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aviography, may i ask which insurance company this is?
The Aviva group, granted I was under a company group insurance coverage but our company changed over to Allstate this year, but that only gave me a very small reduction.
I just got off the phone with TD Meloche for a quote, the house insurance they quoted me was within a few dollars of the Aviva quote I got last week, and the lady on the phone actually came straight out and told me the house insurance is "not as heavily regulated like the auto insurance".
The insurance companies are making their money with impunity as if they have money printing machines.....
Originally Posted by Torontoworker
I had an interesting discussion with a State Farm broker last year and I basically wrestled him to the ground and had him admit that house insurance is the new banking scam being set up by the insurance industry. They are using new metrics of auto insurance 'risk' to apply to house insurance and where none of this increased risk is really factual.
Many of the 'losses' the insurance industry *say* that they have experienced, (the excuse for why they raise rates) has nothing to do with either auto or housing losses - it has everything to do with their market investment losses.
The police break and enter reports - the fire department reports - all public documents, tell a different story than what the insurance industry portray. All show fewer fires (and why Fire dept's are under the gun to downsize and pressure to hire more EMT's) while break and enter losses have FALLEN over all.
(Stat Canada)
The public data doesn't match the story they are telling.
Its all a shell game and the Province and the industry know it. The industry tells the Government there is an increase in risk - the Government does no investigation of these claims and allows increases because of the exceptionally great lobby efforts on behalf of this industry.
The Government can say they 'held' increases down - well except for the increase you got in the mail - that doesn't count they say - then the industry points their fingers at a few Tamils or a stupid plumber burning down an under construction set of town houses and everyone is happy.
Now we have insurance companies heavily invested in the commercial real estate market, (after being burned in the derivative markets) and that market isn't doing so well... I smell another rate increase.
We pay high fees because the insurance industry have idiots running their investment portfolio departments. What a great little scam they have going on here. What other investor has this great well of funds to keep dipping into when they lose their shirts in the markets or because buildings they bought at too high a price aren't leasing so well?
What other industry has a legislated 20% (minimum) return guaranteed by Government on top of their costs? So if you can pad your costs...
B&E's payouts are so low they hardly make the scales. Fire and mostly water accounts for the biggies. Premiums fund the payouts so there is a relationship but the single largest factor for premium increases are low interest rates, that forces insurance companies into equities and there are winners and losers in that game and we, the insured, pick up the slack.
funny how they don't even want to cover floods anymore. if it comes in the windows or doors they don't cover and if it comes in the drain they want you to pay special coverage and limit it.
To close the loop, I checked with TD Meloche as mentioned earlier, its premium was $2 different for the house, but the auto premium was $600 more annually with both cars on the road, not going to happen!
I then checked with Allstate, which our company is now a group member of after being with Aviva for the last few years, we get a discount plus no interest for monthly payment, the agent was very helpful, pointing out winter tire discount, on-line access discount etc.
At the end my house insurance end up $250 lower than Aviva's new rate, overall the combined premium for the house and two cars will be between 12 to 13% less than Aviva with comparable coverage.
Aviva just lost a 15 year customer with only one claim 5 years ago for a not-at-fault claim when an aluminum casting ran over by another car smashed the front bumper of my DD. I lose the disappearing deductible for now but it is reduced by $100 a year, so that won't be a factor in 3 years for comprehensive and 5 years for collision coverage.
Last edited by aviography; 02-28-2015 at 01:25 PM.
^ unfortunately Ken loyalty means squat to ins companies. I have dealt with eight diff one's since I purchased my first home / car. Every move has saved me money and more than made up the minor work involved in comparing one against the other.
As a side note, it appears the insurance companies share an "insured history" database. Allstate was able to determine the exact trim level for both of my cars based on my drivers' license number and the general description on make, year and model, i.e. they knew my DD Accord was a V6 Coupe, and the Porsche was a Cab without ever asking me those details.
When I asked her how she knew the trim info, the Allstate agent confirmed they can access that info from the "insured history report", she also had the VIN info of my cars, again before I provided that info to her.
They also knew the one claim I made in 2009 when I had not provided this info, as they only asked for the 5-year claim history.
So, in case you think of pulling a fast one without telling a new insurance company of past claims, watch out as they will likely find out, and it would be grounds for policy termination, which will be a black mark on your insurance profile for 10 years!!
As a side note, it appears the insurance companies share an "insured history" database.
Ken: IBC run the database for both the industry AND MTO! When you are stopped for a moving violation anywhere in Ontario, the police check for insurance via your name or plate number on the terminal in the police car and this is linked to this database.
This is the 'why' people are receiving a failure to have insurance charge even when they show a fake pink insurance slip (which could also lead to further charges!) right at the roadside.
MTO outsourced, (more like washed their hands) of the drivers database. It contains ALL driving info on you and the insurance company can check instantly on your drivers history. The old wives tale that it costs them a lot of time & money to check and they don't do it too often is long gone. All the companies have joined the system. (This includes house insurance)
It would not surprise me to find out they have an auto generated search function for every renewal that flags an entry date for violations between renewal periods in order to nail you with higher premiums.
Did you know a poor credit rating in Ontario can cost you higher insurance premiums? This is allowed in the Insurance Act. Below is an article on IBC.
Allstate did ask my permission to check my credit rating because there is a "discount" for clean credit rating, it came back perfect, the agent made a comment she wished everyone has clean driving record and perfect credit rating, it would make her job easier.
02-24-2015, 12:45 PM
