How cannabis legalization impacts your insurance coverage

The Cannabis Act, also known as Bill C-45, came into effect Oct. 17, legalizing recreational marijuana. Here’s how this landmark decision affects your Home, Auto and Life insurance.  For more information see  The Co Operators Insurance

Home insurance

In all provinces except Manitoba and Quebec, you can legally grow up to four cannabis plants on your property for personal use. These four plants are treated the same as any other legal plant on your property and are covered under your Home insurance policy. If you illegally exceed the number of plants allowed in your province or territory, your claim may be denied entirely.

Household members who smoke cannabis aren’t eligible for our non-smoker discount.

Auto insurance

Legislation introduced by the federal government improves roadside screening and implements new charges for driving while impaired by drugs, including cannabis. Driving while under the in fluence of cannabis is illegal and can result in increased auto insurance premiums. Learn more about the dangers of cannabis impaired driving.

Life insurance

If you use cannabis for medicinal purposes, you may be asked about your medical condition during the life insurance application process. While recreational cannabis use won’t impact your rates, heavy use could cause higher premiums or a declined application.

What else you need to know about cannabis

While it’s legal for adults to use cannabis in Canada, each province and territory has different rules. It’s your responsibility to know what’s legal and what isn’t in the province or territory where you live or visit, including:

• The legal age
• Where you can buy and use cannabis
• How much cannabis you can possess

For more information on the cannabis laws, visit the federal government’s

Cannabis in Canada website.

No-Fault Insurance: What it Really Means to You

Several provinces have adopted a no-fault insurance system designed to help streamline the claims process. This system can be very beneficial to insurance customers, but it can also be confusing. If you aren’t quite clear on what no-fault really means and how it affects your insurance, you are not alone. Fortunately, no-fault insurance is not complicated; it simply outlines how claims are handled by the insurance companies involved.

No-Fault Doesn’t Mean No one is at Fault

A common misconception about no-fault insurance is that the insurance companies will not make a fault determination in the event of an accident. Having no-fault insurance doesn’t mean you can’t be found at fault for an accident. In every claim situation where two drivers are involved, the insurance companies will always determine who is at fault.

No-fault insurance simply means that it does not matter who is found at fault; your insurance company will handle your claim and pay out for damages and injuries to you. The other person’s insurance company will do the same. Someone will still be determined to be negligent in the accident, and that person may experience a potential rate increase upon renewal or when shopping for car insurance quotes. Fault can also be split between the two parties in percentages, in which case both may see an increase in insurance rates.

The Benefits of No-Fault Insurance

No-fault insurance can benefit the insured in a variety of ways. In the tort system, the two insurance companies would investigate the accident and determine fault – then, the company whose insured driver was found responsible would pay for all of the repairs and damage. No-fault insurance simplifies the process of getting claims paid out by having your insurance company pay for your damages, no matter who is at fault.

Drivers will receive insurance benefits quickly and without the long drawn out process of litigation. There is no need to fight with another insurance company in order to get benefits and the cost of a legal battle is avoided by both sides. This allows you as the insured to get your car repaired quickly and to have medical issues taken care of without worrying if the other insurance company will refuse to pay or argue fault.

No-fault insurance generally cuts out the incredible cost of lengthy legal battles that use time and resources – all of which add up to higher insurance rates overall, because the insurance companies have to spend more money fighting every claim. Some provinces do still allow injured parties to sue for pain and suffering, economic loss or both while others do not. This allows injured parties to recover losses beyond the limits of the policy.

The Cons of No-Fault Insurance

Although no-fault insurance does make things simpler in the event of a claim, it also changes the negative manner in which at-fault parties are impacted. Although the party found at fault will face insurance rate increases, the injured party’s insurance will still have to pay out on the claim; rather than the at fault party’s insurance company taking the full responsibility. Some people feel that the no-fault insurance system protects bad drivers, while leaving good drivers without recourse when their property is damaged or they are injured.

No-fault insurance does not eliminate the problem of resources wasted on lawsuits. Although the promise of no-fault insurance has been to keep overall premiums for insurance down by reducing wasted resources on claims fought out in courts, insurance rates as a general rule continue to rise. As each province has determined whether or not an injured party has the right to sue, in some provinces legal battles continue, impacting overall insurance rates.

What No-Fault Insurance Means to You

If you live in a no-fault insurance province and have a claim, you can expect that your insurance company will pay out on the claim in a relatively speedy manner. To receive benefits, you will not have to wait for fault to be determined or for a long fight between the insurance companies to be resolved. Depending on the province in which you live, you may have the right to sue for pain and suffering or economic loss or both, but you will receive immediate benefits up to the policy limits without delay.

If you are found to be partially or completely at fault in the accident, you may see an increase in your insurance rates on renewal – as such, you may want to compare your car insurance rate and find the lowest available rate. You do have the right to appeal a fault determination – but remember that in some provinces such as Ontario, fault determination is set out in very clear guidelines. In many provinces you may also still face a lawsuit for damages that exceed the limits of the injured party’s policy.

If you are not at fault, your insurance company will pay out for your damages up to the policy limits, and you will not likely see an increase in rates. If the policy limits are reached and you are still at a financial loss, your provincial laws may allow you to sue for the difference.

No-fault insurance has both pros and cons, as does tort insurance. In some cases it can make the claims process much simpler; but this varies from claim to claim and province to province. It’s important to be aware of the laws in your home province in regards to the right to sue. Remember that no-fault still means you can be found at fault, so drive safely and responsibly every time you get behind the wheel

 

What do you want? What’s standing in your way?

Today is a good days ask yourself “What do you want?  What’s standing in your way?”

• Faith is a state of mind.
• Knowledge needs an action plan.

 Kimberly Pringle – Law of Success Coach, Associate Financial Advisor

Mindfulness •Watch Your Mind For 5 Minutes: Yeah, it’s often a crazy mess of thoughts you take wayyyy too seriously.

5 Secrets To Making Your Mind Happy

by Eric Barker

What would be nice is to have a perspective that helps your brain deal with all of these negative emotions. And there may be one — and you’ve probably heard the name a lot lately: Mindfulness. And research shows it works.Dan Harris is the anchor of Good Morning America and author of 10% Happier, where he recounts his journey from mindfulness skeptic to believer. Joseph Goldstein and Sharon Salzberg are two of the most well-known mindfulness teachers. I spoke to each of them to learn more.You and I are gonna walk through the first few steps on how to be more mindful so you don’t just sound like Merriam-Webster, but you really understand what the deal is and how to do it.

• 1) Watch Your Mind For 5 Minutes Comically, it will act like something is The Biggest Problem Ever, then bounce to something completely different and think that’s The Biggest Problem Ever. And it will repeat this cycle endlessly.When you really watch your mind bouncing around and getting worked up, there is only one conclusion you can come to: “I am utterly insane.”Nothing in life is as important as you think it is while you are thinking about it.People spend 46.9 percent of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they’re doing, and this mind-wandering typically makes them unhappy… “Mind-wandering is an excellent predictor of people’s happiness,” Killingsworth says. “In fact, how often our minds leave the present and where they tend to go is a better predictor of our happiness than the activities in which we are engaged.”… Time-lag analyses conducted by the researchers suggested that their subjects’ mind-wandering was generally the cause, not the consequence, of their unhappiness.(To learn how to be happier and more successful, click here.)
• 2) You Are Not Your ThoughtsAnd this causes a lot of unhappiness. Your arm lifts stuff. Just like your brain produces thoughts. That’s what it does. And as you well know, some of those thoughts are ridiculous. That doesn’t mean that’s who you are.Anybody who’s paid any attention to their minds will know throughout the day there’s a run of thoughts going through our heads. Usually, we’re quite caught up in them and identified with them. We take them to be who we are. Without mindfulness, we’re lost in the dream of our thoughts in these mind created worlds and we’re not even aware that that’s what’s happening, we’re so enmeshed in them.You need to do this more often, rather than assuming just because it’s in your head, it’s you and it’s to be taken seriously. Here’s Sharon Salzberg:I look at it like this: “See and not be.” Recognize the worries, frustrations or fears as just thoughts. They don’t have to be you.Okay, we know the thoughts are just thoughts. But what do we do once we see’em?Okay, you’re not your thoughts but they are still there. Give the feeling a name. Label it.Naming it helps you frame it and separate it from being “you.” And it can reduce the emotional component and help you relax. Here’s Joseph:In meditation this is called “noting.” But is it some esoteric practice only meditators do? Nope. I’m seeing versions of this everywhere and from very reputable sources.From The Upward Spiral:And hostage negotiators use labeling to reduce negative emotions when they deal with criminals.Okay, you labeled your thought and it reduced the emotional impact. Good
• .4) Don’t Just React To Thoughts. Decide.And so you probably just said things you don’t mean and did things that will make you unhappy in the long term, right? (The word “impulsive” is rarely a compliment.)From Joseph’s book, Mindfulness:Before you impulsively react to a thought (and maybe blurt out something stupid or do something rash), just ask yourself one simple question:Here’s Joseph:And Sharon adds:Telling yourself what you just did was dumb might be harsh but it might lead you to get your act together. Telling yourself you’re dumb 400 times in 15 minutes? Um, is that useful?(To learn how to do mindfulness meditation, click here.)5) Be CompassionateTo be compassionate you have to be able to get close to someone’s pain. But often this is too intense. It hurts to see someone you love suffer. Your brain’s impulsive reaction can be: “PAIN BAD. RUN AWAY.”Mindfulness has a key role in the development of compassion. In the face of suffering, compassion is that desire of, “How can I help in this situation?” What’s necessary for compassion to arise is a willingness to come close to the suffering and this is not always easy to do. Very often in the face of suffering you don’t want to see it because it’s unpleasant. Mindfulness allows us to let it in and when we let it in and come close to it, that’s precisely the condition for compassion to arise.Time to round all this info up and learn the most powerful method for increasing mindfulness…Here’s how to be more mindful and happy:
• Sum Up
• (To learn how to get people to like you — from an FBI behavior expert, click here.)
• You need to not be overwhelmed by the feeling in order to remedy it and mindfulness helps you keep that distance so you can be of help. Here’s Joseph:
• Mindfulness makes compassion easier. How, you ask? Well, if you faint at the sight of blood, you won’t be a good surgeon.
• So we’ve dealt a lot with how mindfulness helps you cope with the negative. Enough defense. Time for some offense. How does mindfulness boost happiness?
• You miss your flight. Your first reaction might be to take the anger inside you and vent it on the person at the airline’s front desk. I gotta ask: is that useful?
• What we’re talking about with mindfulness is not in any way eradicating thoughts or annihilating them, but being able to have a little bit of space so we can make a clear decision: “Do I want to nurture this or do I want to let it go?”
• Where is this action leading? Do I want to go there? …This thought which has arisen, is it helpful? Is it serving me or others in some way or is it not? Is it just playing out perhaps old conditions of fear or judgment or things that are not very helpful for ourselves or others? Mindfulness really helps us both see and discern the difference and then it becomes the foundation then for making wiser choices and why the choices lead to more happiness. It’s really simple. It’s not easy to do, but it’s very simple.
• “Is it useful?”
• …contrary to some popular beliefs, our aim should be not to follow the heart but to train the heart. All of us have a mix of motivations; not everything in our hearts is wise or wholesome. The great power of mindful discernment allows us to abandon what is unwholesome and to cultivate the good. This discernment is of inestimable value for our happiness and wellbeing.
• Following your heart is good. But first we need to train the heart, or we may follow impulsive desires that get us into trouble.
• You have emotional thoughts, you assume they are “you” and BOOM, you immediately act based on them…
• But what’s the point of all this? To allow yourself to deal with your thoughts effectively and make better decisions in your life which will make you happier and more productive. And that comes down to a very simple principle…
• (To learn the 4 rituals neuroscientists say will make you happier, click here.)
• …in one fMRI study, appropriately titled “Putting Feelings into Words” participants viewed pictures of people with emotional facial expressions. Predictably, each participant’s amygdala activated to the emotions in the picture. But when they were asked to name the emotion, the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex activated and reduced the emotional amygdala reactivity. In other words, consciously recognizing the emotions reduced their impact.
• Neuroscientists have done research showing how powerful giving an emotion a name can be in curbing bad feelings.
• It’s almost like a frame around a picture. The point is not to look at the frame, but the frame helps focus our attention so we see the picture more clearly.
• “I’m feeling angry.” or “I’m feeling worried.”
• 3) Label Your Thoughts And Feelings
• (To learn what the happiest people in the world do every day, click here.)
• I think one of the issues that we have is that we don’t necessarily recognize that a thought is just a thought. We have a certain thought, we take it to heart, we build a future on it, we think, “This is the only thing I’ll ever feel”, “I’m an angry person and I always will be”, “I’m going to be alone for the rest of my life”, and that process happens pretty quickly.
• You already know this… but selectively. Sometimes, you’ll say, “I’m not really angry, I’m just tired.” Boom. That’s a teensy bit of mindfulness right there. (See? You’re already good at it.)
• This distinction is central to mindfulness. Here’s Joseph Goldstein:
• Neuroscientist Alex Korb made an interesting distinction when I spoke to him. If you were to break your arm you would not tell people, “I am broken.” But when we feel anger we’re quick to say, “I am angry.”
• Now that you’re aware this is going on, what can you do to stop your mind from bouncing around taking all these negative thoughts so seriously? First you need to understand something…
• Call me “Captain Obvious” if you like, but this is not good.
• And research by Harvard happiness expert Daniel Gilbert shows that a wandering mind is not a happy mind:
• But this process, sadly, is quite normal. As Nobel Prize winning psychologist Daniel Kahneman has said:
• If this was a character in a movie you’d laugh at them for not seeing the pattern and continuing to take each thing so seriously. But normally you don’t notice it. And I don’t need to add that this is no prescription for happiness.
• It just ping-pongs all over the place. And when you’re moody, it takes everything so seriously.
• So what’s a good place to start? Let’s see what mindfulness is not. A good example is probably, well… your brain. (Sorry about that.)
• Now here’s the part where I give you an actual definition of mindfulness, right? Wrong. It’s kinda like defining “love” or “art.” Hard to really capture it all in one sentence. So I’m gonna do you one better…
• Three big names in the field have collaborated to produce an app that can teach you how to be more mindful. (You can check it out here.)
• Sometimes it seems like your brain just sits around creating lousy feelings and worries. You want this, you’re frustrated about that, you’re annoyed about some other thing and the list never stops. And it makes it impossible to be happy.

• Watch Your Mind For 5 Minutes: Yeah, it’s often a crazy mess of thoughts you take wayyyy too seriously.
• You Are Not Your Thoughts: If you had a broken arm, you wouldn’t say, “I am broken.”
• Label Your Thoughts And Feelings: Put a frame around them. This dampens the emotions.
• Don’t Just React To Thoughts. Decide: Ask yourself, “Is it useful?”
• Be Compassionate: Only by being able to get close to the pain of others can you really help them.Plenty of research shows the benefits of meditating but what’s its connection to mindfulness, you ask?
• Meditation helps you practice the elements of mindfulness in a very controlled setting. It’s like going to the gym for your mindfulness muscles:
• You’re not gonna be the Mayor of Mindfulness City by tomorrow. It takes time. But you’ll get better. And something that really helps is meditation.

• By quietly focusing on your breath you see those random thoughts bubble up and you learn to let them go.
• You use “noting” to label troublesome thoughts.
• You strengthen your attention by continually returning to concentrating on your breathing when you get distracted. Stronger attention means less mind-wandering and more happiness.When you believe you are your thoughts, it can lead to a lot of unhappiness. It’s a mistake. Sharon told me a heartwarming story about a mistake someone else made:See the thoughts, don’t be the thoughts. Label’em. And then decide if they’re useful. If they make your life better, if they’re compassionate, then the answer is yes.Join over 300,000 readers. Get a free weekly update via email here.How To Get People To Like You: 7 Ways From An FBI Behavior ExpertNew Harvard Research Reveals A Fun Way To Be More SuccessfulAdvice, MindfulnessEric Barker
• The Thrive Global Community welcomes voices from many spheres. We publish pieces written by outside contributors with a wide range of opinions, which don’t necessarily reflect our own. Learn more or join us as a community member!
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• Originally published at www.bakadesuyo.com
• New Neuroscience Reveals 4 Rituals That Will Make You Happy
• Related posts:
• If you’re mindful, it can be a doggy-dog world.
• This young woman said to me recently that her whole young life she had thought that the expression was, “It’s a doggy-dog world,” and then someone told her, “No, it’s a dog-eat-dog world,” and she was horrified. She said, “No, I don’t want it to be a dog-eat-dog world! I want it to be a doggy-dog world!”
• But whether you meditate or not, what’s most important is getting some distance from your thoughts, deciding which ones are useful, which ones will make you and others happy, and acting on them.

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I am often asked where my experience to coach & be a public speaker comes from. It is always fun to answer because it is not what most people think. I did not just wake up one day and take an internet course on how to be a coach & public speaker’.

Published on November 10, 2016

In my experience the best coaches speak from their own life experience. So here is a quick over view of my life lessons.

 

I was a Forestry Technician in AB & BC for several years working in Forestry Compliance Management, Safety & Fire Control. (I spent many years fighting forest fires on a first response team in the Lac La Biche forest long before the rest of the world knew where Lac La Biche AB was)

For 3 years I developed and ran 1-3 day production training courses for bakers, store managers in the food industry.

Since 2006 I have been working in Sales, Marketing, Networking and new business development in the Insurance & Financial industry.

I have also been coaching horses and their humans for over 20 years. My area of speciality is working with woman in their 40’s – 60’s who need help overcoming fear, developing new skills, and learning how to “read” and understand behaviors

I can tell you I have lived and seen A LOT of things that most people never will.

So what does – Insurance, Sales, Forest Fires, Donuts, Horses, corporate business, sports and dealing with people all have in common? ‘RISK & the ability to read situations’. I became very good at both.

I have been invited on serval occasions to speak at the University of Guelph, Kemptville College along with private clubs & events on the topic of ‘Risk Management”

 Now I bring my experience into the business world

 My elderly neighbour said to me once ‘Kim – you’ve been to where angels fear to tread’ I told her that the best stories leave you with a few scorched feathers.   So, that’s me in a nut shell. I’m a story teller.

 Here is another ‘truth’ – Horses and people both have personalities.

  Some horses will kick you because they are bullies – other horses kick you because they are scared to death.  Sometimes a nice horse will kick you because you put him into a learning situation that he does not know how to deal with.

The business world is kind of the same – Most people have no idea why they keep getting “kicked”.

I found the most important skills I could teach people was how to ‘read’ risk, understand their own situations and show them how to develop strategies to interrupt the behavior.

Next to Horses – my greatest teacher was Napolian Hill. I have blended much of his wisdom into my coaching & my personal life. I believe in the Law of Attraction, Out Witting the Devil, and mastering the habit of drifting in order to be successful.

My coaching model is based on helping people who are at a cross road in their life. They are looking for that next “something” in their life but they may not be sure what it is they are looking for or how to get it. The big question I ask people is ‘What Do You Want’. Sounds like a simple question – but it really is not. What do you WANT?

Are you at a cross roads in your life?  Or are you looking to grow a business?  Consider attending one of my ‘Introduction to Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind session’ and bring a friend!  If you like the concept & the energy – you can register for the series

 “Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind Series”

 No matter what your personal goal is – no one person can do it alone.  You need to attract people into your life who will move you forward towards that dream.

The Ottawa woman’s Mastermind 6 week series is a way to attract key people into your life, learn from each other by using THE LAW OF ATTRACTION, POSITIVE ATTITUDE and IMAGINATION to reach your next goal.

This group is a bit unique in what my vision is. The group is not a place to sell your products or advertise yourself to find clients. I am not looking for coaches – I am looking for students.  It is a 6 part series that meets every 2nd Thursday for 12 weeks.  This is NOT A NETWORKING GROUP

The actual 6 part series is a closed series and limited to only 10 woman.  You must attend the ‘Introduction to Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind’ in order to register for the series.

Please email me for information on when the next Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind session will be starting.

• If you liked learning about ‘Law of Success Coaching’ and the ‘Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind series please ‘ Tell a Friend’, hit ‘like‘ and ‘share‘ this post.  

Kimberly Pringle – Law of Success Coach & Associate Financial Advisor

“Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind – What Do You Want Series (Level 1).”

Are you at a cross roads in your life?  Or are you looking to grow a business?  No matter what your personal goal is – no one person can do it alone.  You need to attract people into your life who will move you forward towards that dream.

The Ottawa woman’s Mastermind meet up is way to attract key people into your life, learn from each other by using THE LAW OF ATTRACTION, POSITIVE ATTITUDE and IMAGINATION to reach your next goal.

This group is a bit unique in what my vision is. The group is not a place to sell your products or advertise yourself to find clients. I am not looking for coaches – I am looking for students.  It is a 6 part series that meets every 2nd Tuesday Starting Feb 28th, 2017.  This is NOT A NETWORKING GROUP

See you Feb 28th 2016 at 7 PM  at the Merivale Bowling Alley.  If you have any questions please send me an email or give me a call. You can also follow me on my blog www.kimberlypringle.com

Email Kimberly to register Email Kimberly

 

An Evening of Personal Development for The Muslim Woman’s Business Network

Kimberly Pringle, owner of Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind Is offering an Introduction to PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT for the Muslim Woman’s Business Network.

Having a business goal and looking for Personal Development does not mean you have to sacrifice your beliefs or core values. Embrace your Core Values and Beliefs and your business will grow!

No matter what your personal goal is – no one person can do it alone. You need to attract people into your life who will move you forward towards that dream.

Kimberly uses the principles she teaches in her Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind groups to talk about personal development and bring like-minded woman together to share ideas, improve your life and build a business.

Attending this event is a fantastic way to attract key people into your life, learn from each other by using THE LAW OF ATTRACTION, POSITIVE ATTITUDE and IMAGINATION to reach your next goal.

This is a personal development event  – not a networking event. This event is not be a place to sell your products or advertise yourself to find clients. It’s a place to come together and learn.

Come out to this this great free event!

Tuesday March 15th at 7 PM. ( Location to follow).

Go to Kimberly’s Mastermind Site and register today.   Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind – Kimberly Pringle

 

 

 

Law of Attraction at Work

 

I have been a student of Napoleon Hill & his life’s work for over 10 years.  As a coach and motivational speaker I often talk to people about the Law of Attraction.  ‘You attract into your life the things you think about the most’.  In my Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind group I give out ‘Gold Star’ stickers (old school) when someone has an “AH HA” moment.  It is fun and makes people smile.

Today when I was at the store I reached into my purse to get my wallet and noticed there was a ‘star’ stuck on it.  Then I noticed that my curling gloves also had a ‘star’ on them.  There were ‘star’ on EVERYTHING.  They were everywhere!  That is when it hit me – I am always giving out ‘stars’ to other people to motivate them and celebrate success.  Today the ‘universe’ gave me a couple of ‘stars’.  It said ‘Kim – you are a star – don’t forget it’.

Now you can be a negative person and say ‘the box of stars spilled in your purse’.  Or you can think – The Universe knows a ‘star’ when it sees one!  I’m going with the 2nd one.

We all have stars – we just need to look.

Kimberly Pringle – Financial Advisor, Coach

 

OTTAWA WOMAN’S MASTERMIND – The Habit of Drifting

In 1948  Napoleon Hill asked ‘The Devil’ (in an interview) what the  Devil’s greatest weapon over human beings was?

” The Devil replied – My greatest weapon over human beings consists of two secret principles by which I gain control of their minds.

I will speak first of the principle of habit, through which I silently enter the minds of people. By operating through this principle, I establish the habit of drifting.

When a person begins to drift away from their goals, they are headed straight toward the gates of what you earthbound call hell.

A drifter is one who permits himself to be influenced and controlled by circumstances outside of his own mind.  He don’t know what he wants from life and spends all of his time getting just that.   A drifter is one who is too lazy mentally to use his own brain. That is the reason I can take control of people’s thinking and plant my own ideas in their minds. “

My name is Kimberly Pringle and I am the vision behind ‘Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind’ meet up.  I will be starting a new 12 week series – beginning with ‘An Introduction to Mastermind” in January 2016.  Please visit and join  Ottawa Woman’s Mastermind .  I will be posting information on our next series soon.