Insurance changes spark worries

Two interested parties have expressed concerns to the New Brunswick government that proposed changes to insurance rules could mean consumers pay more for premiums.

In the last session of the legislature, Justice and Consumer Affairs Minister Marie-Claude Blais said the government is committed to moving forward with regulations that would prohibit the use of credit scores in underwriting insurance policies. It's an issue that has been a topic of discussion for some time now.

Ronald Godin, the consumer advocate for insurance for New Brunswick, commented earlier this year that more and more people are complaining about home insurance and the callers are upset that credit scores are being used to determine their premiums. He said about half of the home insurance companies in New Brunswick use the scoring to determine rates and if a policy should be renewed or granted in the first place. He said no company is consulting credit scores to set auto insurance rates, but there are no rules preventing that.

The Liberals then began calling for the practise to be discontinued, saying people were being refused home insurance because of a bad credit score, which is unfair. Liberal MLA Donald Arseneault said if someone loses their job and falls behind on their bills they could get a bad credit grade and lose their home insurance as a result.

The public and interested parties were invited to comment on the proposed legislation changes and at least two different organizations have opposed the change, saying the result will be higher insurance premiums.

TransUnion, a credit information management company, sent the Justice and Consumer Affairs Department a letter last week expressing "significant concerns" with the proposed changes. TransUnion president Ken Porter said overall higher rates will result.

"Most notably, we believe that the regulations' intent to prohibit the use of credit information to establish an insurance rating classification will lead directly to higher out-of-pocket expenses for the majority of New Brunswick policy holders," wrote the company president.

"Pursuant to the draft regulations . . . insurance companies would be disallowed from accessing an applicant's 'credit history, credit rating, credit score for the purposes of establishing an insurance rating classification.' Under this framework, the majority of New Brunswickers would be inadvertently punished for earning a good credit score because they would share risk with applicants who have poor credit."

Porter wrote that a number of TransUnion's insurance company clients have repeatedly indicated that the use of credit scores afford them the ability to deliver discounted premiums to an average of two-thirds of their clients.

Porter said consumers should continue to be allowed to voluntarily provide this information as a means of accessing lower insurance premiums.

"Good public policy should reward those New Brunswickers who have, through responsible credit management, earned the chance to reduce the cost of their premiums and save their hard-earned money," he wrote.

Consumers' Association of Canada president Bruce Cran also sent a letter to the New Brunswick government expressing similar concerns.

"By effectively taking away this freedom from consumers, the Government of New Brunswick is putting in place a set of rules and conditions that make it impossible for consumers who have good credit history to benefit in the form of lower premiums," he wrote. "This is contrary to the principle that good public policy should reward - not punish - those New Brunswickers who have, through responsible credit management, earned the chance to reduce the cost of their premiums and save their hard-earned money."

Finding the Right Home Insurance for your Home

Choosing house insurance is an important part of being a home owner, much like many of the other expenses you will have when you own your own home, what you pay for home insurance is not cast in stone. There will always be ways to find more affordable insurance for your home, without having to spend hours and hours of your time trying to find the most affordable insurance. It is important that you do not sacrifice your coverage for the price you pay, but fortunately with the miracle of the Internet you will be able to find affordable insurance that still provides the excellent coverage that you need.

The biggest way to save money on your home insurance is to not assume that all insurances are the same and to simply take the first policy that is offered to you. May companies overprice their insurance for homes so it is up to you to get several quotes not only so you know what insurance should cost but so you will know a good deal on your home insurance when you see one.

Another way to save money on your home insurance is to keep track of the insurance that you have on your home. Some insurance may not be necessary for your home, and dropping that insurance could potentially save you hundreds of dollars every year. If you insure the contents of your home and most people do, you should keep track of this as well, if the value of your possessions changes you may find that you are over insured or underinsured for the value of your contents.

Getting insurance quotes is always the best place to start when it comes to your home insurance, not only will this give you some numbers and coverage to work with, but you can begin the task of researching what insurance company is right for you. You should never look just at the cost of your insurance as your determining factor, while always an important considerations; cost should be secondary in your final decision for home insurance.

You will want to look at the coverage that is being offered as well as the overall value of that coverage. Insurance is sometimes cheap for a reason, which means that you should look at what you are getting for the premium cost, to see if it really is a good deal. Hand in hand with this you should also look at the individual insurance companies this is also a very important part of the process.

Not all insurance companies are the same, some may give you a great deal of difficult in paying out when you need to make a claim while others may cancel your insurance with the first claim you make. While this is very common in the insurance industry not all insurance companies have these issues, so it will be up to you to do the research to find the company that that has the best reputation. Surprisingly it is some of the biggest and most common companies that have the biggest issues so do not use size or popularity as your only guide to finding the right insurance company for you.

Once you have a handle on cost, coverage and reputation you will need to balance these three factors, your decision may surprise you at this point and you may find that the insurance that you end up buying is not the one that you would have figured on before you started this process. This is why it is so important to do your homework carefully and to ensure that you have all the facts. Sure this will take you some time, but if it is going to save you hundreds of dollars every year you will find it is more than worth the cost.

Fortunately because of the Internet this process takes much less time that it would have taken 15 years ago, then you would have had to visit agent after agent, and work much harder to get all the information you needed. You may still have made the wrong choice even then because reviews were not as easy to get then as they are now.

Your process starts by visiting a quote site that can offer you several quotes with one form. At Home Insurance Quotes you will find that the quote process is simple and will yield you plenty of results from which to being your work. We offer you information on how to choose the right insurance in addition to our easy and fast to use quote form.

Home insurance holders will benefit from new Green Deal

Property owners holding home insurance policies and seeking to radically reduce their monthly outgoings and improve how environmentally friendly their properties are will no doubt be interested to hear that a new initiative has been announced by the Coalition Government which may do exactly that.

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Chris Huhne recently unveiled The Green Deal, which pledges to equip home owners with cavity wall or loft insulation so as to make the residence more eco-friendly, reduce the need for heating and, naturally, the monthly costs involved with keeping the property at a comfortable temperature.

Mr Huhne stated that The Green Deal is being rolled out to assist with the offsetting of hikes in gas prices that have been highlighted by suppliers in 2010. The current economic conditions mean an increase in monthly costs for households, particularly in the cold winter months, could have a significant negative effect.

Home owners have been told that all renovation work will be performed by accredited professionals from reputable organisations and funds shall be pooled to make sure the finest materials are used.

Audrey Gallacher, head of energy at Consumer Focus, said the initiative could well give access to reduced energy bills for low-income households, stating: “It has the potential to help consumers to access a range of measures to stop their houses from leaking heat, without being put off by high upfront costs.”

Home insurance holders should look over the details of The Green Deal and see whether the initiative can provide them with assistance in making their property more environmentally friendly.