Buying a new or used car should be cause to celebrate! In order to make sure it is indeed a happy occasion, Assurances Multi-Risques would like to offer you the tools that you will need when purchasing your vehicle and REPLACEMENT INSURANCE from your car dealer.

 

Once you agree to buy a car, the dealer will have you meet with his commercial director who will gather the information necessary to check your credit and see if the car can be financed. He will then offer you some other products, including replacement insurance. Must you buy this insurance with the car dealer? Do you think the car dealer’s commercial director is the best person to counsel you on car insurance? We would like to give you the facts so that you can make an informed decision when comes the time to buy your replacement insurance, and possibly avoid insurance problems down the line.

 

 

DID YOU KNOW THAT…

 

Did you know that replacement insurance sold by car dealers is 66% more expensive than that sold by insurance companies? According to l’Autorité des marchés financiers’ May 2015 report, consumers who bought their replacement insurance at the car dealership paid 66% more than if they had bought it through an insurance broker. To avoid this, we recommend that you make enquiries with an insurance broker before you accept your car dealer’s offer. If you choose to buy your replacement insurance with the car dealer, make sure that the commercial director hands you a distribution guide and offers the explanations you need to understand this insurance product.

 

Did you know that only a certified insurance representative can counsel you on car insurance? Some car dealership commercial directors offer car insurance counselling while collecting your personal information. Only certified insurance representatives are allowed to counsel clients on this matter. Moreover, the insurance agent or broker must also collect your personal information in order to be able to subsequently present you with an insurance quote. Remember that the only insurance product that the car dealership’s director can offer you is car replacement insurance (QPF5), and that he is not allowed to discuss any other car insurance matters.

 

 

Did you know that car dealers must respect a certain number of rules when they offer replacement insurance? According to the law…

 

  1. The commercial director must tell you that there is more than one insurance product available on the market, and that insurance brokers offer such products. —Article 430
  2. The commercial director must tell you what his commission on this product is if it exceeds 30%. — Article 431
  3. The commercial director must explain to you how to make a claim and inform you of the timeframe allowed by the insurer. —Article 434
  4. The commercial director must hand you the distribution guide before he starts presenting his insurance product, and you must have it in you possession before you buy the product. — Article 435
  5. The commercial director must not pressure you to buy his insurance product. For instance, he cannot tell you that your interest rate will be higher if you don’t buy the product or that your loan approval depends on you buying this product. You are free to decide where and with whom you buy your insurance coverage. — Article 439
  6. If you decide to buy replacement insurance with the car dealer, the commercial director must give you a written notice stating that you may cancel your insurance purchase through a registered letter within the next 10 days. — Article 440

 

Note that you can file a complaint with l’Autorité des marchés financiers if you have had a bad experience with a car dealership commercial director. Assurances Multi-Risques strongly encourages you to do so since that type of behavior must stop.

 

Did you know that there are other insurance products available when you buy a car? What product should I choose? Replacement cost endorsement or replacement insurance? Assurances Multi-Risques believes that insurance professionals must offer you these two products. This way, you will be able to pounder which one suits you the best, and then decide what you want to buy. That’s why we believe that you should never buy your insurance products from a car dealer. You should contact an insurance professional, preferably an independent insurance broker. In order to help you to better understand these matters and to make an informed decision, we recommend that you read our article on car replacement insurance: https://multi-risques.com/en/how-to-reduce-your-auto-insurance-premium/

 

All of our brokers are professionals and car insurance specialists. They are all accredited by l’Autorité des marchés financiers and receive yearly continuous training. We are the insurance specialists. When you buy a car, we are not the ones who will tell you which make to buy since that is not our field of expertise. You should always work with specialists… Therefore, buy your car with car specialists and your insurance with liability insurance specialists!