As a responsible car owner in Canada, you must have adequate third-party liability coverage. This policy will financially secure you if you are at fault in an accident resulting in property damage or someone’s death. Besides, you need to have accident benefits coverage, which assures you a minimum amount to compensate for your medical expenses.
Have you wondered about the consequences if your family members sustain an injury in an accident and this coverage falls short? You would end up draining yourself financially, shelling out their medical expenses out of your pocket. A family protection auto insurance policy can come to your rescue under these trying circumstances. 
Visit https://www.surex.com/insurance/auto-car/new-brunswick to compare quotes for this optional type of insurance.
What is family protection coverage auto insurance? — An expert guide
A family protection auto insurance is optional insurance coverage. These are specially designed policies that compensate you for your financial losses if your mandatory insurance falls short of compensating you with accident benefits.
Besides, these policies prove valuable if you are involved in an accident with a driver without insurance in Canada. Along with your eligible family members, you can get monetary compensation if someone sustains an injury or dies. So, if you are not at fault in an accident with an uninsured, unidentified, or underinsured driver in Canada, you can benefit from this coverage.
Family protection coverage is available only in some selected provinces in Canada, like Ontario and Alberta.
How does a family protection car insurance policy work?
Let’s take an instance to explain how family protection insurance works.
Suppose, you are involved in an accident, and the fault lies with the other driver. If you sustain serious injuries, you may have to be hospitalized. Medical bills can quickly escalate, and you would be liable to clear those hospital bills.
Again, a serious injury may render you unfit for work for months. This would result in lost wages or income. All these bills and losses can be worth thousands of dollars.
If the at-fault driver carries adequate insurance coverage, you will benefit from their liability coverage to manage the medical bills. However, what happens if the other driver doesn’t have adequate liability coverage or no insurance at all?
Suppose, the driver has basic liability coverage of $200,000, and your losses amount to $500,000. Under ordinary conditions, you would bear a loss of $300,000 since you need to pay the remaining amount yourself. However, with family protection coverage in place, your insurer will pay this difference.
The same rules apply if any of your family members sustain an injury in an accident.
Will purchasing family protection coverage raise your premium?
Yes, family protection car insurance coverage is optional, and adding one to your coverage will raise the premium. However, this would increase your overall premium only by a few dollars. You won’t repent shelling out those additional dollars, as it warrants safety for your family members and peace of mind.
Although this is an optional policy, insurance brokers highly recommend it to ensure your financial stability and the protection of your family members. The worst way to become broke is to drain out your savings as your family members endure pain and suffering. After all, you don’t have any control if an offending driver chooses not to have adequate insurance. As a precaution from your end, get family protection coverage along with your main policy.
Should you get a family protection car insurance policy?
Now that you know the answer to the question, “what is family protection coverage auto insurance?”, let’s understand why you should have this policy in place.
1. The policy covers hit-and-run accidents
The worst case to be an accident victim is one where you can’t identify the driver. This mostly involves cases of hit-and-run accidents. Your insurer needs to bear all your losses if the culprit goes unidentified, provided you have adequate limits.
If you have a family protection auto insurance policy in case, whether or not you manage to identify the offending driver doesn’t matter. Even if you identify the driver, you never know whether the person can fully compensate for your losses through their insurance.
Moreover, hospitalization and homecare expenses quickly build up. The minimum coverage you have can disappear in a few days. So, why not secure yourself financially with family protection coverage?
2. Do away with all possible risks
Financial peace is something every Canadian prioritizes. If you or any of your family members sustain injuries in an accident, how would you compensate for the losses due to lost wages? No family would love to face financial crunches simply because of inadequate insurance coverage.
Rather than risking your mental peace and financial stability, why not fork out a few additional dollars every year to draw your line of defense? With family protection coverage in your auto insurance policy, you can do away with all possible risks and cherish mental peace.
3. Family protection auto insurance comes cheap
Do you know that most insurers in Canada wouldn’t check your driving history while selling you one of the family protection car insurance packages? Unlike mandatory coverage, comprehensive, or collision insurance policies, your past driving records have nothing to do with these plans. Usually, insurers sell them at a standard rate, and these policies wouldn’t hurt your wallet much. It pays to remain secure financially with these affordable policies easily available in Canada.
Endnote
We have answered the question, “what is family protection on auto insurance?” and gone over its benefits comprehensively in this article. Now, you might be wondering whether such a policy is available in your province.
Talk to your insurance broker to know whether you can add this optional policy to your coverage as per your provincial norms. The experts would evaluate your overall coverage and risk profile and recommend a suitable policy for you.
Moreover, you can keep your premiums low by working with reputed insurance brokers like Surex. These professionals compare multiple quotes from top insurers and help their clients settle for the most cost-effective policies. This way, you can save hundreds of dollars on your car insurance premium over the years. Maximize your car insurance coverage by being strategic while choosing your optional coverages.
