Your neighbour drives a BMV M Roadster, while you get around in a sporty 2000 Honda Civic SiR. You both have clean driving records and travel the same distance to work. The BMV is worth more than the Civic, and then the shock comes—you’re paying more for auto insurance. Consumers are left asking why—well, the answer is clear.

Every vehicle make, model and year available in Canada is rated according to the Canadian Loss Experience Automobile Rating (CLEAR) system. This rating system assesses each type of vehicle based on expected claims frequency and cost, and the likelihood the vehicle will be stolen. This assists in calculating insurance rates—the lower the claims risk, the lower the rates, and the higher the claims risk, the higher the rates.

When your child moves away from home for college or university, there are important changes and responsibilities to consider. Along with the emotional stress of having your young graduate leave home, you also need to consider what the move means for your finances and insurance policies. Being informed about your Edmonton insurance coverage is crucial for your child’s protection and wellbeing. While many policies extend parents’ coverage to kids in university, other policies encourage college students to purchase their own insurance.

“Parents need to know whether their insurance extends to their children when they are buying a car or moving into an apartment or residence,” says Wayne Ross, insurance expert at Aviva Canada. “You could find yourself facing a financially-stressful situation that could easily have been avoided.”

Although there may appear to be a vast array of life insurance policy types available, they all consist of one of two basic forms: Permanent insurance and Term insurance. As the names imply, permanent insurance is permanent (for life) and term insurance is temporary. Most people require a combination of the two types to fit their needs. Examples of permanent needs are funeral expenses, survivors' income, taxes at death on capital gains, taxation of RRSPs and RRIFs and charitable bequests. Examples of temporary needs are mortgages, children's education and business loans.

Road trips are par for the course in the summer, so stone chips and glass repair are part of life as a vehicle and carinsurance owner. Windshields get chipped and cracked all the time. While stone chips often occur at the most inopportune times, they cannot be neglected and should be attended to in short order.

Alberta has seen its fair share of water this summer and home insurance claims are on the rise due to unfortunate water damage. Water has now surpassed fire as the number one cause of home insurance claims and 40% of all personal property insurance claims are as a result of water damage. Homeowners are getting waterlogged, so to speak.

Summer is a time for vacations, sun and fun; it's also a very popular time to go house hunting. Whether you're a first time home buyer or not, you need to factor your monthly home insurance fees into your budget. But how can you possibly predict what those fees will be?

As a small business owner you have insurance on property and business assets, but often business owners may neglect to purchase one of the most important types of insurance. Life insurance can mean the difference between bankruptcy and survival when a business owner or key person dies. Proceeds from an insurance policy can be used to train a successor for a deceased key person or to purchase a business owner’s shares in the event of his or her death. There are two important products for you as a small business owner to consider Buy-Sell Protection and Key Person Life Insurance.

BUY-SELL PROTECTION
The death of a business partner (shareholder) may result in your company being sold in order to compensate the family of the deceased partner (shareholder). The remaining partners/shareholders may not be able to fund a buy-out of the deceased’s share of the business, which may result in an unwanted outside interest gaining control of part of your  company.

A recent study indicated Commercial 

Insurance pricing in the United States increased by an average of 5% in 2012 Q1 over the same period last year, noted Tower Watson consulting.

This represented the fifth consecutive quarter that prices rose for all standard commercial lines, according to the professional services company’s Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey (CLIPS).

As many South-Edmonton residents can attest to, hail can do some damage to your backyard gardens. Unfortunately Armour's Crop Insurance doesn't cover your home garden from hail damage, but we can offer some tips collected from avid gardeners across North America. So the next time the hail hits, your plants will be covered!

If you own a home, mortgage insurance is a given. (We hope!) But what kind of company have you trusted your policy with? People often choose the bank for mortgage insurance because they think it's easier and less time consuming; when in fact, it could be a costly mistake for everyone in your household. Let's take a look: