COVID-19 Personal Insurance FAQs

With the fast-changing pace of our environment due to COVID-19, we recognize that you may have many questions about your personal insurance. We’d like to share with you the most frequently asked questions about personal insurance and COVID-19 with answers from our expert brokers. While we navigate a new reality with social distancing, the team at Rogers Insurance is ready and available to serve you for all your insurance needs.

If I buy a new vehicle, how do I register it?

Prior to registering the vehicle, you will need a pink card.

Please contact your Personal Insurance Advisor who will provide you with an insurance policy or add the vehicle to your existing policy and provide you with a pink card.

To register your new vehicle, you must bring the following with you to the registry office:

  • Proof of ownership document (bill of sale)
  • Proof of valid insurance for the vehicle that includes the name of the person requesting registration
  • Acceptable identification (typically your driver’s license)
  • If applicable, an out-of-province, salvaged or commercial inspection report

If you are looking for on-line registry services, please visit Gold Key Registry, a Rogers partner company.

Do I need extra home insurance to provide coverage for work materials at home?

No. Most insurance policies extend to cover incidental work materials. No additional endorsement is required. Should this turn into a full-time arrangement, please notify your Personal Insurance Advisor to have your policy endorsed accordingly.

Can I park my vehicle?

Yes. Please speak with your Personal Insurance Advisor who will review your coverage changes and advise of any premium adjustments. Please note, changes to your policy can take a few weeks to process through the insurance company. If you are on monthly payments and depending on your withdrawal date, your next payment may not yet be adjusted.

I am no longer driving to work since I now work from home. Am I able to reduce my premium?

One of the factors used in determining your insurance premium is the distance you drive your vehicle. If your daily commute has significantly decreased, you may be entitled to a premium adjustment. Please contact your Personal Insurance Advisor to discuss your situation.

What happens if I don’t pay my insurance premiums?

In our current environment, all households are taking a closer look at managing expenses. Having insurance in place allows you to continue to operate your vehicle and to rest assured that your property and valued possessions are protected. The best way to maintain your coverage, and avoid cancellation, is to continue to pay your insurance premiums like you would any other bill.

However, please contact us if you believe you are unable to pay your premiums and we will contact your insurance company to see if there is any flexibility with payment terms.

Can I get relief from payment of my insurance premiums?

In these times of uncertainty, people want to know if they can defer their bills. A normal question is – can I get relief from my insurance premiums? In most cases, you can finance or spread your premiums out over time. If you wish to explore this option, please speak with your broker.

However, if the question is – can I just postpone paying my insurance premiums, the answer is typically no. Here’s why:

  • You pay your premiums either to your broker (typical for business insurance policies) or directly to the insurance company (common for home and auto policies).
  • Your broker is your advisor and when he/she receives your premiums, the funds are held in “trust”. This means the broker cannot do anything with those premiums except pay them to the insurance company on your behalf. This requirement is carefully spelt out in the contracts between the broker and the insurance companies.
  • Your broker has no discretion to defer, suspend or delay premiums. The contract of insurance is between you – the client – and the insurance company. The broker acts as a trusted advisor to guide you and to do all the work in creating the contract of insurance.

In many cases, the broker can arrange financing for clients – either through independent premium financing companies OR through the insurance company itself OR through a premium finance facility arranged by the brokerage and typically funded with money borrowed from a bank and then lent clients. In all those cases the broker has no discretion to defer, suspend or delay premiums. The reason that premium finance companies or banks will lend money to clients through a broker to pay premiums is that they take power of attorney to cancel the policy if payments fall behind. It is important to note that such lenders have no security. A bank can take a mortgage or a lien on your house or your car. The only security for premium financing is to cancel your policy if payments are not kept up.

Insurance is one of the critical mechanisms that keeps our economy going. It allows individuals, families and businesses to take a risk to build businesses or to borrow money to buy a home or a car. Insurance works by spreading any risk across many buyers of insurance – not just in your community but around the world.

If I pay my insurance premiums directly to my insurance company, is it possible for me to defer my payments?

Some of our customers pay their insurance premium directly to their insurance company. This is called “direct bill”. If you are a direct bill customer, there are scenarios where the insurance company may allow your payments to be deferred for a short period of time. We encourage you to contact us to discuss your situation. We can then contact your insurance company to determine if a payment deferral is possible.

If the Rogers Insurance team is working from home, how can I pay my insurance premiums?

Even though our team is working remotely, Rogers Insurance continues to be open to service our customers. However, it is very challenging to handle payments by cheque (either in-person or via mail) so we kindly ask that you no longer use this method to pay your premiums.

We are available by phone and email for any of your questions and can help you with payments. Feel free to contact your Personal Insurance Advisor directly.

Or, you can pay online with these three options:

  1. If you’ve received your insurance premium invoice directly from Rogers Insurance, online and telephone banking payments can be made through your financial institution. Simply visit their page directly and register “Rogers Insurance” or “Rogers Insurance Red Deer” as a payee.
  2. Payment of your Rogers Insurance invoice by credit card can be made by visiting rogersinsurance.ca/payments.
  3. If you’ve received your insurance premium invoice directly from your insurance company, online and credit card payment options are outlined on your invoice. If you still have questions, please give us a call and we will guide you through the process.
My tenant is no longer working due to a work shutdown caused by COVID-19. Can I evict tenants if they stop paying rent?

We advise you to contact the appropriate government body to learn more about rights and obligations of  tenancy. In Alberta, you can call the Residential Tenancy Dispute Resolution Service at 1-780-644-3300.

What happens if my rental property is or remains vacant?

Please contact your Personal Insurance Advisor directly. Your insurance company must be made aware of this situation as you may need a vacancy permit. Keeping the insurance company updated on the status of your property is an important step to make sure coverage is not voided during a vacancy situation.

Do I have coverage for lost rental revenue due to COVID-19?

Your existing insurance policy for a rental property provides coverage against insurable perils. The COVID-19 pandemic is not an insurable peril so there is no coverage for lost rental revenue.

These FAQs are generalizations and not meant to be definitive to every situation. Your needs are unique and should be discussed in detail with your Personal Insurance Advisor.

Start a Conversation With One of Our Expert Brokers Today to Determine the Right Coverage for You.

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