Oct 1, 2013 | News
A series of 5 new Homeowners Insurance Policy courses designed for insurance agents and adjusters has been launched by ILS. These online insurance training courses, each good for one continuing education credit hour, are accredited in BC, Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan.
While modern home insurance is seen as an essential part of a typical Canadian family’s insurance coverage, that hasn’t always been case.
Up until the mid-1960s, homeowners rarely purchased the insurance coverages we take for granted today. In fact, many homeowners purchased coverage only for their dwelling, believing their belongings had little value. Also, as no one expected to be sued, many homeowners resisted all efforts to sell them personal liability insurance. The Homeowners Forms of the 1970s helped to solve the problems of inadequate coverages and limits. These forms included all three coverages and more. However, insurers still had a problem: people were under-valuing their homes. This problem took many years to solve and it was not until the 1980s that valuation guides were required to be completed for all new applications for a homeowners policy.
The five-part series, written by Steve Hawrishok, includes courses covering:
1. Property Coverages Agreements & Definitions
2. Property Coverages A-D
3. Extensions of Coverage
4. Insured Perils & Exclusions
5. Basis of Claim Payment & Other Terms
All five courses are now included in the general and adjuster continuing education course catalogues at no extra charge to ILS subscribers. They can also be purchased individually.
Go online at www.ilscorp.com or call us a 1-800-404-2211 to join the more than 23,000 other Canadian insurance professionals who are learning with ILScorp every year.
Sep 11, 2013 | News
Residents of Atlantic Canada are being urged to review their home insurance policies ahead of what is expected to be a challenging storm season.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada says homeowners should review their insurance policies before storms hit so they know what they are—and aren’t—covered for.
Amanda Dean, the Atlantic vice-president of the IBC, told the St. John’s Telegram newspaper that the bureau — the national trade association for home, car and business insurers — commissioned a report last year that suggests severe weather events will get steadily worse during the next 40 years.
“For the Atlantic region, including Newfoundland and Labrador, that means more hurricanes,” she said. “And if some of the predictions we’ve been hearing, certainly from meteorologists… this is going to be quite the hurricane season coming upon us this fall. We want to talk a bit about what consumers can do in advance of having to put in such a claim, so things you can do, knowing what you’re covered for, knowing your home insurance policy.”
Insurance brokers and agents are trained to walk people through their policy, Dean said. And it is important to know what your policy covers.
Dean used the example of sewage backups as something that’s covered by some policies, but not by others.
“Heavy amounts of rain can fall in a short period of time,” she said. “That overwhelms any system, and sewage and other waste water can back up into homes through the drains in the floors, the toilets, the sinks.”
Dean said it isn’t about encouraging people to buy more insurance, but about making sure they have coverage that fits their needs.
“It’s your possession. Let’s be honest: buying a home is probably the most expensive investment that we’re going to make in our lives,” she said. “Some folks, if you’ve had the mortgage paid off for years and you don’t have insurance, just think of what could happen financially. You could potentially be ruined during a hurricane. A tree limb tears off, comes through your roof and causes an extensive amount of damage. Where are you going to get the money from to repair that home?”
Since insurance is essentially a pool of money that might have many people drawing from it, said Dean, it’s in everyone’s interests to try to keep claims down so it’s there when it’s needed in times of major disasters, such as 2010’s hurricane Igor or the recent Alberta floods.
For more information about home insurance, contact your local licensed insurance agent or broker.
Insurance agents in Canada are continually upgrading their knowledge, with continuing education training for insurance agents being mandatory in most provinces, and they are your best source for insurance information.
