10 Questions to Ask Yourself When Renewing Automobile Insurance Policy

Have you recently started using your car on a daily basis to travel to your new job? Are you paid to transport passengers? Have you installed an anti-theft system?

A consumer’s insurance needs may change frequently and these needs will certainly evolve over the years. You, the insured, are in the best position to clearly identify any changes that have occurred during the year. Since some of these changes could have an impact on your coverage, it is important to notify your damage insurance agent or broker, a certified professional who is overseen by the Chambre de l’assurance de dommages (ChAD), the self-regulatory organization that ensures the protection of the public in all matters related to damage insurance and claims adjustment.

THE DATA TELLS THE STORY

Our homes and cars are major investments that are made over the course of a lifetime. It is indispensable to have proper insurance coverage for both, in the event of a loss or an accident. Renovating your home or replacing your car are perfectly normal events. And it should be just as normal to review certain essential questions when changes occur, to ensure that your property continues to be properly insured.

According to a Léger poll conducted in May 2018¹, 50% of consumers are unaware of any exclusions to their insurance coverage. It is therefore difficult for them to verify whether their coverage actually meets their needs. And it is even more concerning that 57% of insureds said that they do not re-assess the value of their property before renewing their insurance contract, nor do they confirm that their coverage continues to meet their needs.²

10 questions to ask yourself

Although the damage insurance representative has a professional obligation to provide advice, it is the consumer who is in the best position to clearly identify the changes that he has made to his immediate environment during the course of the year and to provide an accurate assessment of his situation at renewal time. This information is essential to the insurance professional; without it, the professional will not be able to provide useful advice and offer the insured an insurance policy that best suits his needs.

Even changes made many months ago that have almost been forgotten can have a significant impact on our insurance coverage requirements. We invite you to use these user-friendly checklists below to help you verify your needs and ensure that when insurance policy renewal time arrives, your homes will continue to enjoy sufficient insurance coverage. If you answer YES to any of the following questions, please contact your representative:

Have you moved?
Do you use your vehicle for work?
Do you use your vehicle to get to work, have you stopped using it or has the distance you travel changed?
Do you use your vehicle outside of Quebec?
Is a new driver using your vehicle?
Have you made any changes to your vehicle or installed equipment that increases its value or performance?
Have you put your vehicle into storage or put it back on the road?
Have you had an anti-theft device or a GPS either installed or deactivated in your vehicle?
Have you or any other driver of the vehicle lost any demerit points or had your/their license suspended?
Do you use or intend to use your vehicle to transport paying passengers or do you rent or intend to rent it to a third party?

The ChAD provides consumers with a few checklists containing questions to ask oneself at renewal time.

These handy, easy to use checklists allow consumers to validate their needs and ensure that their property continues to enjoy proper coverage after their insurance contract is renewed.

Read the other renewal notices:

^{1. Léger poll for the Chambre de l’assurance de dommages and the Chambre de la sécurité financière, surveying 1,035 Quebeckers, 18 years of age and over, May 2018.}

^{2. Léger poll for the ChAD, surveying 1,000 Quebeckers 18 years of age and over, May 2016.}

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