Dominion of Canada General Insurance

The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, commonly known as The Dominion, is one of Canada’s oldest and largest insurance companies and is a general insurance company. Unlike many large insurance companies it is privately owned and not a subsidiary of a foreign parent, mutually owned or quoted on a Canadian or foreign stock insurance.

Services Offered by The Dominion

The Dominion is a general insurer and offers a wide range of products. The main insurance areas that The Dominion covers are auto insurance, home insurance and businesses insurance. It does not have an extensive offering in personal insurance. They are known for insuring rarer classes of risks as well as being fairly flexible in what they will cover and are very willing to consider payment plans.

The Dominion Auto Insurance

The Dominion is an important player in the auto insurance sector. It offers car insurance for both recreational uses as well as for company owned car fleets. It is one of the few insurers that actively seek business from motor home owners. Other specialized areas are antique cars and private passenger services such as taxis.

The Dominion Home Insurance

The Dominion offers home insurance for a range of situations including homeowners, those in condominiums, renters insurance, and people operating a business at home, second home owners, boat home owners and motor home owners. It has a range of discounts through a credit system for classes such as non-smokers newer home owners and the over 50s.

The Dominion Business Insurance

A wide range of businesses are covered from home businesses to large employers. Areas covered include public liability, property and business auto fleets.

The Dominion Sales Channel

The Dominion does not have a captive sales force, instead relying on independent brokers to sell its insurance. It will also not sell insurance direct to the public, insisting that potential clients go via a broker. The company’s headquarters are in Toronto. It also has offices in Markham, Ottawa, Halifax, Edmonton, Charlottetown, Oakville, Vancouver and Calgary.

Ethics and community involvement

The Dominion claims to be guided by a very strong ethical framework including integrity, customer focus, excellence and an outstanding claims progress. Like other insurance companies it sponsors a range of charities and sports. Its particularly notable in Canada for sponsoring over a dozen curling contests, including the Dominion CPA Ontario Curling contest, making them the leading sponsor in this small sport.

The Dominion Claims Handling

One of the unique points about The Dominion is the emphasis that they put on claims handling. They see this as part of their unique selling proposition and publicize their “superior” claims handling capability very heavily.

A Short History of the Dominion

The Dominion was founded in 1887 to use techniques being introduced by American insurers. Its first chairman was also the first Prime Minister of Canada, Sir John A Macdonald. It has long been seen as being a part of the Canadian establishment; unlike many other insurers it is still Canadian owned.