Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

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BRIAN5000
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Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by BRIAN5000 »

Anybody try to renew their car insurance with Belairdirect that were once Canadian Direct customers?

Website not working, policy written wrong, $487 instead of $387 spent 45 minutes on the phone trying to correct this, that looks like about a 20% 26% increase to me.

Looks like I'm not alone https://insureye.com/Reviews/Auto-Insur ... lairdirect
Last edited by BRIAN5000 on 01 Dec 2017 19:20, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by Okanagan »

Just renewed my storage policy today as we are in Mexico for 6 months....couldn't get on the website either...but was ok several weeks ago...my annual premium went up 10% over CDI which had remained stable for a number of years....they also seem to screw you when converting policy from regular cover to storage... CDI used to be so easy.....cannot pay renewals on line any more...when you phone in to renew and pay....the agent who verifies who you are then puts you on hold for 30-60 seconds while they connect to their payment system and you enter your cc number, etc. on the keypad.....I guess just have to wait and see what happens next year.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by beachcomber »

Wife and I had no problems in renewing our CDI policies with Belairdirect by telephone/credit card a month or so ago.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by BRIAN5000 »

beachcomber wrote: 01 Dec 2017 19:43 Wife and I had no problems in renewing our CDI policies with Belairdirect by telephone/credit card a month or so ago.
Did you check the cost?
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by kcowan »

BRIAN5000 wrote: 01 Dec 2017 19:45
beachcomber wrote: 01 Dec 2017 19:43Wife and I had no problems in renewing our CDI policies with Belairdirect by telephone/credit card a month or so ago.
Did you check the cost?
We had the same thing happen with our car renewal here in Mexico. It seems to have caught on in at least two countries. It smells like the contract renew controversy from a few years ago where opt-out was not an option.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by jeremy »

My car insurance rate went up by about 12% this year with BelairDirect after they took over CDI. Out of curiosity I used their website to obtain a quote as a new customer, which was >30% more than my renewal price. I wonder if their plan is to eventually increase premiums for former CDI customers to that level. Maybe I should buy some shares of IFC...
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by beachcomber »

Ouch!!! May '17 $412.00, May '16 $384.04 and May '15 $384.04 for my Jeep GC. Wife records difficult to access ;-)

Thanks for the wake-up call.

Buyer beware. Although in my defense I think ICBC wanted about $550.00 for the same coverage.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

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beachcomber wrote: 02 Dec 2017 13:54 Ouch!!! May '17 $412.00, May '16 $384.04 and May '15 $384.04 for my Jeep GC. Wife records difficult to access ;-)

Thanks for the wake-up call.

Buyer beware. Although in my defense I think ICBC wanted about $550.00 for the same coverage.
Well 10% isn't so bad but 26% in one year is a bit much I think. If their commercials were a little bit funny instead of stupid I wouldn't mind so much. :roll:
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by westcoastfella »

have been long time CDI customer for car insurance, primarily due to it being cheaper than ICBC for the same coverage. When renewal came up a month ago I noticed a significant increase. Compared with ICBC at renewal time, ICBC was cheaper for optional. So switched to ICBC.

We have home insurance with them as well but will likely switch it out when it comes due in May.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

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westcoastfella wrote: 03 Dec 2017 04:58 have been long time CDI customer for car insurance, primarily due to it being cheaper than ICBC for the same coverage. When renewal came up a month ago I noticed a significant increase. Compared with ICBC at renewal time, ICBC was cheaper for optional. So switched to ICBC.

We have home insurance with them as well but will likely switch it out when it comes due in May.
Not sure what coverage you're getting with ICBC but I got an ICBC quote and a Family Insurance quote yesterday for similar coverage as Belairdirect.
$386 old CDI, $487 Belair, $765 Family, $1120 ICBC not even close to being competitive.

2016 Honda Accord Touring
Collision $500
Comp $200
$2.8 mil Liability
New Vehicle Replacement
plus some other riders
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by Spudd »

Are these numbers you guys are quoting per year? That's really cheap! I thought we were doing well at 1000/yr over here.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by AltaRed »

Brian was not clear but I think this is for the portion above and beyond the ICBC mandated minimum. There would be another $400-500 of ICBC minimum.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

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AltaRed wrote: 03 Dec 2017 18:26 Brian was not clear but I think this is for the portion above and beyond the ICBC mandated minimum. There would be another $400-500 of ICBC minimum.
Ah yes sorry that's on top of standard ICBC which was $1139 for basic with full discount for one year :oops:

$1626 for one year with ICBC and Belair.

Rumour is ICBC is maybe losing optional insurance so they just up the basic rate.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by westcoastfella »

BRIAN5000 wrote: 03 Dec 2017 12:29
westcoastfella wrote: 03 Dec 2017 04:58 have been long time CDI customer for car insurance, primarily due to it being cheaper than ICBC for the same coverage. When renewal came up a month ago I noticed a significant increase. Compared with ICBC at renewal time, ICBC was cheaper for optional. So switched to ICBC.

We have home insurance with them as well but will likely switch it out when it comes due in May.
Not sure what coverage you're getting with ICBC but I got an ICBC quote and a Family Insurance quote yesterday for similar coverage as Belairdirect.
$386 old CDI, $487 Belair, $765 Family, $1120 ICBC not even close to being competitive.

2016 Honda Accord Touring
Collision $500
Comp $200
$2.8 mil Liability
New Vehicle Replacement
plus some other riders
I'll have to check details when I get back from vacation, but rough numbers:

Old CDI: 625
New Belair: 800
ICBC quote for similar coverage to Belair: 775

2012 Infiniti EX35
Collision $300
Comp: $300
1.8 mil liability
Other riders (loss of vehicle, roadside assistance, etc)

I didn't have much time to do comparison searches as we were leaving on vacation around renewal time. Will ride ICBC this year and then do a better search when house insurance is due next may - ideally get both from same company for discount
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by kumquat »

Are these ICBC numbers from the lower mainland? If so, Sask. SGI makes me want to puke. After all, both right and left governments tell us how cheap our auto insurance is. Here are my (approximate) numbers. My SGI record gives me the max deduction (1% yr to a max of 22-25%, not sure which). SGI basic is $700 deductable, and (I think $500k PL & PD)

I have 4 vehicles:
- 2005 Mustang GT basic, ~$1200/yr
- 2007 Ranger pickup, basic, ~$1200/yr
- 2003 utility trailer, basic, ~$70/yr
- 1962 Sunbeam Alpine, basic, ~$365/yr

As well, I have an additional policy thaty covers them all, bumps PL &PD to $2M. ~100/yr

Are you guys really getting those numbers in ICBC land?
I don't intend to offend anyone, that part is just a bonus.

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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by AltaRed »

I don't remember my current year numbers, but I do have to hold my nose for the ICBC minimum portion.

For the optional top up, BCAA beats ICBC equivalent hands down, so I have a hybrid ICBC/BCAA every year. Under $1000 I think for $1.8M liability, $1000 deductible collision/comprehensive. I get value out of BCAA in other ways, e.g. discounts on travel insurance, retail discounts, et al, so I stick with them.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by westcoastfella »

Are you guys really getting those numbers in ICBC land?
No, its not the complete picture, in BC there is the "mandatory" portion that all drivers must get from ICBC for basic 3rd party liability and licensing cost, and is at least ~800 per year (I believe the amount can rise based on driving record, age, type of car, etc). Then there is the "optional" coverage that covers things like collision, comprehensive, additional 3rd party liability. You can get that from ICBC, or from other private insurance companies, which is the part we're talking about here. My total insurance for my one car is about 1800 per year.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by AltaRed »

I looked up my cost from a few months ago. My ICBC portion was $611 and my BCAA supplement was $361 (just under $1000 as I thought).
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

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To clarify my earlier posting, here are the costs over the past 3 years for insuring my '05 Jeep GC. Rates are based on senior status, vehicle used for pleasure only in the Lower Mainland region. 2015: $1,122.04 ($738.00/$384.04), 2016: $1,156.04 ($772.00/$384.04), and 2017: $1,216.00 ($804.00/$412.00). Broken down as (ICBC/Canada Direct for '15 and '16 and ICBC/Belairdirect for '17.

Other factors include safe driving record, extra high public liability coverage and no teenage male drivers.

I think the rates are reasonable for a geezer like me when I hear what others are paying.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

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Got our renewal from Belairdirect today no change in coverage, no change in accidents, same car 1 year older Last year $499 this year $663?

I'm still not very good at math but is that about 32%.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

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beachcomber wrote: 04 Dec 2017 15:05 To clarify my earlier posting, here are the costs over the past 3 years for insuring my '05 Jeep GC. Rates are based on senior status, vehicle used for pleasure only in the Lower Mainland region. 2015: $1,122.04 ($738.00/$384.04), 2016: $1,156.04 ($772.00/$384.04), and 2017: $1,216.00 ($804.00/$412.00). Broken down as (ICBC/Canada Direct for '15 and '16 and ICBC/Belairdirect for '17.

Other factors include safe driving record, extra high public liability coverage and no teenage male drivers.

I think the rates are reasonable for a geezer like me when I hear what others are paying.
Old Geezer here too, pleasure only, but ICBC mandatory component must be less in the Okanagan. Just got a renewal for $645 (07 Infiniti M35X AWD) for that portion.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

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BRIAN5000 wrote: 19 Aug 2018 19:23 Got our renewal from Belairdirect today no change in coverage, no change in accidents, same car 1 year older Last year $499 this year $663?

I'm still not very good at math but is that about 32%.
2010 Honda civic with 97,000km which means about 12K per year subtract $52 from $663, if we were a member of almost any organization, unfortunately we are not, a further discount. (Golf Now I think he said :roll: )
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by AltaRed »

For those not familiar with parochial BC, there is a mandatory BC government insurance component (ICBC) that everyone must purchase along with their annual vehicle registration. This component is likely not very vehicle dependent, but more dependent on driver record, pleasure vs work, and geographical location. For those that want collision and other goodies, one can either purchase additional coverage from ICBC, or any one of other providers such as Belair Direct, BCAA, etc.

My current renewal for the mandatory component ($200k third party liability, $150k Accident Benefits, hit and run protection, and $ 1 million Underinsured Motorist Protection), is $559. Add in another $25 for $2 million underinsured motorist protection, and $61 for annual vehicle registration, it comes to $645.

In my case, I pay BCAA extra for boosting third party liability to $2 million, Collision/Comprehensive $1000 deductible and a variety of other benefits.
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

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BRIAN5000 wrote: 20 Aug 2018 14:14
BRIAN5000 wrote: 19 Aug 2018 19:23 Got our renewal from Belairdirect today no change in coverage, no change in accidents, same car 1 year older Last year $499 this year $663?

I'm still not very good at math but is that about 32%.
2010 Honda civic with 97,000km which means about 12K per year subtract $52 from $663, if we were a member of almost any organization, unfortunately we are not, a further discount. (Golf Now I think he said :roll: )
Our bare minimum ICBC coverage is $1224 (yikes) with maximum discount 43%, 20 years no accident + the Belair for optional ($663) is $1887 total.
$500/$200 ($1000/$200 - $35 per year),(500/500- $45 per year)
2.8 mil added Liability (= 3 mil total)
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Re: Belairdirect Car insurance renewal after takeover of CDI

Post by Okanagan »

Just got my renewal on 2008 Honda Accord Coupe - senior - in BC; up 70% from last year; phoned and talked to CSR - well sir, we lost money on cars last year so most people are seeing increases from 30% to 80% this year....I said we have 2 cars insured with you...have never had any accidents or points, are out of the country 6 months of year....saw a 10% increase when Belair took over from Canadian Direct and now a 70% increase....well ok...do you drive 5000K or less each year...(on this particular car I do) so he knocked off 10% ....no consideration for 2 vehicles insured...so I will definitely be looking elsewhere.....an online check with BCAA here is at least $150 cheaper right off the bat... so make sure you check out alternatives as Belair doesn't seem to give a s..t
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