Deer collision leads to insurance nightmare for N.B. woman

As Samantha Anderson headed home to Sunny Corner after Christmas supper in Miramichi last December, a deer jumped in front of her car on a blind hill.

All she could do was brace for impact and tell her daughter to do the same.

"We've never been in a car accident, so it was petrifying for us," Anderson said.

She came to a stop on the opposite side of Route 425, then made sure her eight-year-old daughter was OK. The car was heavily damaged, so Anderson called police and started clearing up debris scattered across the road. 

What followed was a months-long dispute with an insurance company that has opened the eyes of the single mother, who hopes sharing her tale might help others.

Her main lesson: Pay closer attention to what you're signing, do some homework, ask more questions.

Anderson said the claim on her regular, required insurance policy was settled within a week after her car was totalled. 

But she'd also bought a policy, called gap insurance, after being offered it by the dealership where she bought her car.

Trying to get that claim approved has been such a struggle, she said, she's now on the verge of filing for bankruptcy.

Although she admits she could have been more careful when she bought the policy, her case also raises a question about who gets to sell such insurance.

New Brunswick officials say more than 100 dealerships in this province are allowed to sell gap insurance. But across the country in British Columbia, dealerships are forbidden from selling it, because that province feels they're not qualified.

Anderson bought the gap policy from an Ontario company called Assureway Protection Corporation at Kaat Auto in Rogersville, which sold her the car, a Mitsubishi RVR, in January 2024.

The policy was pitched as an option that would provide peace of mind because of the money she'd borrowed to buy the car.

If a vehicle is totalled, gap insurance can cover money still owed on a car loan beyond the depreciated value that's covered by the regular insurance policy.