It is certainly advantageous to combine your automobile and home protections with the same insurer.
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When shopping for damage insurance (house, car, all-terrain vehicle, boat, snowmobile, etc.), it is in your best interest to centralize your coverage.
Insurers thus grant discounts, often substantial: between 5% and 15% for each contract, depending on the insurer and your personal situation.
Simplified procedures
On the other hand, a consumer has, without a shadow of a doubt, certain advantages in dealing with a single insurer.
It takes less time to get information because the insurer already knows you.
In addition, if you suffer a claim, your compensation procedures will be simplified. All you have to do is call one customer service department and talk to one claims adjuster.
Gifts…
In some situations, a disaster affects both the house and the car.
For example, an ice storm that destroys part of the roof and also damages the vehicle, or a fire that affects the house and the car, because it is parked in the garage.
In this case, some insurers will apply a single deductible, often the highest, instead of two, when they compensate their client, which will result in a lower outlay for the insured.
Others will grant free additional coverage, particularly in the automobile.
When the loved one moves in…
When a couple decides to move in together, each has an interest in combining their insurance. It takes some thought.
When your better half moves in with you, it is to your advantage to contact your insurer. Especially if this person telecommutes or owns valuable goods (jewelry, electronic devices, outdoor equipment, tools, computers, electronics), or some of their goods are used for their work.
In the end, combining your insurance will certainly cost less than insuring each on your own… unless your new flame represents a high insurance risk (she has multiplied claims or has a bad credit history, For example).
Advice
- Take the time to clearly identify your needs before shopping for insurance. You have to compare apples to apples: ask for a quote with similar deductibles, deliver the same description of the condition of your house or your car to each insurer, multiply the questions, take lots of notes.
- It’s important to shop around for your insurance. If you spend two or three hours choosing your insurer and you save $300, consider that you have been “paid” $100 an hour!
- Do business with an insurance broker. As he works with several insurers, it will be easier for him to manage your file. Negotiating several protections at the same time is more complex than just shopping for car insurance.
- Take an inventory of your possessions. Info and free chart provided by the Insurance Bureau of Canada: https://infoassurance.ca/understand-home-insurance/insure-your-home/property-inventory/
Who do you complain to when your car is stolen?
Classic shot: you leave a store and your car is no longer there. How to react ?
Know that you have a lot of companions in misfortune, because 14 cars are stolen a day in Quebec, according to HelloSafe. Auto theft costs Canadian citizens and insurers $1 billion a year.
The first thing to do when our car is stolen is to call the police. After an interview with her, you will have retrieved the famous “event number” (or file number) associated with your misadventure.
This number is important because it is at the heart of your relationship with the police and the insurer. Thus, several people sometimes recover their vehicle and the police always ask for this number when they have to deal with your case.
The second thing to do is to call your insurer. The latter will ask you questions and offer you a host of answers, depending on the type of insurance contract you have: how much compensation will you have, what kind of replacement vehicle you are entitled to, for how much time, what are the other steps, etc. The insurer will, of course, ask you for the event number.
The following
Some of my relatives recently had their vehicles stolen. One of them had clothes, tools, personal items of all kinds in the trunk. This is the third thing you will have to do: you must list all the objects that were in the car at the time of the theft.
For valuables, you should try to find their invoice, if possible. Or a picture.
For what ? Because any object that is attached to the car (trailer hitch, or hitch, bike or GPS mount) is covered by your car insurance. But any other object is covered by your home insurance.
Your home insurer will certainly ask you for this famous list. Write it up as soon as possible and give yourself 48 hours to polish it before giving it to him.
Obviously, you will benefit if your insurer covers both your car and your home, because the procedures will be less complicated.