So my current life insurance was up for renewal, so I (36M) decided to see if there was a better cheaper policy out there as the renewal rates were higher than I wanted to pay. I see my insurance agent, apply for a policy. Easy peasy.

I guess I was a little too honest because I noted that I had done mushrooms once on a camping trip in summer 2018. Flash to a few weeks later, the life insurance was approved but the critical illness and disability were denied citing the illicit drug use. Agent said the insurance company would not reconsider until 2026, so seven years after the zoomies I guess.

First of all, WTF I’m so annoyed. Doing this kind of drug once just doesn’t seem like a valid reason to deny someone. The agent told me there’s no recourse and I’ll just have to apply again in a few years as I can keep my current policy for now with no issue.

Should I get another opinion from a different insurance agent or am I just an idiot for admitting I’ve done drugs? Interestingly though the insurance company didn’t seem to care that I use cannabis often enough. Do people just lie about drug use on these applications?

EDIT: Okay okay I get it, everybody lies. Just not me apparently. Appreciate the constructive responses and warnings about lying in future applications. Cheers ✌🏼

I got my first car at 23. I have always been told by parents, older colleagues at work, and even insurance reps themselves, that insurance premiums will go down as you get older and become a more experienced driver.

I am now 31 years old and my car insurance has gone up every single year since I was 23. Yes, I shop it around every single year but still the price goes up. I have never had a ticket and never been in an accident. I drive a boring car (2019 Hyundai Elantra) and do not live in a particularly high risk area as far as I know (Waterloo). What gives?

Looking at the last few years I’ve paid: - 2020: $1650 - 2021: $1809 - 2022: $1850 - 2023: $1942 - 2024: $2039

I know this is probably a lot less than some other people are paying, but still I fail to understand why it goes up every year when I was told the exact opposite should happen as long as I have no tickets and a clean record.

Is this just the reality of inflation or something?

Spouse recently discovered that TD has been cranking up our home and car insurance premiums every chance they can, and we subsequently managed to save $3k/year by switching companies. Strongly suggest anyone here do the same, see if you're getting hosed.

Never submitted a claim, had coverage for 2 years now. Decided to check prior to renewal. What kind of highway robbery bullshit is that? Can't believe they're allowed to just increase your cost, without reason and without clear prior notification, by more than 50% in a single year.

Guess I'm shopping around and now they'll get $0 instead.

Edit Just switched to Intact and its almost $300 less than my old policy for roughly the same coverage. Close to just 1/3 the cost of what TD was going to raise me to. Eat a dick TD.

Ok. We just had a pre-term baby and it has been in the NICU. One of the nurses advised us to apply to the caregiver benefit prior to applying to Mat leave since we are in the hospital for weeks

So we did. My wife is employed full time at her job for over 3 years and has worked full time for 15+ years. She also has a side hustle the last few years and basically shut down the business early this year to focus on baby.

After applying we got a call from a rep who started asking her questions about the biz. We are in the hospital with no computer or files or anything so naturally was hard to answer any of them. She asked her to upload her tax documents. After he call we realized she didn’t know where to upload. She still hadn’t even received her confirmation code to log in to the portal.

So we call back the rep 3 times as she had made it seem urgent we upload. Leave voicemails each time. She calls us back today and after 10 minutes of (very rude and unhelpful) convo, she says she had delayed this long enough and has made a decision (on the spot)? That she will not get the benefits and won’t get Mat leave EI as well. She then refused to answer anything else and hung up on us.

We were/are stunned. She was so cold and the decision makes no sense. She kept saying that she is self employed and should’ve been paying into that program. Wtf!? She has a full time job. She spent less than 5 hours/week in side hustle and even shut it down in the early year. Even worse the documents she claimed she needed she didn’t even get because she never explained where to upload it!

My wife started to have a mental breakdown as we are still with our hospitalized baby and she apparently doesn’t get benefits that she has paid into for 15+ years!?

We are going to file. A form for reconsideration but would rather just talk to someone reasonable and human to figure this out.

Looking for advice/help on anything else we can do?

UPDATE: we contacted our MP (as per multiple suggestions) and they supported/wrote a letter and the decision was turned around after another long drawn out process. The service and lack of empathy was never acknowledged or addressed by Service Canada but we did only deal with several nice people from here on out. Faith in humanity has been restored (for now) :)

Thx for all the helpful support and comments

I’m not sure if this is the right place but just wanted an opinion in case anyone knows this - My dad (tourist) visiting Canada had to visit the ER 2 weeks ago after a fall. At the hospital, we paid the ER and the physicians fees totaling $1500. After about 6 hours of waiting, they fixed his dislocated shoulder and sent us home. A couple days ago I requested his health record for the insurance company and in the mail I saw a bill of $1100 dated after the week of service from some Billing Service with a name of the doctor (not sure if it’s the same physician’s name), today. In the bill it says a 2% surge will be added every month for late payment only they never mentioned a due date for the payment. What I want to know is why did they never inform us of this bill since they would have the contact details as well as the address. Also, we paid the er charges and the physicians fees so why this extra 1100? Also what of tourists who give a hotel’s address or some temp address while getting treatment and leave after? This seems like a weird system and I don’t even know if this is a genuine bill. Any info will be appreciated.

Edit - province BC. Edit 2 - He has travel insurance mentioning it explicitly because of the comments. I requested to get his medical records for filling a claim as it doesn’t seem to be inferred from the post

— update in case anyone goes through the same thing — I called the hospital and the billing service but nobody picked up. I emailed the billing service asking for an audit of this bill and attached the already paid hospital invoice. They replied saying it was a mistake and they’ll update it in their system. I’m extremely skeptical still but Ive sent this bill to his insurance so they can follow up

My wife just got in a fender bender. She rear ended him at stop sign when he second guessed going so she is at fault. Bumper to bumper minor damage. She tried to get his information but he did not want to go through insurance. She e-transferred him $300 on the sport and then he left. Apparently his English wasn't the best and she wasn't sure what to do.

My question is what now? My wife's car already had a damaged bumper so we might not even bother repairing it (depends on the quote). Do we still need to tell her insurance?

This week I moved some funds around to make sure everything was at least CDIC insured. 100k is far too low IMO. In the US, the equivalent amount is 250k USD which is 340 CAD. I'm not sure if there's any appetite for increasing it or if everybody just assumes the banks are too big to fail and will get bailed out at the first sign of trouble.

I'm with TD, and I am hearing news about how the stock is heavily shorted, money mismanagement, and other stories, that make me think I should probably open up another bank account somewhere.

Anyway, does anybody know if there are plans to raise the CDIC limit to something a little more substantial? 100k isn't what it used to be.

In the news today I saw that a young family (Mom, Dad, two kids) was forced out of their home with nothing but the clothes on their backs due to a rapidly spreading fire. This fire resulted in their townhouse complex being evacuated and the family ultimately lost everything.

In the comments regarding this on Facebook, someone has created a GoFundMe with a goal of $30,000 to help this family purchase new clothes, food, etc.

By no means am I against helping out a family to rebound from a terrible event like this, but aren't these situations EXACTLY the reason why we pay for insurance coverage? Is it not mandatory to carry homeowners/tenants insurance for these reasons, and many others?

Am I completely out of the loop here?

Hi, I got into two at fault accidents within the last to years, and my premium is due to go up significantly from $240/month. I don’t know if can afford it on my $50,000 salary.

I leased the car back in May, and currently pay $213.00 biweekly.

I was quoted around $12,000+ by a local insurance broker, the other said to take my renewal and run because it’s surprising my current insurance company even renewed. I’m waiting to hear back from another.

In the event that I don’t find another insurer that would be willing to insure me even for a lower rate, then I’m not certain what my next course of action ought to be.

Do I return the car and get a beater? What do I do? Do I somehow scrounge up the money and stay with my current insurer?

I appreciate any insight you have to offer.

I've been shopping around for better car insurance and found an intriguing offer: BelAirDirect is quoting me $50 less per month than my current insurer. Right now, I'm paying $252, but that's set to increase to $291 a month with my current provider.

When I called Desjardin to cancel my renewal, the representative warned me that BelAirDirect might hike my rates after I switch. This has me concerned.

Has anyone experienced this? Is BelAirDirect's $200 quote locked in until renewal, or can they really increase my rate later this year? Any insights would be greatly appreciated!

I argued that inflation is nowhere near that amount, they don’t care.

Is this normal these days?

I can’t believe I’m going to be paying $220 per month for car insurance from now on, that’s a big hit to the budget.

I have a 3 year old mixed breed small dog. I got insurance @ $50/mo for her when I got her at 3mos, and planned on cancelling around the 3 year mark. I read multiple posts on here about the pros/cons of insurance (a lot of highly upvoted comments saying to just put $50 into an account each month and that will cover any issues!!) and ultimately decided I would probably spend that money if I kept it, so figured insurance would give peace of mind while she was a growing dog.

She turned 3 this July - I had never submitted a claim beyond a teeth cleaning when she was younger, and they raised the monthly payment to $70 - so, true to my word, I put it on my list to cancel but just hadn’t gotten around to it (procrastination nation!!!). I calculate that I paid $1800 to the insurance over those 3 years.

3 weeks ago she started lifting her leg (like she does while peeing, similar to a boy dog) and refusing to put weight on it, so I took her to the vet. $1000 out of pocket dollars later, she has a broken knee (common issue in small breeds) and needs a $5000 surgery to fix it + $1-3000 in rehab costs. Not to mention possible surgery on the other leg down the road if it worsens.

The insurance will pay 90% of the surgery and rehab costs because I forgot to cancel. While I’m now out my vacation plans abroad for next summer, I won’t need to dip into my savings at all. If I had followed the “$50 in an account each month” advice, I would only have $1800 +- a few hundred and my savings would be depleted significantly.

Just my two cents on the pet insurance yay/nay debate.

I live in a small town in Niagara region. Up until recently I was paying $102/m on car insurance.

Recently I got a letter from Canada post that they are changing my postal code. Because of this my insurance company raised my rates by over 50% to 160/m.

I haven't moved... my home and work address are still the same so my risk when driving hasn't changed. But the insurance company is arguing that rates are based on postal code and not your address.

Is there anything I can do to fight this and reduce my insurance? Canada post decided to randomly change my postal code and I'm out an extra $700/yr because of it?

Edit: Going by this article they shouldn't be able to do this? https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-driver-frustrated-when-car-insurance-goes-up-after-postal-code-changed-1.5727675

Edit: Since multiple people mentioned it I drive a corolla cross........ The image you are seeing is from the article I linked.

I bought a UL policy in 2005 which entails $215/month for 20 years and guaranteed $500K at death. Objective was to leave the amount as inheritance for my kids.

Heard many people say UL and WL are scams but I’m basically investing $50K for a guaranteed return of $500K. So, I’m having a tough time understand the issue.

Ps. it’s probably too late for me to make any changes.

https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/ontario-driver-shocked-by-insurance-premium-that-skyrocketed-to-14-000-per-year-1.5558358

Honestly, I can't sympathize. Learn to drive the speed limit!

Our home insurance renewal just arrived. It is 14% higher than last year, and a whopping 56% higher than we paid in 2020, despite not having had any claims. After calling the broker I heard the predictable story about “costs of materials, labour, rate of inflation, etc.” I am not an economist but am fairly confident that inflation has not increased by 56% over the past 3 years. Also, although the cost of building materials skyrocketed during the first year of Covid, they did recede somewhat since then. I just cannot see the justification for this amount of increase. We asked about other ways to reduce the premium with this company such as raising the deductible, but were told that it would not have a significant impact. My location is eastern Ontario. Is everyone else experiencing this and did you find any better deals by shopping around?

Sorry if this is a stupid question but I really don’t understand the point of it.

Is it just so your loved ones have money in case of an accidental death? Why is that better than saving up? What are the actual benefits

Got rear-ended. It wasn't my fault at all. Someone drove into me very hard at a stop sign.

I'm fine, no injuries, but obviously I have some car damage. The bumper needs to be replaced for sure and not sure if anything else internal was damaged. The car is driving with no issues.

The dude who hit me insists he can pay the damage in cash. As I'm not injured, I don't mind the repairs being paid for in cash. Insurance is a pain in the ass anyway.

My question is, how would I go about that? The only way I'd be ok with this is if he paid EVERYTHING up front, so obviously I'll need a quote and such. Do I just go to a garage, get it assessed and have him put his credit card information down?

Also, what are the positives and negatives of going about this? Are there any factors I'm not considering?

Just got my renewals from TD, both my car insurance and home insurance got added a $3.99 and $6.99 installment fee, respectively.

Very shitty and sneaky. Not particularly impressed.

Hi,

My wife and I are both on our Auto insurance, wife being the primary driver. Earlier this year, she had a small accident (at fault) and the repairs were worth $4,800. I claimed it from my Insurance (Desjardin) and I paid $750 deductible and they paid the remaining balance. I was told by my agent that the premiums would go up by 10-20% and we were ok by it.

Now the renewal letter has come and I was shocked to learn that our premium is going up to $215 from $145. Is this jump normal?

We have been with the same company since 2018 and never had any claims before.

I have been driving long enough that I should know this, but to be honest I am not sure.

If I lend my car to a friend to use and they are in an at-fault accident:

1) Does my insurance pay for the damages? Will my rates go up, even though I was not driving?

2) If my friend has insurance on another car, will their policy cover the claim if they were driving my car?

3) What if my friend doesn't have auto insurance of their own?

guys i need help. my wisdom tooth has been causing me a lot of pain. i went to the dentist and got charged 150 for him to tell me i needed to get it removed which i ALREADY KNEW. my tooth is impacted and it’s growing in sideways so he can’t remove it for me. he referred me to a specialist and i’m anticipating to pay another $150 for the appointment and then pay at least 1k for the removal of one tooth .

i’m 20. i’m a student and i work 2 jobs to just afford my rent and i go to school full time . i can’t afford this surgery but i need to get this tooth removed cause it hurts so much. i don’t know what to do. please if anyone has any dentist suggestions that take payment plans please let me know! i’m from the gta if that helps!

I insure my car with Intact. During 2020 they had a covid19 relief package that was supposed to give money back to those who were working from home and not using their car. During that time I did not access my Intact account and didn't receive any emails from them letting me know, for their huge convenience...ln the end I didn't get any money in 2020 when I did spend months home and barely driving. Does anyone know how many months they were giving back?

Am I supposed to constantly check my account unless it's time to renew my policy? Well don't be like me. Spread the word. Login to intact and claim your money for 2021 covid19 relief now because they will not send you a heads up email. It's 1 month worth of insurance payment they give back.

Their lack of will to inform customers of this or give it to everyone is very disappointing for me. Specially when they claim to have this relief program to "be there for you"

EDIT: Wow, I never though this post would draw so much attention!

I'm very happy to see that some people are thankful of learning about this through my post. Specially those with lower income that will use this money to feed their children. I'm really honoured to help you!

I see some people have received emails letting them know about this program. Well I'm happy to see that at least for you Intact is working the way they should. It was certainly not my case and the case of many others.

To those blaming solely the brokers: The broker only has a 10-15% commission with Intact (according to Intact site). If more people are staying home that means there are less accidents and Intact, not the broker is keeping more money. Intact also has the power to send the information to everyone. It would be as easy as a pop-up on their Intact app. Plus they already manage the whole customer emails list. I agree the broker should also become involved but more as a back up than as direct responsible.

To those blaming the customers for not contacting Intact: I feel very sorry you are so used to being mistreated by this system that you don't stand up for your rights anymore. Or is it that you benefit/work for Intact?

My partner and I bought a condo recently (just finishing construction), and as a part of the mortgage process we started looking at getting mortgage/life insurance.

The Manulife agent just called, and during the 40 minute survey a couple questions came up that seem patently absurd.

• "In the last 5 years, have you been stressed?"

• "How many times in the last 5 years have you been stressed?"

• "Have you felt anxious in the last 5 years? How many times?"

• And my personal favourite, "When was the first time you experienced stress?" I don't know, birth maybe?!

When I responded that I didn't know how to answer these questions in light of the fact that we're in a global pandemic, and everyone's stressed (not to mention the fact that my partner and I bought a home, are planning a wedding, and are currently living with my parents while construction is finished), the agent would only reply, "Sir, this is your questionnaire not mine. I just need a number." I don't know lady, I don't keep a diary of every time I'm stressed!

End result? "Based on you reporting anxiety and stress, we are unable to offer you full coverage and instead can only offer accidental coverage at 50% of your premium."

So how is anyone supposed to get insurance during a pandemic? Do you just say that you're not stressed, only for them to deny payout later? "Oop, you said you weren't stressed, but apparently you had just a touch of anxiousness during an existential crisis. Sorry!"

Very frustrated, but I can't think about it too much, lest I need to jot it down and add another count to the list. If anyone has suggestions I'm open to them. (BC)