Rocky View County couple slapped with massive bill over postal code change
A simple postal code change was supposed to be a positive thing for Jim and Dianne Novak but instead, the couple has been battling their insurance company — SGI Canada — over a premium charge on their bill.
Jim says after notifying their insurance broker of the change, they received a bill in the mail for $625.
“I explained to her that we’re not paying the extra premium just for a change of address,
he said. "We didn’t move.”
The Novaks have been in the same house for 30 years, using the same PO Box.
As part of the civic addressing program, Canada Post changed the Novak’s PO Box number to a physical address.
The company says the program has been implemented in many rural regions across the country to improve the delivery system and help 911 responders locate emergencies.
The Novaks were happy to see the switch.
“We were kind of excited because a lot of companies won’t deliver mail or parcels to a PO Box but they will to a street type of address,” said Jim.
But then the couple found themselves dealing with the unexpected expense. Dianne says their broker told them it’s because of their new address and postal code, despite not physically moving.
“We are lumped in with the City of Chestermere,” said Dianne.
“Now we are all lumped into a broad area that insurance companies will use to pull their statistics from to generate their premiums.”
The Novaks say their insurance broker told them their premium would be waived for this year but they’ll be expected to pay the higher fee moving forward.
After CTV News reached out to SGI Canada, a representative said they are working on the issue and admitted the extra charge should not have happened, saying, “If there were no changes to the underlying risk then an increase of this magnitude is not typical.”
In an email, the company said the first three digits of the Novak’s postal code is used in other, already existing postal codes and their system didn’t automatically flag it as a newly created postal code, which defaulted to a high rate.
Furthermore, the company said, “Our process is to implement a temporary fix to adjust the postal code back to the original one, so the customer will not have to pay a higher rate.”
Jim says they haven’t personally heard from the company yet about the fix but they are happy to hear something is being done.
"SGI has been really good with us overall over the years," he said
"Just this surprise bill is not sitting very well."
SGI Canada says it is working to identify other customers who may be impacted by a change to their postal codes.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING King Charles' cancer treatment progressing well, says Buckingham Palace
King Charles III’s doctors are 'sufficiently pleased' with his cancer treatment and he is expected to return to public-facing duties, Buckingham Palace announced on Friday.
BREAKING Orca calf that was trapped in B.C. lagoon for weeks swims free
An orca whale calf that has been stranded in a B.C. lagoon for weeks after her pregnant mother died swam out on her own early Friday morning.
'Unacceptable': Trudeau reacts after AFN chief says headdress taken from plane cabin
After the Assembly of First Nations' national chief said her headdress was taken from an airplane cabin this week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau called the incident 'unacceptable' and a 'mistake' on the part of Air Canada.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
From faulty kids' cribs to flammable kids' bathrobes, here are the recalls of the week
Health Canada issued recalls for various items this week, including kids’ bathrobes, cribs and henna cones.
Taylor Swift dons Montreal designer's dress in 'Fortnight' video
A pair of Montreal designers' work has now been viewed over 41 million times. Taylor Swift dons a Victorian throwback black gown in her latest music video, 'Fortnight', designed by UNTTLD due Simon Belanger and Jose Manuel Saint-Jacques.
'Too young to have breast cancer': Rates among young Canadian women rising
Breast cancer rates are rising in Canada among women in their 20s, 30s and 40s, according to research by the University of Ottawa (uOttawa).
'Violation': CSIS had officer investigated after she reported a superior raped her
A CSIS officer's allegations that she was raped repeatedly by a superior in agency vehicles set off a harassment inquiry, but also triggered an investigation into her that concluded the alleged attacks were a “misuse” of agency vehicles by the woman.
'I was scared': Ontario man's car repossessed after missing two repair loan payments
An Ontario man who took out a loan to pay for auto repairs said his car was repossessed after he missed two payments.