Before I go on, there are many important coverage areas in the accident benefits section of your auto insurance policy; I am just focusing on one specific coverage in this post.

Attendant care coverage is used when after an accident you need to hire somebody to help take care of you in your home.

Pre September 2010 Coverage:

Before the Accident benefits reform the insurance company paid out $3,000/month over a two year period. After two years you could qualify as permanently disabled and get ongoing long-term attendant care coverage.

Post September 2010 Coverage:

The new standard coverage was reduced to $3000/month for only one year while the time you must wait to qualify for permanently disabled remains unchanged at two years. This means that at the end of year one, you are on your own to cover the costs of attendant care for the entire second year while you wait to be approved for permanent coverage.

All drivers have the option to buy back the second year of coverage on their auto insurance policy. The cost ranges between companies but is normally around $5/year. That works out to $0.42/month to get back that extra year of attendant care coverage.

If you are my client and reading this, if I wrote your policy after September 2010, you already most likely have this option added to your policy. If you have been a client with the same insurance company since before September 2010 and would like this coverage buy up option added to your policy, simply email me and let me know.

If you are not a client, the best advice I can give you is to call your broker/agent/insurance company and ask them to add the attendant care buy up option.

The information below is relating to insurance policies within Ontario Canada only.

The information below is a general outline; each individual insurance company may have their own limits and rules. Contact your insurance broker if you have any questions.

To answer this we need to divide that question into two parts:

1. What does my home or tenants insurance cover?
2. What does my car insurance cover?

Home Insurance

Personal Liability

The most important coverage you need to worry about is your liability coverage. Most people know that they are covered for up to $1,000,000 liability (or whatever your limit is) if somebody were to injure themselves on your property and they sue you. What people don’t know is that it is called Personal Liability and not home owner’s liability because it also covers you against lawsuits anywhere in the world if you cause injury to a person or damage to a person’s property.

Example

I was given a case study a few years ago about a lady from Ontario who was in Europe. She was drinking on a restaurant patio and spilled her drink on the ground. Before somebody had a chance to clean the spill another lady slipped and hit a table on her way down. She suffered a broken neck.

The injured lady’s lawyer then filed a lawsuit and named the restaurant and the lady from Ontario who caused the spill as the two who were liable. The lawsuit was for $10,000,000.

In the end, the restaurant took the big hit for the lawsuit and the lady from Ontario had to pay somewhere around $500,000 (I don’t remember the exact number as I read this case study years ago). I do remember that her personal liability coverage covered the entire amount.

Contents

When you travel, you no doubt take clothes, cell phones, money, cameras, computers, iPads, etc… Your personal property when away from your home on vacation is still covered on your home insurance policy. With most companies this also includes property lost at the airport.

One exception to the rule is if you are traveling with a resident employee (live in nanny). You must inform your insurance company that you have the resident employee so that is noted on the policy. If you do this, they are covered as well.

Note

You should inform your insurance company of a resident employee even if you are not travelling. This could turn into a huge mess if the employee gets injured on the job.

Travelling for business is whole other story. Your personal property may still be covered but this is something you should discuss with your broker, especially when it comes to computers, cell phones, etc…

Dwelling (your home)

While you are away, your house is still fully covered. If you are away for more than one week, have somebody check on your house at least once a week. Some companies have this in their policy wordings but it’s rarely an issue when people go on vacation for a week or two.

Car Insurance

Your cars at home are still covered for theft while you are on vacation, but what happens if you rent a car?

Note

The information below is only relevant to renting a car within Canada or the United States.

Rental companies will charge you $15-$30/day for insurance on the rental car. You have the option to add this coverage to your car insurance policy and tell the rental company that you do not require their insurance.

The coverage is called OPCF27 – Damage to non owned vehicles. Although the coverage amount changes between companies, it is roughly $50,000 coverage for the rental car. This means if that rental car is in an accident or stolen while in your possession, you are fully covered up to $50,000 (or whatever your companies limit is).

The cost to have this added to your policy is around $40/year which works out to less than $4/month and can be used any time you rent a car without having to recall your insurance company every time.

Note

When you add this to your policy, you add it to a specific car. That car cannot be driven while you are driving the rental car.

Example

You have two cars and are on vacation. Your teenager is at home and still drives one of your cars. If OPCF 27 is added to car #1, you must tell your child they are only allowed to drive car #2 while you are away.

If you have any questions regarding your home or auto insurance while travelling, feel free to contact me any time.

Mike Leinwand
mike@icdinsurance.ca
www.mikeleinwand.com

Intact Insurance (formerly ING Insurance) and ICD Insurance (my brokerage) have signed a contract allowing me to do business with them effective immediately.

Intact is one of the largest insurance companies in Canada and will be a great asset moving forward when it comes to new clients and renewals for my current clients.

From Intact’s home page:

When it comes to comparing auto insurance quotes, everyone wants to save money.

But finding great value on your car insurance is about more than just the price.

Whether you are passionate about what you drive, or your car just gets you from A to B, there’s one thing that is for sure: should you get into an accident, you want an insurance company that will be there for you.

That’s why Intact Insurance is your best choice for auto insurance.

We’ll be there for you when you need us most. Our 24/7 Claims Service Guarantee gets you in touch with a knowledgeable insurance representative who can answer your questions or get your claims process started no matter what time – day or night.

In the event of an auto claim, we’ll take your word for it – really. A claims representative will confirm your deductible and claim details, based on your description of the accident, and start the settlement process right away – before any police or third-party reports are received.

What’s more, should you ever need to make an auto claim, we have one of the most impressive programs out there. Through our Rely Network® of professional body shops, we will provide you with a lifetime guarantee on all workmanship for as long as you own your car.

Our auto insurance is designed with you in mind, available through independent insurance brokers. Speaking to an insurance professional will ensure you have the right insurance for your lifestyle and the best protection for your car, and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Here is a list of some discounts you may qualify for:

Driver Training Discount: Most companies offer a discount or a reduced premium for new drivers who have completed a recognized driver-training program.

Multi-Policy Discount: Some insurance companies offer a discount if you purchase your vehicle and home insurance from the same company. This discount can range from 3 to 15 per cent.

Multi-Vehicle Discount: You may be able to get a discount if you insure more than one vehicle with the same insurance company. The multi-vehicle discount can range from 5 to 15 per cent.

Renewal Discount: Your company may offer you a renewal discount if you have been with the company for a certain number of years without an at-fault accident. The discount can range from 5 to 20 per cent.

Retiree Discount: If you are retired and meet certain conditions, you may be able to get a retiree discount on your premium. The retiree discount can range from 5 to 15 per cent off your premium for Accident Benefits coverage.

Other Discounts: Some companies may offer discounts if your yearly vehicle mileage is low or if you have an alarm in your vehicle. Each company applies discounts differently. Check with your broker, agent or insurance company to find out what discounts are available to you.

A lot of people call me when their insurance goes up at renewal because they have been convicted of a couple driving infractions over the past year. Most companies will accept one ticket in the past three years (assuming you have no at-fault accidents on record) without adding a surcharge to your insurance, but once you get that second or third ticket in three years your premium will increase drastically.

“Mike, I had no demerit points” is the common response when I explain to my clients why their premium went up. It is important to understand that demerit points do not affect your insurance, insurance companies look at the number of criminal, major and minor tickets on your record regardless of demerit points.

It is important to fight your tickets with the final outcome being to have them dropped and not just the points lowered. I was in this exact situation recently and decided to practice what I preach and I hired a legal service to fight on my behalf.

I was pulled over and accused of running a red light and given two tickets, one for running the light and the second for not changing the address on my license after moving (you have seven days after moving to a new address).

Rather than being one of many who show up to court alone and use “the light was yellow” defense, I hired Mr. Con Gabriel of OTT Legal (contact information at end of this story). I didn’t know what to expect when hiring somebody to fight my tickets and wasn’t quite sure if it would be worth the money. Those concerns were put to rest when I went to trial yesterday and Con got both tickets dropped without me having to even enter the courtroom.

Con was able to look through the evidence against me and speak directly with the prosecutor and officer who pulled me over. He was able to prove that the evidence was wrong and that that there were many mistakes on the tickets that I would have never known or thought to question. After a few minutes of speaking with the prosecutor, officer and another police officer that he knew, he came out of the courtroom where I was waiting patiently and said “both tickets have been dropped” and that was the end of my day in court.

I was not only impressed by the outcome but also at the extremely professional way in which he dealt with the situation. He was able to speak with the officer in a very pleasant manner which is normally reserved for conversations with colleagues and friends rather then somebody you are trying to disprove in court.

When you receive a ticket, don’t just look at the price of the ticket; also consider the effect on your insurance premium. My tickets would have cost me $435 up front and my insurance would have gone up $1500 per year for the next three years. I paid half the cost of the tickets to hire Con and saved myself $4500 in insurance costs.

Please don’t just pay your tickets when you get them, take the time to properly fight the tickets; and when you do, I strongly recommend you hire Con Gabirel or call me and I’ll put you in contact with him.

Con can be contacted at 416-277-4291 and offers free consultations.

Most people look at their insurance papers and see “OPCF 20 – Rental car coverage” and assume this is what they need when they go on vacation and rent a car. This is not true.

OPCF 20 – “Rental car coverage” covers you if you need a rental car after a claim, not if you are going on vacation and renting a car. OPCF 20 says that if you have an at-fault accident, not-at fault accident or your car is stolen, we will hook you up with a rental car right away so you’re not stuck without a car after a claim.

The coverage that you are looking for when you go on vacation and rent a car is called OPCF 27 – “Damage to non-owned vehicles”. This coverage does not come standard on any auto insurance policy and you must ask for it to be put on.

When you rent a car, there are three things that must be covered for your own protection and the protection of the company that is renting you the car:

1. Third-party liability
2. Accident benefits
3. Damage to vehicle

You have two options for purchasing the coverage needed:

1. Take the insurance offered by the rental company (usually $10-$15/day)
2. Add OPCF 27 to your auto policy for $30-$50/year (depending on the company). This will cover you year round for any rental car you rent for any reason.

Things you need to know when driving a rental car:

1. Your insurance only covers you in Canada and the continental US
2. You must have physical damage coverage on your auto policy to qualify for OPCF 27
3. Every driver of the rental car must have OPCF 27 on their own policy in order to drive the rented car.

• Example: You and a friend go on vacation together. Back home you both have your own cars and both have separate insurance policies for your cars. On vacation you share a rental car.  You BOTH must add OPCF 27 to your own insurance policies back home before driving the rental car. If only one of you has it added to their policy, only that person is covered when driving the rented car.

If you ever have any questions regarding renting a car, contact me.

www.mikeleinwand.com

Addition: some credit cards offer the same coverage that OPCF 27 offers. here is an example http://www.tdcanadatrust.com/tdvisa/features.jsp#1

In Ontario if you have a drivers’ license and own a car, you must have a car insurance policy before you can drive that car off of your driveway. On top of that, everyone who lives in the same house as you must either:

1. Be included on that insurance policy, or
2. Have their own insurance for their own car, or
3. Sign what is called an excluded driver form (OPCF 28) that states they are not allowed to drive your car and the insurance company will not pay any claim resulting from them driving your car. 

Although you need to have insurance in order to drive, insurance companies only require you to have certain coverage. These include third party liability and accident benefits. You are always free to waive coverage that would pay for damages to your own vehicle or to replace your vehicle if stolen or vandalized.

The reason insurance companies (and Ontario legislation) require you to have third party liability and accident benefits coverage is not to protect you, but to insure that everyone around you (drivers in other cars, pedestrians, passengers in your car, etc.) are protected when you are driving.

If you plan on parking your car and not using it, whether it be a seasonal car or you are just garaging it until it is sold, you do not need to have all this coverage. You can either choose to not have any insurance on the car (not advised), or you can insure it for fire, theft and vandalism only; however, the second you plan on driving that car off of your driveway you need to have third party liability and accident benefits coverage for that car, yourself and anyone else in your house who has a drivers license.

Driving without insurance is a major offense and when you get pulled over; your car will be towed.

This year I’ve seen some companies raise their premiums as much as 15%. That means that when it comes time for renewal a policy that was $2000 last year is now renewing at $2300 this year assuming the driver has had no new tickets, accidents, or changed their car, the obvious question is “what the hell?!?!?”

Insurance companies are going into what is called a hard market. This simply means that they are losing money. You’re probably saying “that’s just not true, I pay $2300 per year and have never put a claim through, they must be making money”, and on the surface you would appear to be correct, however you are not the only client the insurance company has.

Insurance companies make money by investing money. They take premium earned and invest it, so when the markets are crashing and nobody’s investments are doing well, the same goes for the insurance companies. But that is not what causes a hard market; that just happens to be adding to the hard market right now.

The hard market is cause by the soft market. “What?”

During a soft market, insurance companies want to open the door and let in lots of business. Two tickets, no problem. At fault accident, that’s not a big deal. No previous insurance, come on in. Basically they are accepting as much new business as they can and the premiums are low, everyone is happy.

The problem with that is that with bad risks comes high claims payouts. I read somewhere that there are some companies in Ontario are currently paying $1.00 of accident benefits payouts for every $1.00 premium they are bringing in. I believe I read this through FSCO. That stat shows that insurance companies are only breaking even before any operating expenses. These are the companies that have been practically giving away insurance for the past five years and are now paying the price. So how do they stop this?

They close the door. You have two tickets, that’s a 300% surcharge. You have an at fault accident, high risk. No previous insurance, that’ll cost you. Insurance companies now want to clean up their book of business and start to realize that a smaller book of business with good clients is more profitable then a larger book of business with bad clients but the damage is now done and even the good clients have to pay the price.

The insurance industry has been searching for years for a happy median between a soft and hard market, but without success. I have been in insurance for five years now and this is the first hard market I have seen. The soft market seems to last 5-7 years and the hard market seems to last…….. I guess I’m about to find out.

You can go to court and fight off the demerit points on your ticket, which will help you save yourself from getting your license suspended, but it will not affect your insurance one bit. As soon as you are convicted of the infraction, whether it is speeding 10km over the limit or running a stop sign, it counts as one minor ticket regardless of how many demerit points come with the fine.

I don’t know too much about demerit points but it is my understanding that they are solely used to decide whether or not your license will be suspended. If you get too many, you lose your license.

Also note, that one ticket is not that bad for most insurance companies, some companies even offer good rates if you have two tickets, but once you have three tickets (within three years), you become high risk and only a handful of insurance companies will do business with you until they fall off. Of course all of this is assuming you do not have any at-fault accidents in the past six years.

Tickets remain on your record for three years from the date of CONVICTION, not the date you actually received the ticket. So if you get pulled over on 03/01/2009 but fight the ticket and go to court a year later and at that time you end up losing and having to pay the ticket on 03/01/2010, it will be on your record and count against you for three years starting from 03/01/2010.

No matter what type of business your run, if you are trying to get yourself more clients then getting referrals is by far the greatest way to do so. It is the cheapest form of marketing and usually has the highest “closing ratio”. Oddly enough it is also the most difficult and time consuming way to get new clients.

There is no secret behind getting referrals, but I’m going to list four things I do every day in hopes that they will help generate referrals from clients and/or prospects families, friends and co-workers.

1. Create a WOW EFFECT!!

The first thing you should ALWAYS do is provide your clients, prospects, friends, family, strangers, and friends of strangers with the greatest service you can possibly offer……. ALWAYS.

I run into cases every day where I do a quote for somebody’s insurance and I can’t beat the price they are currently paying. I still treat them as if they are my client, and do anything and everything I can to make sure they are paying the lowest possible premium with the company that insures them or to make sure they know which questions to ask their insurance company. Helping somebody save a buck or two even when they are not your client is sure to make you stand out in the crowd of the many others who offer the same service as you.

If you’re lucky, although it won’t happen often, that person will appreciate the honesty and customer service so much that they will be willing to pay the extra couple of dollars every month to you to keep getting that quality of service. More likely though, you will not get the client, but they will refer others to you.

Treat everyone equally important and do your best to help them without worrying about making a sale. Getting a single new client is okay, but having somebody out there telling others how great your service is, that is what you really want.

2. Show Appreciation.

I used to give my clients a $2.00 Tim Horton’s rechargeable gift card. This did not help me get referrals. Why didn’t help generate referrals? It didn’t create a WOW EFFECT (refer to point #1). $2.00 was a nice gesture, but really almost next to nothing.

I just recently came to the conclusion that the idea is good, but needed to stand out a little more. This week I started giving out $10.00 Tim’s Cards to every new client as a thank you for signing up with me. Along with the Tim’s card are a few business cards and a little note thanking the client for their business and kindly asking them to refer anyone to me if they think I may be able to save them money.

I’ve been doing this for less then one week now and it has already generated me more referrals then two months worth of $2.00 Tim’s cards to clients.

You are probably thinking “$10.00. That is way too much money!!” Well that depends what business you are in. I don’t want to get in to how I am paid, but I will say that I only give the card to new clients, which means I’m only spending the $10.00 if I’ve already the commission. Think of it as the cost of doing business.

When was the last time your insurance company gave you a gift card to Tim Horton’s? Most of you will say never. By doing this, you are standing out from the crowd. This however is not enough. You need to always be doing point #1. Giving a gift card is great, but if you suck at what you do, people won’t tell their friends to come to you regardless of whether you offer them free coffee or not.

3. Ask For Referrals and Thank for Referrals.

Ask!! It’s as simple as that. People are afraid to ask for referrals out of fear of looking like the stereotypical sales person. I know when I am the consumer, I prefer to buy my services or products from somebody I know trust, and I’ve always found my customer experiences to be better when I go to somebody I’ve been referred to then when I pick up the yellow pages and randomly pick a name.

Also, look at it from the point of view as the person who is referring business. You will always get the greatest customer service from that person you referred business to. Not that you should get anything less, but you know that person will go the extra distance to keep you happy as a thank you for past referrals, and as a thank you for future referrals.

Thank anyone who gives you a referral, no exceptions. Pick up a phone and say “Thank you” every time, regardless of the outcome of the referral.

4. The Useful Business Card

I spent a long time trying to find a way to try and make sure my clients kept my business card on them at all times. I finally found the answer in a book on how to generate referrals. It’s such good info I wanted to share it with you.

This works great if your clients have something unique they need to remember, such as a customer number or a 24 customer service number they may need at any time. It depends what your business is.

As an Insurance Broker, it is important for my clients to have their 24 hours claim services phone number on hand. Since I deal with over 15 different insurance companies which means there are 15 different 24 hour claims services phone numbers, I use stick on labels. I place a label on the back of my business card with the claims phone number. The front has my information, and the back has the important information they need on hand.

Every client I have ever given this to has put it in their wallet right away. I’ve just guaranteed that when that client is at work and somebody says “I just got my insurance renewal and they are ripping me off”, my client will have my information on hand to give them right there on the spot.

There is no trick to generating referrals. You just need to do a great job, let people know you want referrals, and make people feel good for giving you referrals.