[brazeau]

Back around 1990, I moved all of my insurance to TD who was endorsed by the company I worked for. Don't recall the exact numbers but it saved me 20% from what I was paying. As it was all online, I didn't have an agent so every second year or so I'd do a cursory marketing to satisfy my curiosity as to whether the rates were competitive. Did that for around 10 years, then got lazy.

In 2018 my wife wrote off her 10 year old Lincoln MKX. I did my research as is recommended to determine what I thought would be a fair settlement for a ten year old vehicle in mint condition with 68,000 km on it. They came to me with an offer based on 3 listings they had found on Car Trader. All three vehicles looked well worn and with over 183,000 km on each one. There was no way I could even come close to replacing her vehicle with their offer. Long story short, I held out but was finally told I could either take their offer or I could hire an appraiser on my nickle and they would honour my guys appraisal. A couple of things wrong with this, 1) if my appraisal came in less than TD's appraisal, TD's original appraisal was off the table, 2) I would be hiring an independent appraiser who would utilize the same tools and software that TD used, and 3) I have to pay out of pocket for the appraisal. In the end we were only $2500 apart but they wouldn't budge. I accepted their insulting offer because the costs I would have incurred and my time on fighting were just not worth it. And, this was with a company I had been with for 28 years and in 2018 my annual premiums were $8,400. Needless to say, I promptly went to an agency and had them shop all of my insurance needs.

Didn't take long and the broker I hired had a policy drawn up that brought my annual premiums down to $7,200 with higher more comprehensive coverage. The carrier was SGI through Liebel Insurance Group (had an agent but it was telephone and email only) and even though my premiums were starting to creep, it wasn't alarming and I accepted it until last year. All of a sudden it hit me that my premiums had now surpassed the TD rates I ran from (but to be honest, I had added a couple of travel trailers, a boat and some farm equipment). Still, I was getting the uneasy feeling my agent was not working for me to ensure I was continuing to get the best value I could. So, I asked my agent to market my insurance needs. Didn't hear anything, didn't hear anything so a week before my renewal I called them. They told me the only carrier that would build the package I needed was the one I was with. WTF. By now I was living in Stony Plain and thought I'd try a local agency and agent

Went to Drayden Insurance and sat down with an agent. She took my information and came back to me within 2 days quoting $7,020 through Wawanesa. I had her write it up and so far so good. The first renewal was good so we'll see.

The bottom line with the insurance industry is the bottom line, on every level. Your existing agent is not going to do a comprehensive marketing for you. When you think it through, why would an agent want to receive decreased commissions from less premiums from an existing customer when their total focus is bringing in new clients and building their portfolio? But they'll lose an existing client and a known commission you say? It's been my experience, it's not up for consideration or they don't care. Believe me, market your insurance requirements every 3 to 4 years and don't hesitate to move it. Who do you think gets saddled with recovering the latest weather or natural disaster payouts? It won't be new clients. These days the major reason a company will get your money is to whittle the rate in every possible way to bring you in. After that, you're in general revenues and are stuck with the renewal rack rate.