Latest news with #SamanthaAnderson
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
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. WATCH | 'I've cried through email because they won't answer the phone': 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. Anderson is a social worker for a non-profit and needs a car in her work. She described her Mitsubish as her "dream car," and she wanted to be sure she was covered. But she admitted she did not do much research into the gap policy or the company selling it. "I guess that could be on me," she said. CBC News spoke with Roland Gauvin of Kaat Auto, who said the dealership no longer sells insurance products from Assureway because of problems that employees and customers had getting answers. "I only sell the product," Gauvin when asked if Kaat was responsible for Anderson's troubles. "I'm not responsible." Trying to deal with Assureway was not easy for Anderson. When she called, she was told to make her claim online and was immediately hung up on. On March 13, she received a letter from Assureway saying there were "certain inconsistencies" in her claim, but it provided no details. Five days later, an unidentified Assureway agent asked in an email for photos of the dead deer. Anderson had already sent the company photos of her car in the wrecking yard, with deer hair visible on the vehicle. An insurance company seeking proof of an accident also has access to an accident report, according to RCMP Sgt. Jason LeBlanc. He confirmed police received a call about a deer collision in Strathadam on Dec. 27, but said officers weren't dispatched to the scene because no one was injured and no other vehicles were involved. A staff member did take details of the collision over the phone to complete a report. Emails Anderson sent to Assureway show she's reached out at least 15 times for updates. "I've begged them. I've cried through email because they won't answer the phone." More than five months after the accident, there is still no resolution. "I'm a single mom with three children trying to get by, trying to make a living. I have a really good job, but it needs a car." The gap policy cost Anderson $2,500 for a seven-year term. The car's sticker price was $38,000, but a previous car loan she was still paying off brought the bill up to $48,000, which is what the gap policy was to cover if necessary. Anderson said her main insurance policy paid off about $19,000 after the crash, so she's waiting for the rest to come through from Assureway. "I"m so tired of trying to pry and pry and pry," she said. "Lawyer fees are too expensive and I'm still paying a car payment for a car that's no longer here." CBC News requested an interview with Assureway but received a brief email from an unnamed employee several days later instead. "We have found the claim questionable on several grounds due to irregularities in the claim thus its investigation status," the statement said. "Our investigation is currently underway. [Anderson] is fully aware of this status." The irregularities weren't identified in the email, which went on to say the company would not discuss the matter further for privacy reasons. The day that CBC News tried to talk to Assureway, Anderson got an email from the company for the first time in several weeks. "We are still conducting our investigation. We will update you as soon as possible," the email said. While Anderson wishes she'd asked more questions about the gap policy, there's a public office in New Brunswick just for that purpose. Michèle Pelletier, the New Brunswick consumer advocate for Insurance, said that since 2005, her Bathurst office has fielded about 1,200 calls annually from New Brunswickers with insurance questions. She and her staff answer for free. "There's no silly questions," she said. The office can also be a link between consumers and insurance companies, she said, reaching out to companies directly when consumers aren't getting answers. Pelletier said her office rarely gets questions about gap insurance, but that it's always important for people to read the fine print and ask questions. "It's the language," she said of some policies. "It's not plain language sometimes." Insurance in New Brunswick is regulated by the Financial and Consumer Services Commission, which licenses any dealerships who distribute insurance products, as well as insurers who underwrite the policies. "We've set those in place to protect New Brunswickers. So it's not just anybody that can hang a shingle and say they'll sell insurance," said commission spokesperson Marissa Sollows. The commission confirmed that Assureway is classified as a third-party administrator, which Sollows described as a service provider that goes between a dealership and the actual insurance company underwriting the policy. "And in the event of a claim, the third-party administrator would do the administrative work," she said, adding that paperwork would show a customer the insurance company underwriting the policy. Third-party administrators are not regulated by the commission, Sollows said, but dealerships that offer insurance products such as gap insurance do have to be licensed. The commission confirmed Kaat Auto is licensed to sell insurance. When asked if the fact that third-party administrators are not regulated sets up a loophole for consumers to be exploited, Sollows declined to answer. In an email statement, another commission spokesperson, Morgan Daye, said consumers who purchase from third-party administrators still have potential recourse through the commission. "The Commission has the power to intervene with both the underwriting insurer and with the representative selling the product," Daye wrote. Daye also confirmed that 127 dealerships in New Brunswick are licensed to sell gap insurance. Nowhere on Assureway's website does it say the company is a third-party administrator. Nor is there a mention of another insurance company underwriting the policies. "No smoke & mirrors … just true coverage that SIMPLY WORKS!" the website says. While Anderson is waiting for a decision from Assureway, if she had lived in British Columbia, its rules would have saved her from the situation she faces in New Brunswick. Melinda Lau, a spokesperson for the Insurance Council of British Columbia, confirmed the province has not allowed car dealerships to sell gap insurance since 2017. "GAP products are considered complex insurance products and must be sold by a qualified, fully licensed general insurance agent," Lau wrote in an email statement. Dealerships are only eligible for insurance licences that are "limited in scope" and don't have the same educational requirements as full insurance licences, she said. "The Insurance Council is of the view that it would not be in the public interest for dealerships with limited licences to offer complex insurance products to consumers." Lau went on to say that B.C. does not issue full insurance licences to car dealerships because it could "present a potential conflict of interest." CBC News has asked the New Brunswick Department of Finance, which oversees insurance, whether the province would consider a similar policy as British Columbia. The department directed questions back to the commission. Spokesperson Morgan Daye said the province recently updated requirements for car dealerships selling insurance, requiring them to be "knowledgeable and provide sufficient information to help consumers make informed decisions."
CBC
3 days ago
- Automotive
- CBC
Deer collision leads to insurance nightmare for N.B. woman
Social Sharing 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. Signed on for gap insurance 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. WATCH | 'I've cried through email because they won't answer the phone': Months of insurance uncertainty after woman totals car in deer crash 3 hours ago Duration 4:24 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. Anderson is a social worker for a non-profit and needs a car in her work. She described her Mitsubish as her "dream car," and she wanted to be sure she was covered. But she admitted she did not do much research into the gap policy or the company selling it. "I guess that could be on me," she said. CBC News spoke with Roland Gauvin of Kaat Auto, who said the dealership no longer sells insurance products from Assureway because of problems that employees and customers had getting answers. "I only sell the product," Gauvin when asked if Kaat was responsible for Anderson's troubles. "I'm not responsible." Trying to deal with Assureway was not easy for Anderson. When she called, she was told to make her claim online and was immediately hung up on. On March 13, she received a letter from Assureway saying there were "certain inconsistencies" in her claim, but it provided no details. Five days later, an unidentified Assureway agent asked in an email for photos of the dead deer. Anderson had already sent the company photos of her car in the wrecking yard, with deer hair visible on the vehicle. An insurance company seeking proof of an accident also has access to an accident report, according to RCMP Sgt. Jason LeBlanc. He confirmed police received a call about a deer collision in Strathadam on Dec. 27, but said officers weren't dispatched to the scene because no one was injured and no other vehicles were involved. A staff member did take details of the collision over the phone to complete a report. 'I'm so tired,' Anderson says Emails Anderson sent to Assureway show she's reached out at least 15 times for updates. "I've begged them. I've cried through email because they won't answer the phone." More than five months after the accident, there is still no resolution. "I'm a single mom with three children trying to get by, trying to make a living. I have a really good job, but it needs a car." The gap policy cost Anderson $2,500 for a seven-year term. The car's sticker price was $38,000, but a previous car loan she was still paying off brought the bill up to $48,000, which is what the gap policy was to cover if necessary. Anderson said her main insurance policy paid off about $19,000 after the crash, so she's waiting for the rest to come through from Assureway. "I"m so tired of trying to pry and pry and pry," she said. "Lawyer fees are too expensive and I'm still paying a car payment for a car that's no longer here." CBC News requested an interview with Assureway but received a brief email from an unnamed employee several days later instead. "We have found the claim questionable on several grounds due to irregularities in the claim thus it's investigation status," the statement said. "Our investigation is currently underway. [Anderson] is fully aware of this status." The irregularities weren't identified in the email, which went on to say the company would not discuss the matter further for privacy reasons. The day that CBC News tried to talk to Assureway, Anderson got an email from the company for the first time in several weeks. "We are still conducting our investigation. We will update you as soon as possible," the email said. Advocate wants to answer public's insurance questions While Anderson wishes she'd asked more questions about the gap policy, there's a public office in New Brunswick just for that purpose. Michèle Pelletier, the New Brunswick consumer advocate for Insurance, said that since 2005, her Bathurst office has fielded about 1,200 calls annually from New Brunswickers with insurance questions. She and her staff answer for free. "There's no silly questions," she said. The office can also be a link between consumers and insurance companies, she said, reaching out to companies directly when consumers aren't getting answers. Pelletier said her office rarely gets questions about gap insurance, but that it's always important for people to read the fine print and ask questions. "It's the language," she said of some policies. "It's not plain language sometimes." Assureway not directly regulated by province Insurance in New Brunswick is regulated by the Financial and Consumer Services Commission, which licenses any dealerships who distribute insurance products, as well as insurers who underwrite the policies. "We've set those in place to protect New Brunswickers. So it's not just anybody that can hang a shingle and say they'll sell insurance," said commission spokesperson Melissa Sollows. The commission confirmed that Assureway is classified as a third-party administrator, which Sollows described as a service provider that goes between a dealership and the actual insurance company underwriting the policy. "And in the event of a claim, the third-party administrator would do the administrative work," she said, adding that paperwork would show a customer the insurance company underwriting the policy. Third-party administrators are not regulated by the commission, Sollows said, but dealerships that offer insurance products such as gap insurance do have to be licensed. The commission confirmed Kaat Auto is licensed to sell insurance. When asked if the fact that third-party administrators are not regulated sets up a loophole for consumers to be exploited, Sollows declined to answer. In an email statement, another commission spokesperson, Morgan Daye, said consumers who purchase from third-party administrators still have potential recourse through the commission. "The Commission has the power to intervene with both the underwriting insurer and with the representative selling the product," Daye wrote. Daye also confirmed that 127 dealerships in New Brunswick are licensed to sell gap insurance. Nowhere on Assureway's website does it say the company is a third-party administrator. Nor is there a mention of another insurance company underwriting the policies. "No smoke & mirrors … just true coverage that SIMPLY WORKS!" the website says. B.C. doesn't allow dealerships to sell gap insurance While Anderson is waiting for a decision from Assureway, if she had lived in British Columbia, its rules would have saved her from the situation she faces in New Brunswick. Melinda Lau, a spokesperson for the Insurance Council of British Columbia, confirmed the province has not allowed car dealerships to sell gap insurance since 2017. "GAP products are considered complex insurance products and must be sold by a qualified, fully licensed general insurance agent," Lau wrote in an email statement. Dealerships are only eligible for insurance licences that are "limited in scope" and don't have the same educational requirements as full insurance licences, she said. "The Insurance Council is of the view that it would not be in the public interest for dealerships with limited licences to offer complex insurance products to consumers." Lau went on to say that B.C. does not issue full insurance licences to car dealerships because it could "present a potential conflict of interest." CBC News has asked the New Brunswick Department of Finance, which oversees insurance, whether the province would consider a similar policy as British Columbia.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Months of insurance uncertainty after woman totals car in deer crash
A New Brunswick woman is warning car buyers to ask questions before buying gap insurance too. It's intended to cover some of what's still owed on a car loan after an accident, but for Samantha Anderson, it's only been a headache.
Yahoo
05-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
DePoly Secures $23M to Open New PET Recycling Facility
Swiss PET and polyester recycler DePoly plans to scale up its operation in a major way. The company landed $23 million in seed funding from MassMutual Ventures that will allow DePoly to finish and open a 500-metric-ton-per-year recycling showcase plant in Monthey, Switzerland this summer. The facility will demonstrate DePoly's proprietary process to convert PET and polyester waste into virgin-quality raw materials without the use of fossil fuels. DePoly has worked with fashion and cosmetic companies such as Swiss apparel brand Odlo to use its recycled fibers, and it said this plant will allow them to reach new partners. More from Sourcing Journal Coach Parent, eBay and More Join The Fashion ReModel Initiative Progress Is a Process at Everlane Armedangels Launches SaXcell Denim Collection 'The upcoming showcase plant validates our roadmap to creating a truly circular plastics market,' said Samantha Anderson, co-founder and CEO of DePoly. 'Following our pilot and showcase plant, our next goal is to scale our operations to industrial size with a first of a kind commercial plant based on our technology.' DePoly focuses on items that often go un-recycled due to complex blends, contaminants or dyes, processing dirty, unsorted, end-of-life plastics and fibers into virgin-grade raw materials. The company uses green chemicals and operates at room temperature to reduce energy consumption and the need to pre-wash materials. The MassMutual Ventures investment comes at the close of a significant fundraising period for DePoly, which has raised more than $30 million total across two rounds of fundraising and through grants. MassMutual Ventures joins existing investors, including Founderful, ACE & Company, Angel Invest, Zürcher Kantonalbank, BASF Venture Capital, Beiersdorf Venture Capital and Syensqo. 'DePoly's proven technology is a game-changer addressing a crucial industrial and societal challenge,' said Alix Brunet, Europe Lead at MassMutual Ventures. 'This raise and the showcase plant opening are advancing DePoly's position as a leader in plastics recycling.' With this funding and the new facility, DePoly stands as one of the largest recycling technology companies in Europe. The company's process for delivering oil-equivalent monomers earned DePoly a Technology Pioneer award from the World Economic Forum, and in 2023, the recycler was chosen by Fashion for Good to participate in its innovation program. CFO David Hanf said these new investments will allow them to expand their technology to a commercial scale. 'We are convinced our technology is one of the fastest to scale and will allow us to compete with virgin pricing at scale, a key factor for success,' he said. 'We are happy to have expanded our investor base to the U.S. with MassMutual Ventures as we want to build a global champion.'
Forbes
29-04-2025
- Health
- Forbes
New Plastic Recycling Method Achieves Cost-Parity With Virgin Plastic
DePoly Co-founders (L to R) Christopher Ireland, Samantha Anderson and Bardiya Valizadeh Single-use plastic might just be the most insane act of collective self-harm humanity commits every single day. Each year, we discard a staggering 430 million tonnes of plastic waste—a grotesque leap from just 2.1 million tonnes in 1950. At this rate, we're on course to triple plastic pollution to over a billion tonnes annually by 2060, fueled by relentless production and shoddy waste management. Our track record is dire. Around 60% of plastic waste is dumped in landfills or the natural environment. Only 15% gets recycled; 17% is incinerated; and over 22% is littered directly into ecosystems. Plastic doesn't biodegrade in any meaningful way—it fractures into toxic micro- and nanoplastics that contaminate everything from Arctic snow to deep-sea trenches. The consequences are grim. Plastic pollution drives biodiversity loss, killing an estimated 100,000 marine mammals and one million seabirds every year. Microplastics are now found in human organs—livers, kidneys, even placentas—and plastics leach chemicals linked to cancers, developmental disorders, and immune dysfunctions. Faced with this slow-motion catastrophe, how can we step up to turn the tide? And why hasn't more been done to treat plastic pollution like the human health and ecological crisis it is? Samantha Anderson, Co-founder and CEO of DePoly, was plagued by these questions during her PhD when she read about microplastics being discovered inside human bodies. "We noticed no one was offering a complete solution to the problem," she says. "The recycling industry, especially the oil sector, had been misleading people for decades about what plastic recycling could actually achieve." Investigations by NPR and PBS Frontline among others revealed a chilling truth: plastic manufacturers knowingly sold the myth of recycling, all while cashing in on virgin plastic sales. As one former industry insider told NPR, selling recycling sold plastic, even if it wasn't true. Global giants like Coca-Cola, Nestlé, PepsiCo—and, in the U.S., Starbucks—have been repeatedly called out as top plastic polluters. Despite some virtue signalling in the form of flashy green pledges, genuine action has been slow, dubious and patchy. Anderson and two fellow PhD students decided they wouldn't wait for the system to fix itself. With backgrounds in chemistry, they set out to engineer a new chemical recycling method. Within six months, they cracked it—and DePoly was born. "We started scaling up from there," Anderson recalls. "What began as a tiny side project is now a company of over 40 people." What sets DePoly apart is their ability to tackle the types of plastic waste that conventional methods can't touch: dirty, complex, multilayered materials like household waste, textiles, and post-industrial scrap. Traditional mechanical recycling can't handle this mess; DePoly's low-cost, low-energy chemical process can. Using safe, everyday chemicals—nothing exotic or dangerous—their technology recycles PET, polyester, and more, achieving a 65% lower CO₂ footprint compared to producing new plastics from fossil fuels while rescuing many tons of plastic from landfill. And crucially, DePoly's recycled materials aim for cost parity with virgin plastics—a game-changing milestone. "Packaging is an enormous, cutthroat industry," explains Claire Hae-Min Gusko, founder of sustainable packaging innovation company one•five. 'Margins are razor-thin.' Big brands answer to shareholders who demand quarterly growth. Already, many major companies are quietly abandoning their sustainability goals: 'and shareholders don't seem to mind,' she adds. "If anything, they're willing to accept it if it means growth continues. It's a harsh truth about the state of our capitalist markets, but it's a reality. Sustainable packaging has to be affordable; there's no way around it.' Shredded PET samples With the promise of offering both cost-parity and sustainability, DePoly is ready to compete with virgin plastic and has a scale-up journey that is both methodical and ambitious. They are currently building a pre-commercial plant to serve as a blueprint for full industrial facilities. Their first commercial plant is slated for 2027–2028, targeting markets in Europe, North America, and potentially Asia. Anderson still marvels at the scale of progress. "Seeing something that started as a 400-milligram lab sample now operating in a massive warehouse—it's surreal. It's amazing to see a vision we dreamed about actually come to life," she says. 'It's been incredibly rewarding to bring in new team members who fully embraced the challenge and push the process even further than we imagined.' Location choices are strategic, factoring in local waste streams, regulatory landscapes, and economic incentives. And everything is geared toward one goal: mass-market competitiveness. Chemical recycling is no silver bullet—but it's a huge leap forward. "It's the logical next step after mechanical recycling," explains Hae-Min Gusko. "Chemical recycling can create higher-quality materials, closing the loop for plastics that would otherwise end up as trash." Still, challenges remain. Infrastructure investment, political will, and public awareness all lag behind. The waste industry already struggles with tight margins and tricky feedstocks; 'for chemical recycling to become a significant part of our recycling rates in the next 5-10 years, a huge amount of infrastructure investment and change will have to take place in the waste industry,' she adds. In a major vote of confidence, DePoly recently closed a $23 million funding round, making it one of Europe's top-funded recycling tech startups. The company's mission is simple but bold: convert plastic waste into virgin-quality raw materials without fossil fuels. Yet, for all the innovation, change won't come overnight and is often dependent on governments pushing industry through regulation. "Industries are trying to improve, but it's slow," says Anderson. "Still, the trends are in our favor. Regulation is tightening. Consumers are demanding better. Companies are actively looking for real solutions." European regulations, like the Green Deal and the new Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), are poised to reshape markets, forcing companies to prioritize recyclability and recycled content. For sectors like hospitality, additional rules under the Single-Use Plastics Directive will drive shifts toward reusable containers and natural polymers. 'The world of packaging is not a mystery: its future is being written by government policies and regulations such as the EU Green Deal,' explains Hae-Min Gusko. Looking at the EU alone, a closed-loop technology such as DePoly's fits well with the EU's vision for the future of its waste infrastructure.' "By 2028, we'll know whether these policies have had the expected impact," explains Hae-Min Gusko. "If they have, it'll be a turning point not just for Europe, but globally. Key markets in Asia, like Japan and South Korea, are already following similar regulatory paths." One wild card accelerating change? Artificial intelligence. AI is already transforming industries by boosting efficiency, but packaging and materials development remains a massive challenge due to its complexity and deep-rooted expertise, says Hae-Min Gusko. Her AI platform aims to change that - using AI to design new packaging solutions and move directly to mass production, skipping the costly, time-consuming testing loops—"It may sound ambitious, but with AI evolving rapidly, we believe it's within reach." Anderson is optimistic but clear-eyed about the road ahead: 'The tipping point will come from making recycling cost-competitive and giving waste real economic value.' "We're close," she says. "We just need that final push.' With the world drowning in plastic and big polluters under mounting pressure, solutions like chemical recycling can't come fast enough. Whether policymakers, investors, and industries move quickly enough to seize the moment will define the future health of our planet. Time, after all, is running out.
