Exclusive Interview Bhupender Singh CEO of Multirisk Insurance

MBE: Thanks for giving us the opportunity to interview you for our magazine. Just to begin with, tell us a bit about yourself.

Bhupender Singh:

I was born and raised in India. I started working in the Insurance industry right after graduating from University. I worked with Life Insurance Corporation of India which was the only company selling life insurance in India at that time. Now markets have opened and there are a lot of other companies. I worked in India until 1990, for about 8 years, and then immigrated to Canada and started to work in Insurance again from the beginning.

MBE: Tell us about your Insurance career in Canada.

Bhupender Singh:

When I came here there were a couple of choices I had, I joined Sunlife Insurance and started working with them. After 2 years I branched out as a broker and started selling everything from auto, home, life and business insurance. As you grow you realize your client’s needs are also changing, so you position yourself according to client’s needs. I realized that continuous education is the way to go, so I took almost all the courses in life insurance industry, I completed my CFP (Certified Financial Planner Designation), once I have finished that I went for PNC industry, did my CIP (Chartered Insurance Professional) and FCIP (fellow chartered Insurance professional). I just wanted to make sure that I’m offering people quality service. In fact I strongly believe that being in the industry you have to continuously educate yourself to be able to offer best advice to clients.

MBE: Tell our readers about the Home, Auto and business insurance at its simplest.

Bhupender Singh:

Well basically the P & C industry looks after your assets and liabilities. If you buy a home, a car, or even if you are opening a new business. So what you are primarily looking for is the protection and coverage of your assets. Also let’s say if someone walks into your business and slips down, eats the food gets sick. Then you need to be covered for the liabilities as well, or even if you are driving and an accident happens, then you are potentially liable to pay for the damage.

So at its simplest form, it is all about protecting your assets, as well as your liabilities.

MBE: For our young and aspiring readers looking at this industry, what type of education you think is required for a career in insurance industry?

Bhupender Singh:

If you want to be a broker then you must start by getting the RIBO license (Registered Insurance Brokers of Ontario) which allows you to sell home, auto, business and travel policies. For life insurance you have to get the LLQP license (Life License Qualification Program). Once you have finished the course and acquired your license then you can join a brokerage firm and start off as a broker.

MBE: In relation to the last question, if you can elaborate on the opportunities and challenges about this industry for the aspiring newer generation.

Bhupender Singh: Well speaking of the industry if you look at it then it has a lot of old calendars as we call it, being near of over 60. Unfortunately the youth sees it as boring and I don’t see much young blood. I see a lot of young kids doing courses in business management and etc. struggling and then doing more courses to stay competent.

I must say that it’s a lot of opportunities here, and most importantly it is a very stable and promising career, a very good income potential with a lot of looking up to. Let’s take the example of financial advisory, life license, mutual funds license etc. If you see the number of retirees in Canada looking for advice on how to manage their money, even the younger generation is looking for assistance in managing finance.

MBE: How do you see sudden boom in a lot of industries like how uber came and took over the taxi Industry. What are your views on how technology and new trends can effect on it?

Bhupender Singh:

Well I see a lot of websites nowadays. The way I see it, buying a pen online is a simple thing. Whereas getting a product like insurance policy on which you and your family is going to depend is different because every person has a different need. A normal person cannot understand insurance as the brokers do. And that’s where broker comes and cater the individual needs and provide consultation to clients which cannot be attained online. Also one company would sell you its specific product where a broker can give you market comparison because he is dealing with different markets. Sure we are benefiting good with the blessings of technology and trends as it’s making our work efficient and consumer’s convenience is also there such as e-sign and etc. If you ask me we have brokers working outside and we have our own call center, we have our website where clients can take the rates and our consultants gets in touch with them and it’s all done electronically.

MBE: What do you think are the most common mistakes people often make while getting an auto insurance policy?

Bhupender Singh:

Main thing I would say is that people are running behind cheap rates only and not looking for value. I would primarily think if it is offering the right coverage for me. There is an endorsement which will cover you in case of first accident is not charged to you so your premium will not go that higher, even if the difference is not that significant people still often goes after saving some bucks. I often see people don’t buy the endorsements that are important for them, and as a broker we have to make sure that clients are briefed about things like Driving record protection insurance, where your first at fault accident does not affect your record. Some businesses would avoid buying full coverage for the property, then coinsurance kicks in and you do not get properly compensated for the loss.

MBE: What about the act of god in home insurance?

Bhupender Singh:

“Act of God” isn't a category of coverage in home insurance policies: Some acts of God are covered under homeowners insurance, but others are not. Typically, damage due to wind, rain or hail is covered under standard homeowners policies. But damage due to earthquakes, volcanoes and floods generally isn't.

MBE: what about the people who are self-employed or do business from their home sometimes. Are there concerns in terms of home insurance?

Bhupender Singh:

Well yes home insurance does have some clause where you can insure a business being operated at home. Basic example I can think of is day-care, let’s say if somebody says that I am doing day-care, then up to a certain number of children it can be covered for which all you have to do is to tell your company that we have certain number of kids comes for day-care. But important thing is that the details should be disclosed with the company because if it isn’t then it’s not covered. A little price difference is there for the right coverage but not enough to take a risk for. Another example I can give is that a lot of people keeps students at their home as a paying guest, buys multiple properties as an investments and they rent it without disclosing. In such scenario you have to be very clear with your insurance company. I would again emphasize that proper disclosure is a must otherwise you might lose your claim and ends up in big trouble.

MBE: What suggestions you have for the retailers and small businessmen regarding the commercial or business insurance?

Bhupender Singh:

Well let’s take the very obvious example as convenience store, dry cleaning shops, or pizza stores etc. For this kind of businesses you have to make sure your coverage is proper. Like business interruption coverage which pays if your business stops working due to some of the covered conditions and covers the loss. I see some people only wants to take insurance at its minimal and they make mistake by not disclosing the full stock value. If something happens and you have not disclosed the full value how you can expect to be paid for everything.

MBE: A few tips you would like to give for auto insurance. How drivers can reduce their premium and what effect tickets have on your policy?

Bhupender Singh:

The main thing I see is the distracted driving, and insurance companies do see these tickets seriously. Tickets in general does effect on your insurance premium. Every charged ticket stays in your records for 36 months. So in terms of tickets you have to keep your record clean. Drive within speed limits, equip your car with winter tires when weather changes. I have seen people with twelve tickets and in some cases are paying $2000 a month. So to save on your premium you have to keep your record clean. Also another thing is that some people avoids disclosing all the drivers in household because they think premium will go a little up but what they do not realize is that in case if the undisclosed person is driving and an accident happens then it won’t be covered. For new drivers I would say that driver training school certificate does helps in going from G1 to G2 as well as it gives you savings on your insurance as well if you have the certificate.

MBE: Well that’s a lot of serious topics we covered. Tell us a little about your family and kids.

Bhupender Singh:

Actually me and my wife we are in the same business and we are working together. I have two kids, one is 28 and other is 25 they are doing well their own careers. My son is a realtor and daughter is doing her own stuff.

MBE: What about your hobbies and other things keeping you involved other than work.

Bhupender Singh:

Well every year we do the marathon walk which is about the health awareness. We sponsor that event and i myself takes participation every year. I think we are still a room for catching up to when it comes to physical and health awareness. We also love to raise funds for hospitals, recently we raised funds for 6 hospitals. Another thing I am fond of is tracking and hiking, I do a lot of hiking. So yes these things keep me busy when it’s not work.

MBE: What about sports. Which game you follow if you do?

Bhupender Singh:

Well I love watching basketball and I am a big fan of Toronto Raptors. So yes I like to watch raptors game and I think the whole city and the whole Canada becomes a raptor fan when it’s a game, Nav Bhatia is a prime example of how you contribute to that. I have been here around 30 years and I can say the city has changed. Previously you wouldn’t expect to see a lot of immigrants in a game but now you go and see. We all identified as raptor fans and we all are proud Canadian. I think this society and community has given us a lot and this is the time we give back to society and community.

MBE: Being immigrant have you ever felt any issues in Canada in terms of doing business etc.

Bhupender Singh:

I’ll tell you frankly I think we face more opposition and these things back there rather than here in comparison. I think this is a very diverse society having room for everyone. I have very good friends here who taught me a lot. I also would like to name my mentor here Barry Downs from whom I have learned a lot. He is also a commanding officer in army and for two years in a row we did Remembrance Day prayers at a Sikh temple. I think this society gives us so much. Coming from a different part of the world I think we have everything. We are free to practice our religion, free to do any business we want. And especially the women they can do everything and in my opinion women are way safer than the other part of the world. I see all minority communities are coming up and contributing doing the best. And that shows the changing landscape of the country. Canada In my opinion is the best country to live in and no wonder some of my businessmen friends sometimes asks me about the best way to immigrate here.

MBE: Thank you so much for your valuable time. We hope our readers will find this interview as informative and helpful. And we wish you very best for the future.