It occurred to me recently that I’ll never REALLY be satisfied with paying for insurance.
Home. Auto. Life. Travel....whatever. 
I could think of hundreds of things I'd rather spend $3,000 a year on.

1. Buy used Seadoos every year to ride and abandon.
2. Buy new grass each year and never take care of it knowing more is coming next year.
3. Unlimited Ice Cream and Milkshake Budget. 
4. Donate it. (had to offer up SOMETHING that wasn't totally self indulgent)
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​This could go on, but I think you see where I'm going here.  

Insurance is a lot like PROPERTY TAX or AN OIL BILL. I don't WANT to pay it, but it's a requirement if you have a vehicle, or home. 

It seems that a LOT of people derive the VALUE from knowing they paid the absolute bottom dollar for insurance coverage. 
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They shop for new carriers every year, they don’t mind waiting on hold forever, and they have zero interest in getting to know the people offering that product. 

In today's world.... I TOTALLY get that approach. It keeps the most dollars in your pocket TODAY, and you're rolling the dice on never needing to use it. 

If you're this type of customer....consider a direct insurer.​ 
​There are lots of them out there catering exactly to what you're looking for. (TD, UNIFUND aka JOHNSON, Sonnet, etc)

The model is setup so that the insurers save costs on selling it (using call centers) and then pass some of those savings to the customer through lower premiums. 

ALL UPSIDE right? Not necessarily. 

You shouldn't troll the TD social media accounts about how BAD THEY ARE AFTER A CLAIM IS DENIED. *Although I should admit I enjoy reading those.
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If lowest price was the only thing people VALUED the market would be FLOODED with Kirkland Basketball Shoes and Big 8 Jeans...yet I can't find Big 8 Jeans anywhere. 

I prefer to support local when I can but honestly FAMILIARITY is my favorite. I like to have a relationship with a service provider if at all possible...BUT ONLY TO A POINT.
A reasonable price is absolutely a factor.

Most Nova Scotia residents are not in a position to completely ignore price...nor should they. Those insurance bills are going to keep rolling in...and most of us are going to keep paying them so why not feel better about the payment by getting some VALUE out of the transaction.

It’s out there…just figure out what it means to you and look for that.

-MD

Well one reason is that DEDUCTIBLES are typically DIRECTLY RELATED TO THE COST OF THE INSURANCE POLICY. 

There's nothing new about the idea of multiple deductibles in one policy.
Consider Auto Insurance being split into collision and comprehensive deductibles.

What's WORTH KNOWING NOW - Is how this has made it's way into both HOME INSURANCE and COMMERCIAL PROPERTY INSURANCE.  

Example: Jewelry has a $5000 maximum payout on a policy and a $1000 policy deductible.  

Policyholder 1 loses their $6,000 engagement ring while taking a ride on the Halifax Harbour Hopper. Lucikly they listened to a broker who helped them purchase a policy that included 'mysterious disappearance'.  

Most consumers would probably do the math like this:

$6,000 ring
Maximum jewelry limit is $5,000.
LESS the $1,000 deductible = $4,000. 
.....but that'd be incorrect. ​

Setting the jokes and baseball aside IBAC is doing a great job laying out the benefits of buying coverage through a broker and promoting the #BrokerAdvantage.

Here's one of their ad spots from their recent 'BEFORE THE QUOTE' campaign: