Consumers have spoken: "Make it easier for us to shop for insurance"

Last modified: 13 February 2006

For Immediate Release
February 14, 2006

TORONTO – The Canadian Bankers Association (CBA) today released the results of a poll that shows that, when it comes to shopping around for insurance, Canadians want to be more informed. Insurance salespeople and brokers have claimed that Canadians have enough insurance product information and that they would feel obligated to buy insurance from a bank source if they read a brochure or received a referral to a qualified insurance professional through a bank branch. A new poll by The Strategic Counsel, commissioned by the CBA and released today, found the exact opposite.

“Why would anyone oppose Canadians’ right to access the information they want to make informed insurance decisions?” asked Raymond Protti, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Canadian Bankers Association. “It’s time to put the interests and rights of Canadians first. Consumers have said that they want the ability to shop around, gather information and obtain rates and features about insurance products from a variety of sources, including banks. How is an informed consumer a bad thing?”

The Strategic Counsel poll of 1358 adult Canadians conducted in October 2005 and considered accurate within +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20, found that:

91 per cent of consumers agree that having as many choices as possible for information about insurance products, including bank branches, is a good idea
91 per cent also say that they would not feel obligated to buy insurance through a bank source if they were to receive printed information or referrals through a bank branch
89 per cent of consumers who use a broker believe that it would be useful to have more information from other sources about the options available before they met with a broker
Canadians appear to be looking for additional information knowing that brokers do not shop the full market on their behalf
30 per cent believe brokers shop all or most of the companies in the marketplace
62 per cent believe brokers shop only some of the companies, or two or three of the companies in the marketplace

The Conclusions are Clear and Canadians Have Spoken

Currently, the Bank Act—the federal government legislation that governs how banks operate in Canada—prohibits consumers from obtaining insurance product information, such as a brochure, from a bank branch. And, if a consumer asks a branch representative to refer them to a qualified insurance professional outside of the branch, the branch is not allowed to make that referral. The federal government is currently reviewing the Bank Act, as it is required to do every five years.

In the spring of 2005, as part of that review, the CBA put forward four recommendations to help consumers better shop the market and make the choices that work best for them. Those recommendations are to allow Canadian consumers to:

get insurance product information, like a brochure, from a bank branch
give their bank permission to have tailored insurance product information sent to them
give their bank permission to share information with an insurance professional to obtain insurance information
get a referral from bank branch personnel, like their account manager, to a qualified insurance professional outside of the branch
Moreover, a May 2005 poll commissioned by the CBA and conducted by The Strategic Counsel found that Canadian consumers are overwhelmingly in favour of the changes the CBA is recommending
90 per cent agree that it’s important to have as many insurance information choices as possible
85 per cent support the need to make insurance product information available in bank branches
77 per cent think they should be able to give their bank permission to send them insurance product information
83 per cent want to be able to get referrals to insurance professionals from their bank

“All we are proposing is to give the consumer access to more information when they’re shopping for insurance. The decision about what to buy and from whom would still be the consumer’s alone, as it should be,” added Mr. Protti.

The Canadian Bankers Association is an industry association representing the domestic and foreign chartered banks of Canada and their 249,000 employees.

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For more information:
Melanie Minos, Manager, Media Relations
Tel: (416) 362-6093, ext. 220
Cell: (416) 587-7733
E-mail: mminos@cba.ca