Plain-English glossary
Canadian insurance terms across auto, home, life, credit, and regulatory. Click any term to open its full guide — context, examples, FAQs, and the regulations behind it.
Showing 70 of 70 terms · Sorted A–Z
7 terms
Categories: Health, Regulatory
A written statement sworn under oath before an authorized official. In the super visa context, an affidavit is what makes a translation acceptable when the person who did the translating is not certified. IRCC requires “an affidavit (sworn statement) from the translator” in that situation, and explains its purpose: “This statement confirms the translator’s language skills and the accuracy of the translation.”
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Categories: Auto
Ontario accident benefits provide support after an automobile accident regardless of fault, subject to eligibility and policy terms. Standard medical, rehabilitation and attendant care benefits remain mandatory; other accident benefits are optional under the July 1, 2026 reforms.
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Categories: Home, Auto
Actual cash value (ACV) is a loss-settlement value that accounts for the insured property’s age and condition rather than automatically paying for a brand-new replacement. The calculation depends on the property, policy wording and evidence of value.
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Categories: Auto, Home
The carrier employee (or independent contractor) who investigates a claim, sets the payout amount, and writes the cheque.
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Categories: Credit
The interest a credit card charges on unpaid balances, expressed yearly. Most Canadian cards sit in a 19.99–21.99% range on purchases.
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Categories: Auto
An at-fault claim is a claim arising from a collision for which the insurer assigns some or all responsibility to the insured driver. Ontario insurers use the Fault Determination Rules; the effect on premiums is a separate question.
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Categories: Auto
Reimbursement for paid help with daily living tasks (bathing, dressing, meal prep) after a serious auto accident. Under Ontario’s Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule (SABS, O. Reg. 34/10, s.19), the monthly cap is $3,000 for non-catastrophic injuries (payable for up to five years) and $6,000 for catastrophic impairment (payable for life). Both draw against the combined SABS medical/rehab/attendant care pool.
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5 terms
Categories: Life
The person (or estate) who receives the payout when a life-insurance policyholder dies. You can name multiple beneficiaries and assign percentages. Naming your estate triggers Ontario probate fees; naming a person directly does not.
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Categories: Auto, Home
A temporary proof of coverage your broker issues the moment you bind a policy — valid until the formal contract arrives.
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Categories: Auto, Home
Insurance bundling means arranging more than one policy, commonly home and auto, with the same insurer or an eligible insurance group. It may qualify for a discount, but the total price, coverage and eligibility depend on the insurer.
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Categories: Regulatory
A RIBO-licensed intermediary who shops multiple carriers on your behalf, paid by commission from the chosen carrier. Different from an "agent," who works for a single carrier.
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Categories: Auto
Bodily injury liability is the part of third-party liability insurance that responds to covered claims against an insured person for injury or death caused to someone else. Ontario auto policies use a combined third-party liability limit for bodily injury and property damage.
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8 terms
Categories: Health, Regulatory
A translator whose credentials a Canadian government body can verify, because they belong to an official provincial or territorial association. IRCC defines the term precisely: “A certified translator is a member in good standing of a provincial or territorial organization of translators and interpreters in Canada.”
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Categories: Health, Regulatory
On a super visa application, a second person who signs the host’s letter of invitation and adds their income to help meet the minimum necessary income requirement. Only one relationship qualifies: the host’s spouse or common-law partner, provided they are “a Canadian citizen, permanent resident of Canada or registered Indian.”
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Categories: Auto
Catastrophic impairment is a defined injury classification under Ontario’s Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule. Meeting the applicable criteria can provide access to higher medical, rehabilitation and attendant care limits; it is not a diagnosis based only on how serious an injury feels.
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Categories: Credit
A credit-card reward paid as a percentage of every dollar spent. Typically 1–4% depending on category.
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Categories: Auto, Home
A formal request to your carrier to pay for a loss covered by your policy.
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Categories: Auto
Optional auto coverage that pays to repair your own vehicle after a collision you caused (or a hit-and-run). Usually pairs with a $500–$1,000 deductible.
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Categories: Auto
Optional auto coverage for non-collision damage — theft, vandalism, hail, wildlife, falling objects. Often called "Other Than Collision."
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Categories: Credit
The ratio of what you owe to your total credit limit. Below 30% is considered healthy; below 10% is optimal for credit-score growth.
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4 terms
Categories: Auto, Home
The amount you pay out of pocket before insurance kicks in on a claim. Higher deductibles mean lower premiums.
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Categories: Auto
An Ontario rule that lets you claim from your own insurer (not the at-fault driver's) for vehicle damage. Expanding July 1, 2026 to cover parking-lot incidents and single-vehicle road-hazard damage.
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Categories: Life
A disability rider is an attached insurance provision that changes what a policy provides when a person meets its definition of disability. Check whether it waives premiums, pays an income benefit or provides another benefit; these are not the same promise.
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Categories: Home
Dwelling coverage is the building portion of a home insurance policy. It addresses covered damage to the insured home’s structure, subject to the policy’s limits, settlement basis, exclusions and conditions; belongings and liability have separate provisions.
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3 terms
Categories: Regulatory
Ontario's insurance regulator. Approves carrier rate filings, enforces the Insurance Act, and licenses brokers.
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Categories: Auto
Ontario's insurer of last resort. Provides coverage to drivers no standard carrier will accept — typically those with multiple at-faults or recent licence suspensions.
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Categories: Auto
Payments your own policy makes to you, regardless of fault. Includes all Ontario accident benefits.
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1 term
Categories: Health, Regulatory
On a super visa application, the document showing that the family member inviting you is legally settled in Canada. IRCC requires that “You must provide proof that your host is one of the following:” — a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident, or a registered Indian — each with its own accepted document.
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3 terms
Categories: Auto
The portion of Ontario accident benefits that pays a weekly amount if injury prevents you from working. Standard tier under current SABS: $400/week, 70% of gross income. Becomes tiered opt-in after July 1, 2026.
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Categories: Regulatory
In property insurance, insurable interest is a financial stake in preserving the insured property: damage or loss would cause you an economic loss. Ownership is one example, but a lender or another party may also have an interest that needs to be identified correctly.
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Categories: Regulatory
Indemnification is compensation for a covered loss under an insurance contract. In property insurance, the amount depends on the agreed settlement basis, covered damage, limits, deductibles and conditions; it is not necessarily the cost of buying something new.
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4 terms
Categories: Health, Regulatory
The signed letter from the family member in Canada inviting a parent or grandparent to visit on a super visa. It is written by the host, not the applicant: IRCC describes it as “Your letter of invitation, written and signed by your host child or grandchild, must include” the required details.
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Categories: Auto
The Licence Appeal Tribunal’s Automobile Accident Benefits Service (LAT-AABS) resolves disputes about entitlement to Ontario statutory accident benefits and the amounts payable. It does not decide vehicle fault, property damage or which insurer must handle a claim.
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Categories: Auto, Home
A lapsed policy is insurance that has stopped being in force. The word is often used loosely: expiry without renewal, cancellation and non-payment can involve different rules, dates and steps to restore coverage.
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Categories: Auto
An optional auto coverage that pays for transportation (rental, taxi, ride-share, transit) while your vehicle is being repaired or replaced after a covered claim. Added to a policy via OPCF 20.
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3 terms
Categories: Health, Regulatory
The income level a super visa host in Canada (the child or grandchild inviting a parent or grandparent) must meet or exceed for the application to qualify. It is documented in the letter of invitation, which IRCC says must include “proof that they meet or exceed the minimum necessary income.”
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Categories: Auto
The Ontario rule that caps medical-and-rehab payouts at $3,500 for sprains, strains, whiplash without neurological signs, and similar soft-tissue injuries. Category list expanding from 6 to 11 entries on July 1, 2026.
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Categories: Life
Mortgage insurance can mean two different products: mortgage loan default insurance that protects the lender if the borrower defaults, or optional creditor insurance that may pay a mortgage balance or payments after a covered death, disability or other insured event.
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17 terms
Categories: Health, Regulatory
The publicly available list of federally regulated financial institutions maintained by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI). For super visa applicants, it matters because the insurer behind a health policy must be a Canadian company or an OSFI-authorized one.
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Categories: Auto
The Ontario endorsement that adjusts (typically reduces or removes) the deductible specifically for glass claims — windshield repair or replacement. Often paired with a small premium increase in exchange for predictable out-of-pocket on glass.
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Categories: Auto
The Ontario endorsement that suspends specified coverages on a vehicle you are not using — common when storing a vehicle for winter or after deregistering plates. Pair with OPCF 17 to reinstate.
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Categories: Auto
The Ontario endorsement that reinstates coverage previously suspended under OPCF 16. Used when bringing a stored or deregistered vehicle back into use.
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Categories: Auto
OPCF 19 limits payment for covered vehicle loss or damage to the lower of the automobile’s actual cash value at the time of loss and the amount stated on the endorsement, subject to the applicable deductible. It does not create agreed-value coverage.
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Categories: Auto
OPCF 20 adds reimbursement for reasonable replacement-transportation expenses after a covered vehicle loss, subject to the selected daily and per-occurrence limits, start and stop rules and other policy conditions.
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Categories: Auto
The Ontario Policy Change Form that extends your liability and certain physical-damage coverage to other vehicles you don't own but drive (rentals, borrowed cars).
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Categories: Auto
OPCF 28A excludes coverage, except certain accident benefits, while the named excluded driver operates the specified automobile, a temporary substitute or a newly acquired automobile as defined in the policy.
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Categories: Auto
The Ontario endorsement under which the policyholder agrees in writing not to operate the insured vehicle. Used when the primary insured no longer drives (licence suspended, medical reasons) but the vehicle remains insured for other drivers.
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Categories: Auto
Accident Waiver. The Ontario endorsement that protects your driving record (and renewal premium) from being charged for your first at-fault accident, subject to specific eligibility rules. Addresses premium impact at renewal — not your deductible on the claim itself.
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Categories: Auto
OPCF 40 makes covered fire loss to the specified automobile subject to the deductible shown for Specified Perils, Comprehensive or All Perils on the Certificate of Automobile Insurance. Its title is Fire Deductible.
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Categories: Auto
Waiver of Depreciation. The Ontario endorsement that pays the original purchase price (or replaces with a comparable new vehicle) in the event of a total loss, instead of depreciated actual cash value. Typically available only on new vehicles within their first 24–30 months of ownership.
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Categories: Auto
Family Protection Coverage. Protects you against under-insured at-fault drivers by topping up their inadequate liability limit with your own.
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Categories: Auto
The Ontario endorsement that extends your auto policy to a leased vehicle — distinct from OPCF 27, which covers short-term rentals and borrowed cars.
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Categories: Auto
Agreement Concerning Reduced Benefits. The legacy Ontario endorsement that documented elections to opt out of certain accident benefits under the pre-2026 SABS framework. Being replaced by OPCF 47R on July 1, 2026 for the new optional-benefits regime.
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Categories: Auto
Optional Accident Benefits Coverage & Priority of Payment. The new FSRA-approved Ontario endorsement that comes into effect on July 1, 2026 — replacing OPCF 47. Records which optional accident benefits the driver elected (or declined), and removes the "wrong-insurer-first" priority trap that could previously block access to optional benefits already paid for.
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Categories: Auto
The Ontario endorsement that combines specific coverages across multiple vehicles on the same policy — used in multi-vehicle households to share certain limits or simplify claim administration.
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4 terms
Categories: Health, Regulatory
A doctor approved by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to perform the immigration medical exam. For a super visa, the medical exam is a requirement separate from insurance: IRCC states, “You must provide proof that you had a medical exam with an approved panel physician.”
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Categories: Health, Regulatory
On a super visa application, the documentation that establishes you are the parent or grandparent of the host inviting you to Canada. IRCC states: “You must prove that you’re the parent or grandparent of your host. We accept the following documents as proof:” — and lists two options.
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Categories: Auto, Home, Life
What you pay the carrier to keep your policy active — monthly, semi-annually, or annually.
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Categories: Life
A health condition you had before applying for life insurance. Disclosure is required; non-disclosure voids the policy.
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3 terms
Categories: Home
A home-coverage option that pays the full cost to rebuild without depreciation. Standard on most Ontario home policies above $400k dwelling value.
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Categories: Regulatory
RIBO is the Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario, the regulator of Ontario’s general insurance brokers. Its role concerns broker licensing and professional conduct; it is not the regulator for every type of insurance seller or the tribunal deciding accident-benefit entitlement.
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Categories: Life
An insurance rider is a provision attached to a policy that changes its terms. In property and auto insurance, endorsement is the usual term. A change may add coverage, restrict it or alter a condition; it is not always an extra benefit.
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3 terms
Categories: Auto
The Statutory Accident Benefits Schedule — the Ontario regulation that defines every accident-benefit category, limit, and dispute process. Materially revised under the July 2026 reform.
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Categories: Home
A specific cap inside a broader coverage. Most home policies have sub-limits for jewellery, bikes, and cash — even with high overall contents coverage.
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Categories: Regulatory
After paying your claim, your insurer's right to pursue the at-fault party (or their insurer) to recover the money.
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3 terms
Categories: Auto
A program where you let your insurer monitor driving (via phone app or plug-in device) for 90 days in exchange for a discount. The discount may shrink or disappear at renewal.
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Categories: Life
Term life insurance provides a death benefit if the insured person dies during a specified coverage period, subject to the contract. The term may run for a number of years or to a stated age; term coverage does not build cash value.
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Categories: Auto
A lawsuit against the at-fault driver for pain, suffering, and lost income beyond what accident benefits pay. Subject to a deductible on general damages.
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2 terms
Categories: Regulatory
Insurance underwriting is the assessment of a proposed risk and the decision about whether and on what terms to insure it. In Ontario auto insurance, rules used to decline or limit coverage are regulated and must be distinguished from the rules used to calculate a premium.
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Categories: Auto
Mandatory Ontario coverage that protects you if an uninsured or hit-and-run driver causes your injury or death.
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