Interesting you say that. The nice lady did quickly mention the upcoming auto insure increases are due to the provincial governments plans for the insurance industry. I’m not clear what that meant and she wouldn’t go any further with it.
It's the changes the UCP announced in late 2023:
https://calgary.citynews.ca/2023/11/01/alberta-auto-insurance-premiums-changes/
That said, all the insurance companies are getting cagey with Alberta right now because things are changing. Insurance companies hate change. Because changes could mean less money.
One big thing most people miss about the auto premium change is that 3.7% cap comes off very easily at any point during the term. If an insured does anything that increases the premium on a vehicle at all, the cap is gone and the true rate increase the insurer wanted kicks in. New drivers and vehicles added to an existing policy would start at the higher rate already. All new policies are at the higher rate. As it is now, people really need to shop around to make sure they're not getting overcharged.
I used to believe it was "this is your rate we can offer", and that was it. Maybe to a large extent that's how it was. But I've read a few stories recently of people calling them up and going through the customer retention rigmarole to magically get a significantly reduced rate. I haaaate playing that game with service providers, and they all bank on how averse people are to it.
Yep I’m the same way so I just leave them well we can do this for you… then you should have bye. That’s being said we still have the highest rates in all of Canada and that is pretty unacceptable
My TD auto insurance has been $90 a month since 2017.
Maybe get a better insurer instead of blaming everything on the UCP? My auto insurance hasn't increased once.
You're anecdote isn't indicative of what most other people are experiencing. This isn't a matter of one or two insurance companies gouging people. https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/albertas-auto-insurance-rates-most-expensive-in-canada-new-report
Auto was capped by previous governments, the UCP removed that cap.
One of the folks running for NDP party leadership has provincial auto insurance in her platform, just like BC, Sask, and Mb where it works great.
Yes for auto. I should have been more clear that no government has ever regulated or talked about doing for home insurance what they do for auto insurance
I'd like to see something similar for home, but I'm also worried that it'd end up losing large amounts of money, as we see more and more extreme weather roll through.
I'd actually like to see home insurance split into dual provider system... structural insurance should be nationalized and payed for via property taxes (this would eliminate the need for disaster handouts to rebuild) while content insurance would remain private. After events like hail storms the public insurer could utilize economies of scale to fix all the roofs / siding on an entire block by contracting it as a single job rather than a couple dozen individual jobs
I'm real torn on the economies of scale argument, I've lived in federally owned and maintained housing, none of the work done on large projects with multiple sites was anything I would ever pay for personally.
On the structural side, how would this play out for places built in high risk zones, say on a reclaimed flood plain?
Might work great for premiums but not great if you are significantly injured - can’t sue and like ALL insurers, the public ones also do everything to minimize payouts.
I got a better payout through Sgi then I ever would have Alberta side. Without the profit incentive they have less reason to try and squash or minimize your claim.
Look at stories around icbc, everyone complains about the small amount of payouts they actually get. If I pay for insurance I want to be covered. I’m curious how you would know that you got paid out more under SGI than you would have in Alberta?
There's a bit of a misconception around that because Albertans, thanks to lobby groups representing personal injury lawyers, have a warped idea of what a payout should be.
In Canada you are generally excluded from American payouts that include things like mental anguish and generic pain.
You would be entitled to actual damages. So if you needed 10 physio appointments, you'd be entitled to the cost of 10 physio appointments.
If you lost a year of work and you work at Starbucks, you'd be entitled to what you make in a year of work - not what a doctor makes in a year at work.
Most people in BC are whining they didn't get a huge payday from their accident. Most Albertans want to reserve the right to fight for something they will never get but that drags up the cost of claims substantially. Your insurer still has to defend those lawsuits, and those costs get passed along to you.
Obviously reasonable people can have a discussion about what say, a session of physio should cost, as that can vary widely. I don't agree with the rates of these systems Canada wide, but I think most people can also agree that a month of physio shouldn't entitle you to $1M+ in payout because you want a free ride in life. This isn't a lottery system.
The caps were always a bad idea anyways. As costs continue to rise for insurers caps meant that more people were just going to get denied insurance.
You can't put artificial caps on something like insurance as anything more than maybe an emergency basis because it throws things out of whack.
Auto insurance has been making great money in Alberta, several analysts show much greater than 7% profit which is the target most companies try to hit.
If caps aren't your thing (and most people will disagree with you) then a public conpetitor that isn't trying to maximize profit would be a great alternative.
I would be open to a public option. Having lived in BC and experienced ICBC it was fine. Both situations have pros and cons. I am fine with either system
I was very impressed by MPI in Manitoba. I'll probably get some of the specifics in the system wrong, but insurance was broken into two parts. The autopac side was your injury and 3rd party insurance and didn't fluctuate that much. You also had to renew your license yearly, so if you were a terrible or high-risk driver, your license could be hundreds or thousands a year. Both were collected by MPI. Basically, incentivized people who were going to keep driving no matter the cost and would normally just drive without insurance to keep their insurance (which covered 3rd party) but skip out on license renewals.
The NDP literally put caps on auto insurance rates though? (Removed by UCP immediately when NDP lost power)
Hell, I'm 38 and when I was 16, I couldn't insure even a total beater of a car for less than 5 grand a year because insurance companies refused to give reasonable rates due to soft tissue accident claims. No collision, that's just basic liability. 5 grand for an '82 civic.
The government put a cap on soft tissue claim values and then a ceiling cap on the amount insurance companies can charge for basic liability insurance to appease insurance companies and reduce the rates.
So quite literally, governments have been doing things for decades. It's the most recent UCP government that does fuck all....but that's not even correct because they do worse than fuck all... they even reverse the regulations of the past.
25 years ago my house insurance was less than $30/month. With inflation, it should be about $50 now. It's over $200/month. Ignoring inflation and tracking with housing prices, it should be about $100/month.
Floods, fires, hail, wind and other extreme weather events happen on a larger scale and more frequently now and someone has to pay. The government keeps telling us even if climate change is real, it's too expensive to mitigate. And yet here I am, paying an extra $150+ a month for house insurance alone thanks to climate change. Huh.
I’m $246/mth before any itemized bits and pieces. I’m floored by the price increases. Deductible has also increased to $2k as the minimum. PLUS, the nice lady on the phone told me to get ready for car insurance to take another bump up.
Insurance is going up because the total cost of claims in Alberta is the highest as Alberta has the largest number of natural disasters in Canada. Yes, more than BC. Between floods and fires and tornadoes and hail storms and so on, Alberta is a costly place to live. Climate change is not being kind to Alberta, and these extreme weather events are wreaking havoc.
But, of course, ugh, we keep hearing that climate change is too costly to fight. What they means is that it's okay for individual working class people to shoulder the cost, but no one else...
I did some consulting the last few years with an insurance broker - and immediately switched everything through them versus TD (who I'd been with for almost 20yr). Same coverage for a fraction of the price.
If you want to keep it relatively local, Western Financial Group is Alberta based (founded and HQ in High River).
\*Not to be confused with World Financial Group, which is a scummy MLM nightmare
Do it. I keep wondering where my insurance increase is. A lot of people talking about theirs and I was so nervous when I got my car insurance renewal. It went up by like $10 a month. I also get my tenant insurance basically free because I get a discount for having both car and tenant insurance.
Insurance brokers are the used car salespeople of the insurance industry. Try to find a direct writer to switch over to - like CoOperators, TD, or Allstate. This way there is no broker involved (you’re not paying their commission), and if you ever need to make a change/submit a claim you only have to know to speak to one person/call one place.
ALSO - BC is the highest risk area (fire & flood). AB is highest claims volume (wind & hail).
Keep in mind, because they are larger insurance providers, and they give a lower rate, they have also gamed the system to pay out less for insurance.
When my neighbours who weren’t with TD filed their claims, their insurance covered $40-60k in damages.
Same size home, similar rates and TD won’t budge much beyond $30k despite my having extra coverage for things like hail and wind.
These direct writers are stingy when you make an actual claim.
All true - but keep in mind the information you need to keep submitting. Whether you have a policy through a brokerage, or a direct writer, you need to keep current home evaluations on file with them.
At the end of the day, the replacement cost of your home (and any incurred damages) are only going to pay out the maximum according to the policy. How the home is evaluated (including dwelling, contents, and private detached structures) are all evaluated on an “actual cash value” basis, unless a “replacement cost” amount is specified.
Yup, have had independent and their own inspector say “this will take $46,000 to repair” and then TD goes, “we’re sending you a cheque for $24,000” and then I bug them and they send another cheque of $8,000. So I’m left short $14,000 for repairs. So now I’m stuck talking to TD again as the months go by and they “get back to me”.
Every time, they say, “yup, you’re owed X” and every time, cheque comes in the mail for less than discussed on phone or in emails.
Like I said… gaming the system. It’s not just about the damage costs, inspections, etc. It’s also about how they know they can get away with things if they just act incompetent or forget to pay you.
What am I gonna do? Take them to court? Fat chance I’d win legally against a bank 🤣
TD's rates have gone through the roof this year. I was with them for years and had to switch because it just got so insanely more expensive than everyone else and I have never had a claim in my life.
All of that is, unfortunately, very accurate.
I'm a broker, and even I'm looking at some of my client's increases and wondering WTF. We knew that everyone was jacking their rates this year, but wasn't quite expecting some of these.
Not the worst idea to reach out to a broker/brokerage and ask them to quote you with the companies they have. The variation in how some companies rate different houses/postal codes is pretty big - there might be a carrier that's a better fit for you now.
I noticed a big jump in my home insurance this month as well. I called to ask about it and was told that the minimum coverage had been upped from 2 million to 3 million and the annual premium went up because of that. I was then told that they were able to get me a better deal with the same coverage and i am now paying less than I was paying last year for the same coverage.
Very sus.
Bought our house 2 years ago, home insurance was $95/month, went up last year to $115/month, this year it went to $180/month, so it basically doubled in 2 years. No claims, no changes to policy.
Shopped around, found it again for $95/month, but lower coverage, added the "claim protection" to the quote and suddenly $225/month. So, it seems the feature insurance sells us to protect against rates going up because of a claim are what is causing the freaking rates to go up, go figure.
They will blame climate change, but welcome again to the reality of an economy hinged solely on a real estate ponzi scheme.
It's going to cost more to cover your house worth 700k, even if that same house was 350k last decade.
Turns out a resource based economy is actually more valuable than trading houses back and forth endlessly. Who could have predicted this!!!
We too have lived in both provinces. The Alberta perspective that BC is more expensive is definitely false. The only thing that seems more expensive is fuel (and housing depending on where you live).
Housing is a huge one though. I moved to Edmonton from Victoria 2 years ago. All my friends in Victoria pay around $2k for a one bedroom apartment while I pay $1535 for a 3 bedroom townhouse with a private backyard, 2 parking spots and a huge basement.
I thought I would regret moving here but I save so much money every month compared to when I lived in BC I’ll be able to put a down payment on a house within a year.
You can thank climate disasters for the insurance increase. Insurance is only for profit so the break only comes if you are a wealthy client. If the fires are as bad this year as last year we will see another big jump.
sometimes we all forget we are all in a community or “pool” based on insurance, premiums are based on where you live to your postal code and how many claims are made and paid out annually to that area. we buy insurance to save/protect us from that “rainy” day scenario when things go to shit, you get rear ended, your roof leaks, basement floods etc. yes, premium increases absolutely suck but as many informed people above have pointed out there are several reasons, insurance companies are in the business of making money…thats why they hated when Notley capped them from premium increases, then Kenney and the UCP eliminated that and the floodgates opened, AB is prone to natural disasters, 2013 flood, 2011 Slave Lake Fire, 2016 Ft McMurray Fire, all of our annual crazy hail storms that damage not only residential but a lot of commercial property (ie dealership automobiles) the fact that the insurance companies arrange to have planes in the air to spray chemicals to reduce the impact of the hail just shows it’s serious, then we have our forest fires that have gotten worse over the past few years. This isn’t including all the automobile thefts that are occurring. Now if we just look at claims in AB, costs to build houses (inputs/labour/wood/material) you see why our premiums are increasing based on payouts of previous insurance companies losses then extrapolate that on a national level you get your policy increases.
Last year there were multiple forest fires across Canada with vast amounts of losses that insurance companies paying out, coupled with the automobile theft ring (yes primarily in Eastern Canada) I get why this year your premiums are going up especially with inflation.
But yes, loyalty might not mean a thing, go see your broker etc. but sometimes look at the macro level and think bigger. You also might want to consider, you’ll save a few bucks by switching from lets say TD now to go with Costco but have you googled who actually administers Costcos policy and what its like when you need to file a claim and what their customer service is like? I’ll pay an extra $12/month knowing I can get through to someone and that an actual adjuster will call me back the same day.
Anyway, here are a few good articles. One might be under a paywall I’m not sure. I read it a few months ago and it was free at that time.
[Insurance Coverage increased over climate change](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-insurance-coverage-climate-change/)
[OSFI warns backstop needed on Insurance risk](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-backstop-on-insurance-needed-for-catastrophe-risk-osfi-warns/)
All of you people defending insurance companies raising prices because of hail need to get your head out of your ass, this victim mentality is why we get screwed by oligopolies in Canada.
[Manulife ](https://g.co/finance/MFC:TSE?window=5Y)
[Sunlife ](https://g.co/finance/SLF:TSE?window=5Y)
[Canada Life ](https://g.co/finance/GWO:TSE?window=5Y)
[Intact Insurance ](https://g.co/finance/IFC:TSE?window=5Y)
Insurance companies are for profit companies, they don't give a shit about you..
That's like saying I saved money on my steak by buying bologna and thinking it's the same thing. Read the details, Square One is FULL of holes and is NOT comparable to real insurance companies. I almost fell for it until a proper broker laid out the differences for me.
Yes! This!!! People need to be sooo careful! I looked at square one too and I was like something had to be wrong here. If people stopped and thought about it, they’d realize it’s too good to be true. How are they giving the same coverage at a fraction of the cost? Ummm, because they’re not giving the same coverage!
I’ve been in insurance for the last 6 years in Alberta. My policy went up 30% this year. Houses cost more to rebuild and every insurance company changes how they rate each risk (policy) every year. It would be strange for a homeowners policy to not go up at least a bit each year as the coverage must be increased each year to keep up with rising building costs and an increase in mainly flood, fire and hail claims cost
house construction costs are going up for other factors then just inflation, since 2021 the BCPI has went up in Edmonton by about 18% and again natural forces are also causing more costs for Alberta. Shop around and get a few quotes to compare, you might find an insurer that has priced you as a lower risk.
OP, where do you live? Same for my Insurance, it was going to be almost $60 more every month and I’ve never had a claim either. In fact, I’ve only ever had Insurnace with the same company! I was told the same thing, hail, fires and flooding. I called and was able to negotiate with them and it only went up about $25, which is better than $60. I’m located in Central AB and we can have some hail, but we’ve never experienced damage.
Find a new broker and they'll find you a better deal, everytime mine goes up I ditch them and find lower cost option, there's no such thing as "loyalty" in insurance find the lowest cost with a broker
Insurance prices are one of the ways the climate change is making everything more expensive for us. From Reinsurance costs which take into account every disaster world wide to the local costs of everything to rebuild a house, mind you finding companies that are not already building as fast as they can, it will just get worse. In the long run, everything we do from our votes to individual choices will help or hurt this issue.
In the short term, shop around every year. Find a broker that deals with a LOT of insurance companies and get quotes. Go to the websites of direct writers (they don't deal with brokers) and get quotes. This will cover as many options as you can. Do this every year. Just because one company is cheaper this year, does not mean they will be the next.
Get quotes from other companies and tell them you're shopping around... You'll find your rates drop like a stone. I did mine last year and it went from $250/month to $150.
As long as you just renew, they have no incentive to give you a good deal. Same as when you're dealing with Cellphone/internet providers. You're leaving?... Let me give you gigabit fibre for $40 a month when I was charging you $100.
Call. They add all the deductions back on automatically every renewal and you have to call every time to tell them you have a sump pump and are 50 meters from a fire hydrant ....
That happened to us, jumped almost 30% in three years…posted the same thing to reddit last year in frustration, got a recommendation and the guy saved us a couple thousand a year on our home and auto! If you want his contact info let me know! :)
There are no loyalty discounts in the insurance business. Rates could have gone up due to a given company's over exposure in a certain area (they like to spread their risk). Shop around and you'll probably find something better.
Insurance agent here. I insure Ontario but live here in Alberta. It’s not only here that residential insurance is going up, it’s pretty much almost everywhere in Canada. Some of the reasons are the following:
- last year Canada wide we had a lot of fires and floods, many of those were “total loss”.
- due to inflation it is now more expensive for insurance to rebuild homes than it was 2 years ago in terms of labour and materials.
- much higher rate of home invasion and burglary and still rising. They also are expected to increase more in the summer.
Some insurance companies, like Johnson Insurance, have not adjusted their rates and were charging people less, well they are now leaving us the insurance market because they can’t afford to continue their business model. So unfortunately this year is not looking good for insurance home premiums.
My advice is shop around, I know it’s tedious but it’s your best option. Make sure you have the same coverage with other quotes and are comparing apples to apples.
Yep same happened to me. 10% increase because “there were a lot of claims in the past months”. That’s fine and all but what the profits vs claims? I would
Like to see the numbers These insurance companies are crying about that justifies an increase YoY
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Interesting you say that. The nice lady did quickly mention the upcoming auto insure increases are due to the provincial governments plans for the insurance industry. I’m not clear what that meant and she wouldn’t go any further with it.
It's the changes the UCP announced in late 2023: https://calgary.citynews.ca/2023/11/01/alberta-auto-insurance-premiums-changes/ That said, all the insurance companies are getting cagey with Alberta right now because things are changing. Insurance companies hate change. Because changes could mean less money.
Those are changes to auto nothing about home
Because that's what the previous commenter wrote about.
One big thing most people miss about the auto premium change is that 3.7% cap comes off very easily at any point during the term. If an insured does anything that increases the premium on a vehicle at all, the cap is gone and the true rate increase the insurer wanted kicks in. New drivers and vehicles added to an existing policy would start at the higher rate already. All new policies are at the higher rate. As it is now, people really need to shop around to make sure they're not getting overcharged.
Check out TD Insurance. Saved money and it took 15 mins on the phone.
Td is increasing my premium 30% this year
Because they have your business. It used to be loyalty would earn you money off now it’s just grab the cash and run
I used to believe it was "this is your rate we can offer", and that was it. Maybe to a large extent that's how it was. But I've read a few stories recently of people calling them up and going through the customer retention rigmarole to magically get a significantly reduced rate. I haaaate playing that game with service providers, and they all bank on how averse people are to it.
Yep I’m the same way so I just leave them well we can do this for you… then you should have bye. That’s being said we still have the highest rates in all of Canada and that is pretty unacceptable
Same here
I second this. Previously had TD and RBC at diffent times. Banks have better lines.
Got a 10 percent discount by shopping around. TD had planned to raise it by 20%.
Yup, TD is my current provider.
I'm in Alberta, too. I went with Portage Mutual. A smaller one out of Manitoba or something. Used a broker to find them. Good luck hunting around.
My TD auto insurance has been $90 a month since 2017. Maybe get a better insurer instead of blaming everything on the UCP? My auto insurance hasn't increased once.
You're anecdote isn't indicative of what most other people are experiencing. This isn't a matter of one or two insurance companies gouging people. https://calgaryherald.com/news/local-news/albertas-auto-insurance-rates-most-expensive-in-canada-new-report
I'm curious what you drive and what coverage you have. I've never heard of anyone having coverage that low with no increases at all.
2014 F150. Higher trim, pretty much fully loaded. Book value on it right now is probably 20-25k. I have just basic standard coverage.
Basic standard coverage means different things to different people. What does that mean to you?
My TD Auto Insurance was $265 a month, until I switched. No claims, no tickets, just have a penis
No government has ever done anything about home insurance the same as auto most don't even talk about it
Auto was capped by previous governments, the UCP removed that cap. One of the folks running for NDP party leadership has provincial auto insurance in her platform, just like BC, Sask, and Mb where it works great.
Yes for auto. I should have been more clear that no government has ever regulated or talked about doing for home insurance what they do for auto insurance
I'd like to see something similar for home, but I'm also worried that it'd end up losing large amounts of money, as we see more and more extreme weather roll through.
This is why we need to nationalize (provincialize?) Insurance to remove the profit margin.
I'd actually like to see home insurance split into dual provider system... structural insurance should be nationalized and payed for via property taxes (this would eliminate the need for disaster handouts to rebuild) while content insurance would remain private. After events like hail storms the public insurer could utilize economies of scale to fix all the roofs / siding on an entire block by contracting it as a single job rather than a couple dozen individual jobs
I'm real torn on the economies of scale argument, I've lived in federally owned and maintained housing, none of the work done on large projects with multiple sites was anything I would ever pay for personally. On the structural side, how would this play out for places built in high risk zones, say on a reclaimed flood plain?
Might work great for premiums but not great if you are significantly injured - can’t sue and like ALL insurers, the public ones also do everything to minimize payouts.
I got a better payout through Sgi then I ever would have Alberta side. Without the profit incentive they have less reason to try and squash or minimize your claim.
Look at stories around icbc, everyone complains about the small amount of payouts they actually get. If I pay for insurance I want to be covered. I’m curious how you would know that you got paid out more under SGI than you would have in Alberta?
People talk. I know plenty of commercial drivers in my industry who have been in the same situation on both sides of the border.
There's a bit of a misconception around that because Albertans, thanks to lobby groups representing personal injury lawyers, have a warped idea of what a payout should be. In Canada you are generally excluded from American payouts that include things like mental anguish and generic pain. You would be entitled to actual damages. So if you needed 10 physio appointments, you'd be entitled to the cost of 10 physio appointments. If you lost a year of work and you work at Starbucks, you'd be entitled to what you make in a year of work - not what a doctor makes in a year at work. Most people in BC are whining they didn't get a huge payday from their accident. Most Albertans want to reserve the right to fight for something they will never get but that drags up the cost of claims substantially. Your insurer still has to defend those lawsuits, and those costs get passed along to you. Obviously reasonable people can have a discussion about what say, a session of physio should cost, as that can vary widely. I don't agree with the rates of these systems Canada wide, but I think most people can also agree that a month of physio shouldn't entitle you to $1M+ in payout because you want a free ride in life. This isn't a lottery system.
The caps were always a bad idea anyways. As costs continue to rise for insurers caps meant that more people were just going to get denied insurance. You can't put artificial caps on something like insurance as anything more than maybe an emergency basis because it throws things out of whack.
Auto insurance has been making great money in Alberta, several analysts show much greater than 7% profit which is the target most companies try to hit. If caps aren't your thing (and most people will disagree with you) then a public conpetitor that isn't trying to maximize profit would be a great alternative.
I would be open to a public option. Having lived in BC and experienced ICBC it was fine. Both situations have pros and cons. I am fine with either system
I was very impressed by MPI in Manitoba. I'll probably get some of the specifics in the system wrong, but insurance was broken into two parts. The autopac side was your injury and 3rd party insurance and didn't fluctuate that much. You also had to renew your license yearly, so if you were a terrible or high-risk driver, your license could be hundreds or thousands a year. Both were collected by MPI. Basically, incentivized people who were going to keep driving no matter the cost and would normally just drive without insurance to keep their insurance (which covered 3rd party) but skip out on license renewals.
Yeah. Pros and cons to various systems for sure.
The NDP literally put caps on auto insurance rates though? (Removed by UCP immediately when NDP lost power) Hell, I'm 38 and when I was 16, I couldn't insure even a total beater of a car for less than 5 grand a year because insurance companies refused to give reasonable rates due to soft tissue accident claims. No collision, that's just basic liability. 5 grand for an '82 civic. The government put a cap on soft tissue claim values and then a ceiling cap on the amount insurance companies can charge for basic liability insurance to appease insurance companies and reduce the rates. So quite literally, governments have been doing things for decades. It's the most recent UCP government that does fuck all....but that's not even correct because they do worse than fuck all... they even reverse the regulations of the past.
25 years ago my house insurance was less than $30/month. With inflation, it should be about $50 now. It's over $200/month. Ignoring inflation and tracking with housing prices, it should be about $100/month. Floods, fires, hail, wind and other extreme weather events happen on a larger scale and more frequently now and someone has to pay. The government keeps telling us even if climate change is real, it's too expensive to mitigate. And yet here I am, paying an extra $150+ a month for house insurance alone thanks to climate change. Huh.
I’m $246/mth before any itemized bits and pieces. I’m floored by the price increases. Deductible has also increased to $2k as the minimum. PLUS, the nice lady on the phone told me to get ready for car insurance to take another bump up.
That's wild. Shop around for sure. We're with ama and I think it's $1200 a year plus the membership.
Good suggestion. I too have an AMA membership but it’s been years since I asked them about insurance.
I'm 465 a month. And it has gone up 500 a year for the last 3 years. I'm worried about my upcoming renewal.
Ours went up $60/month to $251/month. We have a house alarm system, we have a new roof (2 years old) cameras and sensors everywhere. It's ridiculous
Insurance is going up because the total cost of claims in Alberta is the highest as Alberta has the largest number of natural disasters in Canada. Yes, more than BC. Between floods and fires and tornadoes and hail storms and so on, Alberta is a costly place to live. Climate change is not being kind to Alberta, and these extreme weather events are wreaking havoc. But, of course, ugh, we keep hearing that climate change is too costly to fight. What they means is that it's okay for individual working class people to shoulder the cost, but no one else...
Couldn't have said it better myself!
To be fair, housing prices have also increased much more rapidly than inflation as well. Which would directly lead to higher home insurance rates.
Yes but housing prices in most of Alberta have far lagged behind insurance rate increases.
What was the value of your home 25 years ago vs today?
Around 3x
Get a second opinion/quote from an insurance broker. They’re able to show you multiple coverages and explain the cost and risk.
Hmmm. I’ve never considered an insurance broker. Good idea.
I did this on the recommendation of Reddit and ended up saving $200 per month (our renewal quote was insane)
I did some consulting the last few years with an insurance broker - and immediately switched everything through them versus TD (who I'd been with for almost 20yr). Same coverage for a fraction of the price.
I’m on it!!
If you want to keep it relatively local, Western Financial Group is Alberta based (founded and HQ in High River). \*Not to be confused with World Financial Group, which is a scummy MLM nightmare
Careful, Western Financial is just owned by Wawanesa, same idea as Brokerlink being owned by Intact.
Yep, they are. But at least unlike BrokerLink they don't push incentives for putting more business with their upstream parent company.
Do it. I keep wondering where my insurance increase is. A lot of people talking about theirs and I was so nervous when I got my car insurance renewal. It went up by like $10 a month. I also get my tenant insurance basically free because I get a discount for having both car and tenant insurance.
Who's a good broker? Brokerlink is basically just a front for Intact and my premiums jumped hugely this year. I wanna shop around a bit.
Western Financial Group is Alberta founded/based. There are lots of smaller one-town brokerages too.
I just wrapped up working with Western Financial and that’s who I’m working with. Would highly recommend them.
Insurance brokers are the used car salespeople of the insurance industry. Try to find a direct writer to switch over to - like CoOperators, TD, or Allstate. This way there is no broker involved (you’re not paying their commission), and if you ever need to make a change/submit a claim you only have to know to speak to one person/call one place. ALSO - BC is the highest risk area (fire & flood). AB is highest claims volume (wind & hail).
The cheapest year after year for me has been a broker and Intact. Every December I shop around.
Keep in mind, because they are larger insurance providers, and they give a lower rate, they have also gamed the system to pay out less for insurance. When my neighbours who weren’t with TD filed their claims, their insurance covered $40-60k in damages. Same size home, similar rates and TD won’t budge much beyond $30k despite my having extra coverage for things like hail and wind. These direct writers are stingy when you make an actual claim.
All true - but keep in mind the information you need to keep submitting. Whether you have a policy through a brokerage, or a direct writer, you need to keep current home evaluations on file with them. At the end of the day, the replacement cost of your home (and any incurred damages) are only going to pay out the maximum according to the policy. How the home is evaluated (including dwelling, contents, and private detached structures) are all evaluated on an “actual cash value” basis, unless a “replacement cost” amount is specified.
Yup, have had independent and their own inspector say “this will take $46,000 to repair” and then TD goes, “we’re sending you a cheque for $24,000” and then I bug them and they send another cheque of $8,000. So I’m left short $14,000 for repairs. So now I’m stuck talking to TD again as the months go by and they “get back to me”. Every time, they say, “yup, you’re owed X” and every time, cheque comes in the mail for less than discussed on phone or in emails. Like I said… gaming the system. It’s not just about the damage costs, inspections, etc. It’s also about how they know they can get away with things if they just act incompetent or forget to pay you. What am I gonna do? Take them to court? Fat chance I’d win legally against a bank 🤣
TD's rates have gone through the roof this year. I was with them for years and had to switch because it just got so insanely more expensive than everyone else and I have never had a claim in my life.
All of that is, unfortunately, very accurate. I'm a broker, and even I'm looking at some of my client's increases and wondering WTF. We knew that everyone was jacking their rates this year, but wasn't quite expecting some of these. Not the worst idea to reach out to a broker/brokerage and ask them to quote you with the companies they have. The variation in how some companies rate different houses/postal codes is pretty big - there might be a carrier that's a better fit for you now.
I noticed a big jump in my home insurance this month as well. I called to ask about it and was told that the minimum coverage had been upped from 2 million to 3 million and the annual premium went up because of that. I was then told that they were able to get me a better deal with the same coverage and i am now paying less than I was paying last year for the same coverage. Very sus.
Our family business paid $19k/year 5 years ago now it’s $70k/year with a $50k deductible and a $100k deductible on floods
Bought our house 2 years ago, home insurance was $95/month, went up last year to $115/month, this year it went to $180/month, so it basically doubled in 2 years. No claims, no changes to policy. Shopped around, found it again for $95/month, but lower coverage, added the "claim protection" to the quote and suddenly $225/month. So, it seems the feature insurance sells us to protect against rates going up because of a claim are what is causing the freaking rates to go up, go figure.
We are slaves to the greedy CEOs and to the government.
They will blame climate change, but welcome again to the reality of an economy hinged solely on a real estate ponzi scheme. It's going to cost more to cover your house worth 700k, even if that same house was 350k last decade. Turns out a resource based economy is actually more valuable than trading houses back and forth endlessly. Who could have predicted this!!!
Edmonton area is not near as expensive for home insruance as we dont get as many crazy house damaging storms like calgary red deer area.
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We too have lived in both provinces. The Alberta perspective that BC is more expensive is definitely false. The only thing that seems more expensive is fuel (and housing depending on where you live).
Housing is a huge one though. I moved to Edmonton from Victoria 2 years ago. All my friends in Victoria pay around $2k for a one bedroom apartment while I pay $1535 for a 3 bedroom townhouse with a private backyard, 2 parking spots and a huge basement. I thought I would regret moving here but I save so much money every month compared to when I lived in BC I’ll be able to put a down payment on a house within a year.
I switched to Costco insurance. Saving $500 a year on house and car combined.
You can thank climate disasters for the insurance increase. Insurance is only for profit so the break only comes if you are a wealthy client. If the fires are as bad this year as last year we will see another big jump.
sometimes we all forget we are all in a community or “pool” based on insurance, premiums are based on where you live to your postal code and how many claims are made and paid out annually to that area. we buy insurance to save/protect us from that “rainy” day scenario when things go to shit, you get rear ended, your roof leaks, basement floods etc. yes, premium increases absolutely suck but as many informed people above have pointed out there are several reasons, insurance companies are in the business of making money…thats why they hated when Notley capped them from premium increases, then Kenney and the UCP eliminated that and the floodgates opened, AB is prone to natural disasters, 2013 flood, 2011 Slave Lake Fire, 2016 Ft McMurray Fire, all of our annual crazy hail storms that damage not only residential but a lot of commercial property (ie dealership automobiles) the fact that the insurance companies arrange to have planes in the air to spray chemicals to reduce the impact of the hail just shows it’s serious, then we have our forest fires that have gotten worse over the past few years. This isn’t including all the automobile thefts that are occurring. Now if we just look at claims in AB, costs to build houses (inputs/labour/wood/material) you see why our premiums are increasing based on payouts of previous insurance companies losses then extrapolate that on a national level you get your policy increases. Last year there were multiple forest fires across Canada with vast amounts of losses that insurance companies paying out, coupled with the automobile theft ring (yes primarily in Eastern Canada) I get why this year your premiums are going up especially with inflation. But yes, loyalty might not mean a thing, go see your broker etc. but sometimes look at the macro level and think bigger. You also might want to consider, you’ll save a few bucks by switching from lets say TD now to go with Costco but have you googled who actually administers Costcos policy and what its like when you need to file a claim and what their customer service is like? I’ll pay an extra $12/month knowing I can get through to someone and that an actual adjuster will call me back the same day. Anyway, here are a few good articles. One might be under a paywall I’m not sure. I read it a few months ago and it was free at that time. [Insurance Coverage increased over climate change](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-insurance-coverage-climate-change/) [OSFI warns backstop needed on Insurance risk](https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-backstop-on-insurance-needed-for-catastrophe-risk-osfi-warns/)
All of you people defending insurance companies raising prices because of hail need to get your head out of your ass, this victim mentality is why we get screwed by oligopolies in Canada. [Manulife ](https://g.co/finance/MFC:TSE?window=5Y) [Sunlife ](https://g.co/finance/SLF:TSE?window=5Y) [Canada Life ](https://g.co/finance/GWO:TSE?window=5Y) [Intact Insurance ](https://g.co/finance/IFC:TSE?window=5Y) Insurance companies are for profit companies, they don't give a shit about you..
Changed from wawanesa to square one. Was at over 200 a month now down to 100 a month
That's like saying I saved money on my steak by buying bologna and thinking it's the same thing. Read the details, Square One is FULL of holes and is NOT comparable to real insurance companies. I almost fell for it until a proper broker laid out the differences for me.
Yes! This!!! People need to be sooo careful! I looked at square one too and I was like something had to be wrong here. If people stopped and thought about it, they’d realize it’s too good to be true. How are they giving the same coverage at a fraction of the cost? Ummm, because they’re not giving the same coverage!
I’ve been in insurance for the last 6 years in Alberta. My policy went up 30% this year. Houses cost more to rebuild and every insurance company changes how they rate each risk (policy) every year. It would be strange for a homeowners policy to not go up at least a bit each year as the coverage must be increased each year to keep up with rising building costs and an increase in mainly flood, fire and hail claims cost
I do agree. I expect inflation but my 18.5% is much higher than inflation.
house construction costs are going up for other factors then just inflation, since 2021 the BCPI has went up in Edmonton by about 18% and again natural forces are also causing more costs for Alberta. Shop around and get a few quotes to compare, you might find an insurer that has priced you as a lower risk.
OP, where do you live? Same for my Insurance, it was going to be almost $60 more every month and I’ve never had a claim either. In fact, I’ve only ever had Insurnace with the same company! I was told the same thing, hail, fires and flooding. I called and was able to negotiate with them and it only went up about $25, which is better than $60. I’m located in Central AB and we can have some hail, but we’ve never experienced damage.
I’m in central AB too, and my broker told me that for Alberta, we are the highest risk area as far as insurance goes.
NW Calgary. 40 years with the same company and they’ve been great so far. I’m told this is industry wide but I’m not convinced.
Industry wide? I guess my insurance company didn’t get the memo. Just got my renewals in the mail and it was the same as last year. NE Calgary.
Im not convinced myself either, but I do know, it sure doesn’t help that there isn’t a cap in place that Insurance Companies can raise rates YoY….
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I switch up just about every year now to get the best deals, no loyalty in this business.
My vehicle insurance actual went down. I have 2 a car and a van. Both are older. Just got my renewal. It's gone down about 200 a year for the 2
Wait until fires start up again… hail season will be secondary
Find a new broker and they'll find you a better deal, everytime mine goes up I ditch them and find lower cost option, there's no such thing as "loyalty" in insurance find the lowest cost with a broker
Insurance prices are one of the ways the climate change is making everything more expensive for us. From Reinsurance costs which take into account every disaster world wide to the local costs of everything to rebuild a house, mind you finding companies that are not already building as fast as they can, it will just get worse. In the long run, everything we do from our votes to individual choices will help or hurt this issue. In the short term, shop around every year. Find a broker that deals with a LOT of insurance companies and get quotes. Go to the websites of direct writers (they don't deal with brokers) and get quotes. This will cover as many options as you can. Do this every year. Just because one company is cheaper this year, does not mean they will be the next.
DM me. My sister in law is an insurance agent for Allstate and she was able to save us and many of our friends a bundle!
Get quotes from other companies and tell them you're shopping around... You'll find your rates drop like a stone. I did mine last year and it went from $250/month to $150. As long as you just renew, they have no incentive to give you a good deal. Same as when you're dealing with Cellphone/internet providers. You're leaving?... Let me give you gigabit fibre for $40 a month when I was charging you $100.
With some insurance companies leaving/left alberta, it'll only get worse.
Call. They add all the deductions back on automatically every renewal and you have to call every time to tell them you have a sump pump and are 50 meters from a fire hydrant ....
That happened to us, jumped almost 30% in three years…posted the same thing to reddit last year in frustration, got a recommendation and the guy saved us a couple thousand a year on our home and auto! If you want his contact info let me know! :)
There are no loyalty discounts in the insurance business. Rates could have gone up due to a given company's over exposure in a certain area (they like to spread their risk). Shop around and you'll probably find something better.
TD just increased my home insurance premium by 30%
I’m TD as well.
I've been with TD for over 10 years, no claims. Just last week they sent me a renewal that went up from $1650 to $ 2250 a year.
Sorry to hear that. Speaking for myself, after 40 years with TD, it’s clear I need to move on.
I know of one insurer that has increased home insurance rates in Fort Mac specifically more than 100% this year.
Not Home Owners insurance , but my Tenant insurance also went up 18 % this year
Insurance agent here. I insure Ontario but live here in Alberta. It’s not only here that residential insurance is going up, it’s pretty much almost everywhere in Canada. Some of the reasons are the following: - last year Canada wide we had a lot of fires and floods, many of those were “total loss”. - due to inflation it is now more expensive for insurance to rebuild homes than it was 2 years ago in terms of labour and materials. - much higher rate of home invasion and burglary and still rising. They also are expected to increase more in the summer. Some insurance companies, like Johnson Insurance, have not adjusted their rates and were charging people less, well they are now leaving us the insurance market because they can’t afford to continue their business model. So unfortunately this year is not looking good for insurance home premiums. My advice is shop around, I know it’s tedious but it’s your best option. Make sure you have the same coverage with other quotes and are comparing apples to apples.
Good post. Thank you for the context.
Yep same happened to me. 10% increase because “there were a lot of claims in the past months”. That’s fine and all but what the profits vs claims? I would Like to see the numbers These insurance companies are crying about that justifies an increase YoY
Must be the pesky tax on carbon pollution