CNS - Canadian Northern Shield (RSA) Home Insurance Reviews

We were lead to believe through our broker that CNS would be a good company-good bang for the buck. Unfortunately and thru no fault of our own, we had a slow water leak from our dishwasher which sat under our floor until we noticed swelling and buckling to the hardwood. We called and filed a claim. Restoration company did some drying out with fans etc which didn’t work. The adjuster we were assigned worked with us. Very slow process. Poor communication. They did pay the claim but they were only responsible for the first $10,000.00. Our strata insurance picked up the rest and we paid the $1000 deductible. The claim and work ran from Feb-August! We returned home from vacation yesterday and Surprise... the broker contacted us to say we will not be renewed Jan 30th as we have been “dumped” due to a claim in our first year of being their clients. We have carried house insurance for 43 years. Different companies mind you but with the same broker. So, this is very upsetting as we are searching for someone to cover us due to this claim in the last year AND being denied renewal by this CNS company. Very upsetting-very scandalous. When we signed up for coverage by this company last Jan 2019 we were offered a disclaimer if we wished to pay $25 which would prevent us from being hit with an increase in coverage fees should we have a claim in that year. So, again, it sounds like a good deal. Paid the extra $25 but instead of raising our coverage cost they just keep our $25 and DECLINED to reinsure us. Why would a company offer a disclaimer in the first year of being their customer if they won’t cover you if you have a claim! Guess they are pissed due to not being able to increase our coverage costs so they dump us. We have become very conscious of supporting Canadian Companies over the last decade. So when CNS was offered to us we thought, sure, why not. Well, I have given you many reasons “why not”. Beware...

The first thing to know is that the moment you have a large claim you cease having any friends in your insurance circle. The Agent, Adjuster, the company's preferred construction Contractor and preferred Restoration firm are aligned against you. The Adjuster knows you don't have a list of all of your belongings and before you can develop one they will have their preferred restoration company remove your belongings. The Adjuster wants not only to minimize your claim but to minimize the cost of dealing with your assets. To this end, they will pressure you to accept 85% of the value of the assets on their list of assets rather than repairing or replacing them. If you refuse you can expect no communications whatsoever from their preferred suppliers. Their communications are poor by design - they like to keep things verbal and if you try to use email for the sake of having a record of what they've said you'll find that the Adjuster doesn't receive your email or don't have the software needed to open .pdf attachments - even though they can send them to you. You might find that they also use multiple email addresses. In the beginning, the Adjuster will make up limitations and constraints relating to your claim that aren't mentioned anywhere in your policy and are not supported by existing insurance case-law. If you insist they provide a proper explanation they will accuse you of impropriety and threaten to reject your claim. If you continue to refuse to back down they will begin ignoring you. Ultimately all of these actions are intended to cause the claimant to throw their hands up and accept less than they're entitled to. These people are subject to a Code of Ethics - but they certainly don't adhere to it. You can deal with them for 20-30-40 years without ever making a claim - only to find that the honourable people you thought were dealing with have never felt the same about you.

We've been paying premiums for decades but had never made an insurance claim until last year when we had a fire that seriously damaged our home. At that point CNS sent their team of preferred suppliers in to assist us. We found ourselves facing off against brokers, adjusters, contractors and suppliers who directly represent CNS interests. We have no one to represent our interests other than ourselves - but we've got no expertise in dealing with insurance or construction issues. How would we know whether the two reconstruction quotes their adjuster had two of their reconstruction contractors come up with is adequate or appropriate? One of their contractors came in and removed our belongings when we weren't there and didn't provide a receipt for the things taken. Our claims for additional living costs were arbitrarily rejected and we have a lawyer who will be pursuing them on that. More than anything we've found them to be bullies who use delays as a means of pressuring and punishing policy holders who don't agree with them. They've consistently shied away from any kind of dialogue that would explain their position. It's not just CNS - their broker, Sea-first, has been no use to us whatsoever and their adjuster, Lindsey, is one of the most obnoxious and offensive people we've ever met. They've gone out of their way to cause us anguish and uncertainty - you have to wonder how they can stay in business.