Questions

British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba each run a government insurer that writes the compulsory basic coverage: ICBC, the SGI Auto Fund and Basic Autopac from Manitoba Public Insurance.

Québec is a hybrid. Bodily injury is covered by the SAAQ, a public plan funded through licence and registration fees. Damage to vehicles and liability for damage to others stays private.

Ontario, Alberta, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Newfoundland and Labrador, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut are private markets.

Because basic coverage is a floor, not a policy. Higher liability limits, a lower deductible, replacement cost on a newer vehicle and coverage while you drive in the United States all sit above the basic layer.

In British Columbia that layer is placed through an Autoplan broker and can come from ICBC or a private insurer. In Saskatchewan it is bought through a motor licence issuer. In Manitoba it is bought through an Autopac agent. In all three, a broker is the channel.

In private-market provinces the pink liability card remains your proof of insurance, and electronic versions are accepted in Ontario, Alberta and most other jurisdictions.

In British Columbia your proof is your Autoplan papers and the decal on your plate. In Saskatchewan it is your registration certificate. In Manitoba it is the Autopac certificate issued with your registration. There is no pink card to carry.

The deductible is the amount you pay before your insurer pays. Canadian policies use the word deductible; excess is a British term you will not see on a policy here.

Moving an auto policy from $500 to $1,000 typically trims the premium by five to ten per cent. It is a good trade only if you could produce the extra $500 on the day of a claim without borrowing it.

Watch for separate deductibles on water endorsements, which are often higher than the deductible printed on the front page.

Insurance premiums are exempt from GST and HST across Canada.

Some provinces apply their own tax on premiums instead. Québec applies a 9 per cent tax on insurance premiums, and Ontario applies an 8 per cent retail sales tax to certain policies. Your renewal will show it as a separate line.

Yes. Renters insurance is the American term. In Canada it is called tenant insurance, and that is the wording you will see on a policy and in a lease.

It covers your contents, your personal liability and your additional living expenses. Your landlord’s policy covers the building and nothing of yours.

No. A standard Canadian home policy covers sudden escape of water from a plumbing system. Sewer backup and overland water are separate endorsements, and they are the two most commonly missing from a policy bought online.

Sewer backup covers water returning up through drains. Overland water covers fresh water arriving at ground level from a melt, a storm or an overflowing watercourse.

Not automatically, and in some cases not at all. Auto insurance is governed by provincial statute, so a policy written in Ontario cannot simply be re-addressed to Winnipeg.

Start the conversation four to six weeks before the move. We arrange the new policy to start the day the old one ends, because a gap in your coverage history costs real money at the next renewal.

Start with us. Every Northwood client has a named broker, and a claim you are unhappy with is our problem before it is yours.

If it is not resolved, your insurer has a formal complaints process and must give you a final position letter. From there, home, auto and business complaints go to the General Insurance OmbudService, and life and health complaints go to the OmbudService for Life and Health Insurance. In Québec, complaints are routed through the Autorité des marchés financiers.

Provincially, like the insurance itself. Ontario brokers are registered with RIBO, Alberta brokers with the Alberta Insurance Council, British Columbia brokers with the Insurance Council of British Columbia, and Québec brokers with the Autorité des marchés financiers.

Saskatchewan and Manitoba have their own insurance councils, and the Atlantic provinces and territories license through their respective superintendents of insurance. A brokerage operating nationally holds a licence in every jurisdiction where it places business.

By commission from the insurer that writes your policy, disclosed to you in writing before you buy. We do not charge policy fees on personal lines.

Our brokers are not paid more for placing you with one insurer over another, which is the arrangement that makes a broker useful rather than decorative.

Most often because of the stability period. A pre-existing condition must have been stable for a set window before departure, usually 90 or 180 days. A change in medication, including a change in dose, restarts that window.

Tell us about every prescription change before you buy. There are policies with shorter stability windows, and there are insurers who will rate a condition rather than exclude it.