties? 

Bank of America had buying power with QBE Insurance but inflated the cost of insurance they forced homeowners to buy. The result is a $228 million settlement. Other banks had similar schemes and also got caught.

Apples or Avocados?

Unless you're very patient (or a lawyer), you may have difficulty comparing one insurance contract with another. How do you know what's left out or what's weak? An independent advisor can help. You can contact more than one.

Generally speaking, prices are similar among companies when you're making a fair comparison. Be wary if you find big price differences. What are you giving up for the apparent savings?

Money Saving Tips

With property insurance, there is a component to protect you from liability claims. If you have both home and car coverage, you're getting liability coverage in both places. You may save money by getting both plans from the same insurer, reducing the liability coverage and buying an umbrella policy for the liability.

Look At Corporate Governance

When disputes occur, you benefit from having an insurer that ranks high in corporate governance (a measure of keeping promises). They’re more likely to treat you well and make exceptions. For example, TD was reversing decisions on Alberta flood claims and lost $170 million. That's better for customers than shareholders.

Links

• Two forms of insurance you may have but can’t own
• Many Hurricane Sandy insurance claims closed without payment
• Reminders from disasters like Superstorm Sandy
• Buying a car vs buying life insurance
• The dirt on Petro-Canada’s Car Wash Season Pass insurance
• Small cars: Is ‘safer than ever’ safe enough for you?
• Read this before giving referrals to an insurance advisor
• The car mechanic: are you paying for effort or results?
• Is your car built to last?
• image courtesy of 7854

PS As the summer driving season ends and schools re-open, please pay attention to the most dangerous part of driving.