PC Insurance Review (2024) – Personal Finance Freedom

If you are on the search for an Insurance company, then you have probably come across President’s Choice Insurance or as it is more commonly known as PC insurance. The Insurance company is one of the giants in the Canadian insurance industry and it promises to deliver to its customers the best rates you can get anywhere.

Almost all the Canadian Insurance companies pride themselves on being the best, giving the most affordable prices on the best of services and promise to always put their customers first. It is no longer a new thing to hear such claims.

This review will talk about PC Insurance, its products, and services that it makes available to its customers and will attempt to determine if these claims are true or the Insurance company is just full of hot air.

PC Insurance: An Overview

PC Insurance is a subsidiary of a much larger company, Loblaw Companies Ltd.

Loblaw Companies Ltd. appeared in the business world in 1919 and several companies including PC Insurance, PC Financial Insurance Agency Inc., PC Financial Insurance Broker Inc., PC Pet Insurance, PC Financial travel and so many more are all members of the Loblaw Group.

The giant company through its many subsidiaries has made quite an impressive selection of products and services available to its Canadian customers.

PC Insurance itself started operations in 1996 and has since then operated as Loblaw’s major insurance subsidiary.

The company operates in many provinces including, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Alberta, Newfoundland and Labrador, and Ontario and offers home, auto, business, and travel insurance to its customers in these regions.

PC claims to offer its customers rates that are pocket friendly, but this is not its only selling point.

The Insurance company also has a reward system for its customers through which it aims to keep them not only loyal but also keeps them happier than any other insurance company around. This reward system has to do with payments with the company’s MasterCard, we will talk more about this later.

PC Insurance has an impressive selection of products from which its customers can pick from and they all have peculiar features that make them unique to PC insurance alone. Let’s talk about these products next.

PC Insurance Products

As I already mentioned, PC offers home, auto, business, and travel insurance.

But these are not the only insurance policies that you can take out with PC Insurance.

You also have the options of Motorcycle insurance if you love to ride and would like to be insured for every time you get on the motorcycle, then there’s the tenant insurance for those who are living in or have a rented space somewhere and you can always take out insurance on your pet with their pet insurance policy.

Let’s talk about these products one after the other.

Home Insurance

A home is a significant asset to have and it is most likely the most important part of your net worth. It does not matter where you live, be it suburbs or in a megacity, you must get an insurance policy on your home. And that is where PC Insurance comes in.

The company’s insurance quotes are derived from a selection of partners through which it can provide you with the rate and coverage that completely matches your requirements. These partners include Aviva, PAFCO, Pembridge Insurance, Economical Insurance, Zenith Insurance, Intact Insurance, Travelers, and Royal and Sun Alliance insurance.

The insurance policy will cover your home entirely. This coverage will include all parts of the home such as the roof, the doors, the windows, and the floor you walk on every day. The coverage will protect you from any kind of peril that you choose.

The perils you can get coverage for include

Theft
Vandalism
Water Damages
Lightning damages
Wind damages
Vehicle collision
Fires and Explosions
Smoke
Falling Objects.

The policy will also extend to cover your property and personal belongings. This will afford you coverage for your appliances, furniture, clothing, and smaller electronics. Some belongings such as jewelry and stamp collections may need you to take out another kind of insurance to protect them, but the home insurance will protect the basics.

Other features of the Home Insurance

The home insurance also adds on some other features and other options that make it completely worth it.

The other features that come with the home insurance policy are

Personal Liability: this ensures that you are covered for accidental damages to the property or injury to other persons on your property. This will help you cover for your kids breaking the neighbour’s window with their ball. There are limits to what personal liability will cover but it can help you lessen costs in a lot of accidental situations around and inside the home.

Additional Living Expenses: if for some reason you are unable to live in your home, whether thanks to a natural disaster or perhaps a fire outbreak and have to incur costs for living outside your home, the policy will help you cover such costs.

These additional expenses include payment for hotel rooms and restaurant fees while your kitchen is unavailable.

Asides the listed perils you can choose from that I earlier mentioned, there are other optional coverage options that you can add to your policy for some additional coverage. These additional options include

Sewer Backup
Overland Water
Home Sharing
Earthquake
Identity Theft

For more information on these extra options, then you can check here.

PC’s Home Insurance Discounts

Everyone loves saving money, and PC kept this in mind when designing their policies. They offer several ways that will help you save up on your monthly payments and still let you get the same quality policy for less.

You can qualify for the following discounts on the home insurance policy.

Age Discount: there is an opportunity for you to save up on your home insurance policies if you are over a certain specific age.
Home Security and Fire Protection Discount: you also qualify for a discount if you have a security guard or have an alarm system in your home.
Claims Free Discount: You also stand the chance of getting a discount if you have not made a claim in a long while.
Mortgage Free Discount: If you do not have a line of credit or mortgage on your home then there is a particular discount that you can get on your monthly payments.
Multi-property Discount: if you take out policies on multiple homes and houses then you also get a discount on your policy.
Newer Home Discount: If your home is relatively new, then you also have a kind of discount that you can earn.
Water Alarm Discount: Your policy gets a discount if you have a central alarm system monitoring your water pipes and other appliances, then you can also get a discount.
Non-smoker Discount: if your home is a smoking-free area, then you can earn this particular discount.
Sewer backup Discounts: if you take steps to avoid your sewer getting backed up, then this discount will be applied to your policy.
Stability discount: this applies based on the number of years you have stayed in your home; the longer, the more you can save.

PC Auto Insurance

PC Insurance advertises itself to be an insurance broker that is “driven to find you a great rate” when it comes to auto insurance. It has for this purpose partnered with 9 auto insurance providers and this allows it to provide the competitive coverage rates that it gives its customers today.

The rates from all partners are compared against each other and the best is quoted for you.

Some other factors such as the type of vehicle, deductible limits, your province, your miles covers, and your driving record will also go into consideration when determining the rate of your premium insurance.

Bundling your auto insurance with your home insurance or any other insurance will help you keep your rates down as well as other discounts that will be discussed later.

In the basic insurance coverage, you are covered for liability, accident benefits, direct compensation damage, and uninsured motorist.

The liability coverage is for situations where you are at fault for an accident and end up being sued. PC will assist you in covering the costs of the legal process.

Accident benefits will cover you or another passenger of your car in case of an accident while the direct compensation damage coverage is for situations where your car is in an accident that you are not at fault for or only partially at fault for. The direct compensation damage coverage is available to customers in Ontario alone.

The uninsured motorist covers you for hit-and-run accidents. You won’t have to worry about a driver who damages your car and disappears, PC will have you covered.

Auto Insurance Optional Coverage

Asides the basic coverage you have the chance to add-on some optional coverage to your auto insurance policy. While the eligibility criteria vary according to the province, there will surely be an option that suits you.

The optional coverage that you can get for your car include:

Minor Ticket Protection: This coverage option puts your mind at rest for your first minor charge without it affecting your insurance premium.
Waiver of Depreciation: If your car is younger than 5 years, then this coverage will allow you to get a replacement that is comparable to the model of your current car, in case your car gets stolen or damaged beyond repair.
Family Protection: this coverage stretches the protection of your auto insurance to cover your family alongside you. This will cover you and your family in case you or they are in an accident with an underinsured or uninsured driver.
Accident Forgiveness: this will help you avoid an increase in your premium payments after your first accident. Accident forgiveness is specially designed for at-fault accidents.
Liability for damage to non-owned cars: if you are a regular user of rental cars, this option is for you. It will cover you for liability damage to any rental car you drive in Canada or the US.

Auto Insurance Discounts

Just like the home insurance policy, PC’s auto insurance policies offer you the chance to save up on your money. The several discount opportunities that you can earn on an auto insurance policy with PC insurance include:

Students away from home discount: if you are off to college or the university, this discount lets you save a percentage off of your premiums.
Graduated Licensing Discount: if you are a driver in your first year with a G or G2 driver’s license, then you qualify for this discount.
Driver’s Training Discount: a visit to a driver’s ed school would gain you professional training which in turn would earn you a discount on your auto insurance.
Good Student Discount: if you keep up good grades in school, keeping your average to about 80%, and you are under 25, then there is a chance that you can earn this discount on your auto insurance.
Multi-Vehicle discount: if you take out insurance coverage on more than one vehicle, then you can qualify for this discount. If you also have more cars than people in your house, then you can also qualify for this discount.
Private Parking Discount: if you have a private parking space, whether at home or a carport, then you can earn this discount.
Autonomous Emergency Braking System Discount: if you own a car with automatic braking and proximity monitoring capabilities, then you can also earn a special discount.
Anti-theft Discount: if you take necessary steps to prevent your car from being stolen, such as installing an alarm system, then you qualify for this discount. The alarm system must be one approved by PC Insurance

There are some other discounts that you can earn, these include

Retiree Discount
Winter Tire Discount
Conviction Free Discount
Farmers’ Discount
Green Vehicle Discount

For more information on the auto insurance policy that you can get with PC insurance, check here.

Motorcycle Insurance: Not the same as auto insurance

PC insurance treats its motorcycle insurance differently from its auto insurance, while there might be similarities between the two, there are a few peculiarities that make the motorcycle insurance different.

Your motorcycle insurance costs can be calculated based on the following criteria.

Bike Model: the make of your motorcycle will go a long way in determining your premium costs. A faster model is known to cost more than the slower models when it comes to calculating premium rates. If you are not all for speed, then a slower model would be your best bet.
Passengers: if you will be carrying others on your motorcycle, your premium might be higher than when you do not have others riding with you. If you have a passenger and have an accident or suffer a collision, you might end up with your claim denied. It is best to discuss this with your broker first.
Experience on a motorcycle: if you are an older and more experienced rider, there is a big chance that your premium might cost less than those who are just getting on a bike for the first time.

Other factors such as what you use the bike for and where you live also significantly affect the rate you will receive as a quote for monthly payments.

Keeping your motorcycle premium low

If you are looking for ways to keep your motorcycle insurance rates low, PC has a few options that can help you with this regardless of how long you have been a rider.

These ways include

Buying a less powerful bike: as I already mentioned, slower bikes receive favourable treatment from insurance companies like PC insurance. So if you get a less powerful bike, then you will receive lower rate quotes.
Keep a clean driving record: if you have a history of clean driving and little or no accidents, then you will receive favourable rates. This will continue even after you have taken out the policy.
Rider training: if you enroll in the professional rider’s training program in Canada and complete it successfully, then you will end up with more affordable rates than without the training.
Passenger free-riding: if you do not ride with a passenger, your insurance broker will be more likely to give you a lesser rate than if you rode with passengers.

PC Auto Insurance vs. Motorcycle Insurance

I earlier mentioned that while there are similarities between the two, auto and motorcycle insurance policies are not the same.

The major difference lies in the coverage costs. There is a higher chance of accident leading to death or injury with motorcycles than there is with cars, this translates to any insurance broker charging more for motorcycle insurance.

There is also the chance that your motorcycle insurance will vary drastically as you move from province to province.

For instance, in Ontario, motorcycle insurance will require third-party liability, uninsured motorists, accident benefits, and direct compensation coverage while Albert will only require third-party liability and accident benefits coverage. The requirements vary from province to province.

Claims: Making a claim and cancelling a policy with PC Insurance

If you want to make a claim with PC, the process is stress-free and simple. You can very easily pick up the phone and place a call through their phone lines. Once your call has been answered, you will be put on to one of their agents who will then ask you to provide the required information as well as inform you of when you can expect to hear back from them.

You can call on 1-877-251-8656.

If you want to cancel your policy, you can call through on the same number. The insurance agent on the other end will guide you through the entire process.

If you are cancelling the policy, you might end up having to pay a cancellation fee. The fee is solely for administrative purposes since you are cancelling your policy early.

PC Insurance: Getting a Quote

If you want a quote from PC Insurance, then you can simply contact them on 1866-660-9035. Once you have placed the call, you will be put on the line with an agent or specialist.

These insurance specialists will be available to you from 8:30 am to 7 pm on weekdays and from 9 am to 5 pm on Saturdays.

There is also the option of getting a quote online.

Before filling the information online, then you have to have some information on hand. for instance if you are getting auto insurance, then you will need to provide details such as make and model of your car, your license, and driving record among other things.

PC Insurance: Special Programs

Earlier I mentioned that PC insurance has a special reward program for its customers. This is the PC Optimum points program. The program is another way that PC helps its customers save money.

How does it work?

If you pay your premium using a PC Financial MasterCard, then you will earn 2 times the regular PC Optimum points. You can redeem these points for several products. These include home furniture, food, and clothing.

Every dollar you pay with the card will earn you about 20 PC optimum points and continuously paying with the card will help you accumulate points as quickly as possible. Once you have accumulated up to 10000 points, you can redeem it for $10 at a PC partner store across Canada.

Conclusion

PC insurance is a respectable insurance giant in the industry.

The company services are not any poorer than those of other insurance giants in Canada. Its rates are also not too expensive, but they are also not the cheapest, but for their quality of service, the price is not too bad.

The only disadvantage that PC has when compared to other companies is its lack of a mobile app. PC could do better in that regard. I would not mind using PC Insurance as my insurance broker just because of this though.

Let me know your thoughts and comments below. Thanks for reading!

PC Insurance Review