{"id":550965,"date":"2026-03-21T10:19:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-21T10:19:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/550965\/"},"modified":"2026-03-21T10:19:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-21T10:19:10","slug":"commission-warns-n-b-residents-against-using-toronto-insurance-related-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/550965\/","title":{"rendered":"Commission warns N.B. residents against using Toronto insurance-related company"},"content":{"rendered":"

Almost a year after a Miramichi woman spoke out about how dealing with an insurance-related company left her in financial ruin, a watchdog commission in the province is formally warning people to stay away.<\/p>\n

The Financial and Consumer Services Commission of New Brunswick published an alert on March 10 about Assureway Protection Corporation after the commission\u2019s equivalent in Ontario, where that company is based, issued a similar warning.<\/p>\n

A news release said the commission was issuing the warning after New Brunswickers had complained to the Consumer Advocate for Insurance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIn some cases, Assureway GAP products name an insurance company even though no licensed insurer issued the policy,\u201d the release said.<\/p>\n

Assureway is a third-party administrator \u2014 a bridge of sorts between a licenced insurer and a company. A third-party administrator is not the underwriter of an insurance policy, but like with Assureway, it will investigate and rule on claims made by customers.<\/p>\n

In the case of Miramichi\u2019s Samantha Anderson, they accused her of insurance fraud and denied her claim after a deer collision totalled her car.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt still haunts me,\u201d Anderson said a year later.<\/p>\n

\"TheAnderson’s Mitsubishi RVR was totalled after the collision with the deer. (Submitted by Samantha Anderson)<\/p>\n

The single mother said she remains about $27,000 in debt from what she still owed on the loan for her car that she had purchased GAP, or Guaranteed Asset Protection, insurance to help cover in the first place. Now, she has filed a request to clear the debt from her name with an insolvency company.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t buy anything I want,” she said. “I’m trying to save for a house.<\/p>\n

“No banks will even look at me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Anderson purchased GAP insurance from Assureway. GAP insurance is a tack-on that drivers can buy. It\u2019s meant to cover the full value of a car loan as opposed to the depreciated value at the time if your car gets totalled.<\/p>\n

While both the actual underwriting insurance company and the dealership in New Brunswick offering the product have to be licensed, the third-party administrator does not.<\/p>\n

\"AMarissa Sollows, director of communications and public affairs for the Financial and Consumer Services Commission, said people should report any complaints about the company to the commission. (Financial and Consumer Services Commission)<\/p>\n

Marissa Sollows, director of communications and public affairs with the commission, said in an interview that anyone in the province can look on the commission’s licence database before purchasing any insurance policy to see if the company is licensed to do business here.\u00a0<\/p>\n

If someone in New Brunswick has a policy with Assureway, Sollows said they should look over whatever documents they have to determine if they are still covered.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While she said the commission cannot recover premiums or refunds, she said people can still report any complaints to them.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does help us to understand the impact of any unlicensed activities in the province,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Sollows said because third-party administrators, such as Assureway, are not licensed, there are no enforcement actions that can be taken at this time. She also said the commission does not have information about how many New Brunswickers may have purchased policies with Assureway. <\/p>\n

CBC News asked the New Brunswick Finance and Treasury Board, which oversees the Insurance Act, if it plans to regulate third-party administrators, but did not receive a response on Friday.<\/p>\n

\"AAssureway has been officially dissolved as a company by the federal government, but its website remains active. (Assureway)<\/p>\n

The Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario issued its own warning on Feb. 26.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cAssureway Protection is not, and never has been, a licensed insurance company and is not authorized to engage in the insurance business in Ontario,\u201d the news release said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis means any existing or future policies and claims may not be honoured.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spokesperson Lillian Kim declined an interview request and said the authority does not comment on investigations.\u00a0<\/p>\n

For Anderson, who knows this struggle all too well, she said she is thankful that the New Brunswick commission is warning others.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we want to do is make a living and try to raise a family,” she said. “And to be screwed over like that by a company, it’s like, wow, that’s a lot of money out of my pocket.\u201d<\/p>\n

Company no longer legally exists<\/p>\n

According to documents obtained by CBC News, Assureway was dissolved last June.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cBecause of this, if you purchased a product linked to Assureway, you may have trouble contacting the company, getting information or having claims or services processed,\u201d according to the release from the New Brunswick commission.<\/p>\n

CBC News attempted to contact the company on Friday, but did not receive a response. An automatic response email said the company is \u201creviewing its operations and financial position.\u201d It said the company is not reviewing any claims from customers at this time, and that customers can apply for a refund, pending approval by Assureway.<\/p>\n

Anderson wonders what the dissolution means for her. She said she still warns people about her experience almost daily.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnybody that comes to me about vehicles or \u2018Hey, I’m going to buy a vehicle,\u2019 I’m like, yeah, … let me tell you a little story,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cRead the fine print, please. Oh my goodness, read the fine print.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Almost a year after a Miramichi woman spoke out about how dealing with an insurance-related company left her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":550966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-550965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=550965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/550965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/550966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=550965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=550965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=550965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}