Access to auto and home insurance: an issue?

Author

Simon Carreau, Marc-Olivier Moisan-Plante

Organization

Union des consommateurs

Published

2010

Summary

After a brief history of insurance, the first chapter of the report draws a portrait of the home and auto insurance industry, and of the legal framework and regulation method for this industry.

Chapter 2 reviews the literature and available data on issues of Canadians’ access to home insurance and their level of coverage.

Chapter 3 presents the results of the investigation, conducted to better understand the causes of non-insurance by interviewing uninsured individuals.

Chapter 4 reviews the research into measures that could be considered to increase access to home insurance. The research focused on what has been done to that effect in home and auto insurance in Europe and the United States. This enabled Union des consommateurs to identify the best practices in terms of access to insurance. Finally, a short chapter presents the reaction of industry representatives to our research.

Motorists from all provinces are required to be protected by minimal public liability insurance. As a counterpart, where no public corporation guarantees universal access, the law requires insurers to set up a mechanism for enabling all automobile owners to find an insurer.

With regard to home insurance, the problem of uninsured homes essentially results from an imbalance between the market supply and the resources of uninsured households. The lower the household income, the greater the proportion of people who find insurance premiums too high. Many decide that they have too little property for insurance to be worthwhile. It should be noted that if those people were adequately informed of the risks they incur, particularly in the absence of civil liability coverage, and if they were offered minimal coverage suited to their needs and resources, many of them would certainly re-evaluate their needs. An information campaign on civil liability coverage could help dispel the idea that home insurance is useful only to those who own property of relatively high value.

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OCA Funded Research
This research received funding support through the Office of Consumer Affairs' Contributions Program.

Contact information

Source: Consumer Policy Research Database