Along with our key partners and affiliates, Four Points Insurance is committed to safeguarding your rights – whether you’re shopping for insurance or submitting a claim following a loss. You have the right to be fully informed, to receive fair treatment, a timely complaint resolution, and above all, to privacy.

All these rights are grounded in the contract between you and your insurer and the insurance laws of your province. With rights, however, come responsibilities. We at Four Points Insurance, along with our key partners and affiliates, take these issues seriously.

For example, as a policyholder, you will be expected to provide complete and accurate information to your insurer. Your insurance policy will also outline further important responsibilities as part of the legal terms and conditions. Insurers, their distribution networks, and governments also have important roles to play in ensuring your rights are protected.

Right to Information

You can expect access to clear information about your policy, coverage, and the claims settlement process.

You have the right to an easy-to-understand explanation of how insurance works, and how it may meet your needs.

You also have a right to know how insurers calculate price based on relevant facts. Under normal circumstances, insurers will advise an insurance customer (or the customer’s intermediary) of changes to, or the cancellation of, a policy at least 30 days prior to the expiration of the policy. This assumes the customer provides information required for determining renewal terms of the policy at least 45 days prior to the expiration of the policy.

You have the right to ask who is providing compensation to your broker or agent for the sale of your insurance. Your broker or agent will provide information detailing for you how they are paid, by whom, and in what ways. Insurance companies will disclose their compensation arrangements with their distribution networks. Brokers and Agents are committed to providing information relating to ownership, financing, and other relevant facts.

Responsibility to Ask Questions and Share Information

To help us safeguard your right to purchase appropriate coverage at a competitive price, you should ask questions about your policy to understand what it covers, and what your obligations are. You can access information through brochures and websites, as well as one-on-one meetings with your broker, agent, or company representative. You have the option to shop the marketplace for the combination of coverages and service levels that best suit your insurance needs.

To maintain your protection against loss, you must promptly inform your insurance company, broker, or agent of any change to your circumstances. Information required to determine renewal terms of your policy must be provided at least 45 days prior to the expiration of the policy.

Right to Complaint Resolution

Insurance companies, their brokers and agents are committed to high standards of customer service. If you have a complaint about the service you have received, you have a right to access your company’s complaint resolution process. Your insurer, agent or broker can provide you with information about how you can ensure that your complaint is heard and promptly handled.

Responsibility to Resolve Disputes

You should always enter the dispute resolution process in good faith, provide required information in a timely manner, and remain open to recommendations made by independent observers as part of that process.

Right to Professional Service

You have the right to deal with insurance professionals who exhibit a high ethical standard, and conduct themselves with honesty, integrity, fairness, and skill. Brokers and agents must exhibit extensive knowledge of the product, its coverages, and its limitations to best serve you.

Right to Privacy

Because it is important for you to disclose any and all information required by an insurer to provide the insurance coverage that best suits you, you have the right to know that your information will be used for the purpose set out in the privacy statement made available to you by your broker, agent, or insurance representative. This information will not be disclosed to anyone except as permitted by law. All insurers are subject to Canada’s privacy laws.

Right to Transparency

The Canadian Council of Insurance Regulators (CCIR), after public consultations, agreed on three principles as the best practices in managing actual or potential conflicts of interest. The principles promote consumer confidence in the insurance industry by outlining best practices for managing these situations when they arise. Four Points Insurance supports these principles. If you feel that our representatives are not following them, please contact us.

The principles are:

The client’s interests come first: distributors must put the interest of policyholders and purchases ahead of their own;

Make clear any conflicts or potential conflicts of interest: consumers must receive disclosure or any actual or potential conflict of interest that is associated with a transaction or recommendation; and

Ensure products are the right fit: products recommended must meet the needs of the consumer.