Personal Finance

Square One Insurance

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Deal Expert
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Mar 18, 2005
23686 posts
5125 upvotes
Niagara Falls

Square One Insurance

Has anybody heard of or used Square One Insurance?

TD's rates have sky rocketed and I started looking around for quotes. They are quoting me $664 for home insurance. RBC was $798 and TD was ~$1200

I can't find much on Google, or my googlefu sucks.

Any help would be appreciated.
111 replies
Deal Addict
Aug 20, 2007
1983 posts
794 upvotes
Kitchener
Hi, from what I know their newer and out of BC. They do seem to have some good rates from what I've seen but the real concern might be the claims service. Contact a broker and see what price you get and maybe your get something close to the price they quoted you and then at least you have someone local to deal with.
Newbie
Mar 7, 2011
4 posts
They are indeed out of BC and only started covering Ontario since Oct/Nov 2013. I used them for a property in BC but never had to make a claim, but peelhic is right about the concern for claims. They have fairly good rates I think (I'm in a condo) but even then, the prices seem to have jumped up in the last couple of months. I'd second peelhic's comment about commenting a broker to see what kind of pricing you can get.
Newbie
May 6, 2003
10 posts
6 upvotes
I happen to be one of the founders of Square One. The team that runs Square One was previously the management team at BCAA Insurance - where we won the JD Power award for customer satisfaction many years running. We take claims satisfaction (and customer satisfaction in general) very seriously, but don't take my word for it - we encourage our customers to post reviews - good or bad: www.squareoneinsurance.ca/reviews

If you were to ever have a claim and were unsatisfied with how you were treated, feel free to contact me directly - jason.vanderzalm@squareoneinsurance.ca. Should also note that while we are BC based, we have claims adjustors in all of the cities that we write.
Deal Fanatic
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Apr 1, 2001
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Bump for this thread. Anyone have experience with them by now?
I think they are only rated B+? Is that a concern?
Deal Addict
Sep 5, 2009
3301 posts
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Signed up last week, they were super friendly. Coverage is fully customize able, but I really won't know how supportive they are unless I have a claim.
Member
Dec 1, 2012
202 posts
34 upvotes
Check around and see who has the best rates, besides those you mentioned, there are also:

- CIBC Insurance (current promotion 20% off if you are claims free)
- The cooperators
- Kanatex (brokers like Square One)
- etc
Deal Fanatic
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Apr 1, 2001
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Food for thought.

Did some more research on Square One tonight. Their property insurance is underwritten by the Mutual Fire Insurance Company (Langley, BC).

According to AM Best, Financial Size Category: VI ($25 Million to $50 Million).

Considering property prices in Vancouver are often over $1 million, I'm not sure a company of this size is stable enough to support multiple large claims if they were to arise.

For comparison...
Wawanesa: Financial Size Category: XV ($2 Billion or greater).
Cooperators: Financial Size Category: XIII ($1.25 Billion to $1.5 Billion).



Thoughts?
Deal Addict
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Mar 13, 2003
3302 posts
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Alberta
Arrow wrote: Food for thought.

Did some more research on Square One tonight. Their property insurance is underwritten by the Mutual Fire Insurance Company (Langley, BC).

According to AM Best, Financial Size Category: VI ($25 Million to $50 Million).

Considering property prices in Vancouver are often over $1 million, I'm not sure a company of this size is stable enough to support multiple large claims if they were to arise.

For comparison...
Wawanesa: Financial Size Category: XV ($2 Billion or greater).
Cooperators: Financial Size Category: XIII ($1.25 Billion to $1.5 Billion).



Thoughts?
Speculating... but I suspect they'd insure themselves against a larger company for claims they can't handle
Deal Addict
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Apr 10, 2010
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My speculation:

I'm not sure if that "Financial Size" includes their "float"...
Deal Expert
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Aug 2, 2010
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Here 'n There
My insurance just went from $2,100/yr to $3,600/yr from RBC and it includes all these coverages which I do not need and are not adjustable downwards. I called Square One and they were able to lower my coverages and quote me $1,400/yr.

Mutual Fire Insurance Co of BC (http://mutualfirebc.com/) provides the backing for the insurance that Square One provides and they are rated B++ by A.M. Best, a rating agency, which is defined as 'Good' which is not as good as A- or A etc but still good. Also, from their website 'Mutual Fire is a member of the Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation (PACCIC). PACCIC is a special program funded by Canadian property and casualty insurance companies to protect policyholders and claimants. If an insurance company fails, PACCIC will automatically respond to your claim as long as your insurance company is a participating member. Basically, PACCIC is much like the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation, which protects your savings in case a bank fails.'

So, I am not concerned. I haven't had a claim ever anyway, not to mean that I won't, but the deductibles are high anyway. My main concern is to have insurance on the structure in the event my house burns down or blows up (knock on wood) and $2M liability. I'll save over $20K in the next 10 years with Square One.
Newbie
Apr 25, 2009
16 posts
1 upvote
Toronto
been with square one for the past 2-3 years. their website is easy to use, and they have a really good referral program--for every referral you get $10 credit and the person you referred gets a $10 gift card just for signing up. haven't ever had to file a claim so can't comment on that process.

edit, misread previous comment
Newbie
Jul 7, 2015
12 posts
Vancouver, BC
Interesting. I called Square One and after the lady tried to pass me off to the online system, unsuccessfully, she proceeded to give me a quote higher than TD, RBC, and CIBC - hands down.

Guess I spoke to the wrong person, but why would a staff member make a difference in rates?
Newbie
Jul 7, 2015
12 posts
Vancouver, BC
And for the record the quote I got from SQ1 was with a $2500 deductible

I would still say after my experience: do not assume and SHOP AROUND
Deal Fanatic
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Apr 1, 2001
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eonibm wrote:
Mutual Fire Insurance Co of BC (http://mutualfirebc.com/) provides the backing for the insurance that Square One provides and they are rated B++ by A.M. Best, a rating agency, which is defined as 'Good' which is not as good as A- or A etc but still good. Also, from their website 'Mutual Fire is a member of the Property and Casualty Insurance Compensation Corporation (PACCIC). PACCIC is a special program funded by Canadian property and casualty insurance companies to protect policyholders and claimants. If an insurance company fails, PACCIC will automatically respond to your claim as long as your insurance company is a participating member. Basically, PACCIC is much like the Canadian Deposit Insurance Corporation, which protects your savings in case a bank fails.'

So, I am not concerned. I haven't had a claim ever anyway, not to mean that I won't, but the deductibles are high anyway. My main concern is to have insurance on the structure in the event my house burns down or blows up (knock on wood) and $2M liability. I'll save over $20K in the next 10 years with Square One.

PACCIC has a maximum limit to their coverage. It's $300,00 or $500,000 or something like that.
Deal Expert
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Aug 2, 2010
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Here 'n There
Arrow wrote: PACCIC has a maximum limit to their coverage. It's $300,00 or $500,000 or something like that.
Yes I read that. It is $300,000 and you can find that here: http://www.pacicc.com/coverage.html and the PACICC GUIDE TO COMPENSATION PLAN FOR PROPERTY AND CASUALTY INSURER here: http://www.pacicc.com/policies/policies ... sation.pdf

However, when have you ever made a claim of $300,000 on your home insurance policy? Also, an insurance regulator would have to decide that they need to wind-up an insurer to protect the public interest. That is hardly going to happen with an insurer that has a B++ coverage (which is, btw, one of the ratings deemed acceptable by the insurance industry) and has a 113 year track record but even if it does you would have to have a claim outstanding at the time they did so. However, yes, black swans to appear sometimes. But then your outstanding claims up to $300,000 would have to be covered. Since 1979, 32 property and casualty insurers have been closed by Canada's insurance regulators but not ever a single one in B.C. I noticed one of them, Advocate General, was one I had used in the past and which was given to me by my trusted insurance broker. Great advice that was, wasn't it?

So, 3 things would have to happen at the same time for you to incur any loss over $300,000. Your house would have to burn down, you'd have to have an outstanding claim for it and the insurance regulator would have to have decided to wind up Mutual Fire Insurance Co of BC after 113+ years. That is hardly going to happen and, come to think of it, this is the first time I have even bothered to check the rating of the underwriter of my insurance policy on my home or my car, ever, and have just taken whomever the insurance broker said was the best price. I'd love to know how many people on here have ever check the rating of the underwriter that insures them. The only reason I did this time is Square One provides the information about their underwriter front and centre on their website (more than RBC or any of the other companies I used before ever did) and so I wondered about them and also decided to take a closer look at exactly what my policy covers. Anyway, I bet hardly anyone really pays much attention to the underwriter and just goes with the best price their broker gives them.

Also, as for ratings wasn't it Standard & Poor and Moody's who gave stellar ratings to all of these mortgage backed securities that were the cause of the biggest financial meltdown in the US since the Great Depression? Yup. So that's how much ratings are worth.

Oh, lastly the rating of Mutual Fire Insurance Co of BC which Square One uses is exactly the same rating, B++, as RBC Generial Insurance Company that I have now. I would have expected that RBC's rating would be higher. Not so!

I'd urge all of you to check the rating of your home insurance underwriter. You might also be surprised. Also, all are backed by PACCIC (yes, including RBC, TD, etc as it is mandatory) so don't think that just because you are with a large bank insurance co underwriter you are getting any better coverage if the underwriter becomes insolvent.
Deal Expert
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Feb 11, 2009
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Toronto
Got a quote from SQ1, the amounts were about 40% higher than what TD and CIBC quoted me....and the deductibles were a crazy $2500 vs $1000.
Realtor (Investment Properties) - CPA, CA
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Aug 2, 2010
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Here 'n There
And for me TD and CIBC was way higher, but then I didn't need the $1M personal property coverage RBC, etc demanded I take (all I needed was $100K but they wouldn't budge) or the $225,000 detached structures insurance (I don't even have a detached structure) or the $225,000 additional living expenses ($10K was enough for me) and a whole bunch of other crap coverage that they told me was non-negotiable. None of these could I opt out of.

I'd suggest you are trying to get a quote for coverage you have but eliminate what you don't need. Do that and you will see Square One is much lower.

As for the deductibles I couldn't care less what they are. I've never made a claim nor had reason to. It's not worth making a claim anyway as all that happens is your coverage goes up to pay for it. All I care about is guaranteed replacement cost of my house and legal liability. I'll self insure the rest with my annual savings of $2K+. I don't have anything of value in my house anyway.
Deal Expert
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Feb 11, 2009
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eonibm wrote: And for me TD and CIBC was way higher, but then I didn't need the $1M personal property coverage RBC, etc demanded I take (all I needed was $100K but they wouldn't budge) or the $225,000 detached structures insurance (I don't even have a detached structure) or the $225,000 additional living expenses ($10K was enough for me) and a whole bunch of other crap coverage that they told me was non-negotiable. None of these could I opt out of.

I'd suggest you are trying to get a quote for coverage you have but eliminate what you don't need. Do that and you will see Square One is much lower.

As for the deductibles I couldn't care less what they are. I've never made a claim nor had reason to. t's not worth making a claim anyway as all that happens is your coverage goes up to pay for it. All I care about is guaranteed replacement cost of my house and legal liability. I'll self insure the rest with my annual savings of $2K+. I don't have anything of value in my house anyway.
I did end up removing all of the extras TD/CIBC were giving me in the SQ1 quote, which is what still left me with what I previously mentioned. I think its different from property to property.
Realtor (Investment Properties) - CPA, CA
Jr. Member
Dec 27, 2012
125 posts
47 upvotes
OTTAWA
Anyone took their home insurance through Costco (inovainc.ca) brokers? Any feedback ?

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