Canadians want to be more informed when it comes to shopping around for insurance, says the Canadian Bankers Association, and today released the results of a poll that it says confirms this assertion.

The CBA says 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.

The banking industry trade group says that a poll by The Strategic Counsel, commissioned by the CBA, 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 CEO of the CBA. “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?”

Among the polls key findings:

  • 91% of consumers agree that having as many choices as possible for information about insurance products, including bank branches, is a good idea;
  • 91% 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% 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;

  • 30% believe brokers shop all or most of the companies in the marketplace; and
  • 62% believe brokers shop only some of the companies, or two or three of the companies in the marketplace.



“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,” Protti said.

The Strategic Counsel poll of 1,358 adult Canadians was conducted in October 2005 and is considered accurate within +/- 3.1 percentage points, 19 times out of 20,

The poll results can be found at www.cba.ca/insurance.