melloInsurance

Serving our clients, Serving our community

block's agencies

Delivering Insurance in a “Socially Distant” environment.

The past 2.5 weeks, our cities, province, country and world have gone from a casual “it’s just a flu” response to full on “lockdown.” It seems surreal that we have all been “sent to our rooms,” so to speak, to help the healthcare system from collapsing.

These seem like drastic measures, and it is (at the cost of our economy), but keeping our loved ones healthy and our health care workers safe, is always more important than money (at least that’s the standards that I was raised with). “As long as you have your health, you can always make more money.” That being said, it is important to keep mentally and physically healthy during this time of self-isolation.

During this time, some businesses NEED to continue so that we can continue to live. Grocery Stores, Trucking Companies, Fuel Stations, Hospitals, Paramedics, Care-workers, etc. all need to continue to work despite putting themselves in harms way. To them, we are extremely grateful for their relentless & exhausting efforts during this time. There are a lot of other non-essential businesses that have had to adapt to the new norm and figure out how to work without going to work. This requires working from home or creating a delivery based system to their customers.

At Block’s Agencies, we fortunately had remote access capabilities, into our brokerage software already in place. We created data security measures to keep our data private and secure, and gave our teams the ability to access our client data from anywhere; giving us the ability to still operate as if nothing had changed.

During this stressful time, the government has made it very clear that gatherings and public outings should be minimized at all cost. So we have locked our doors to “self-isolate” and are trying our best to help flatten the curve. However, truckers still need to truck, drivers still need to drive and despite the lockdown, the world hasn’t stopped. So what are we doing to help deliver our customers the same service behind locked doors. Here is some Q&A to help answer some of those concerns:

Q.  I still need to renew my driver’s licenses and registrations. How can we do this?

A.  By calling, texting or emailing one of our branches (contact info at the bottom of this page) or by utilizing the MySGI tool on our website. You can text us at 306-992-2606.

Our team has call-forwarding and our email accounts are set up to track and monitor your requests. We can handle (pretty much) every situation for SGI inquiries, and if we can’t, we will find the source to help you out and get you looked after. Currently, we are asking clients to come pick up the licenses, registrations and plates outside our door. We have a drop-off / pickup area for people to pick up their new plates or other documentation that they may need.

Q.  What if I have an insurance claim? Is an adjuster still going to come out to investigate?

A.  It depends on the claim. Not all claims require someone in attendance, however, in the event that a large fire, accident or other event were to occur, there would likely be someone to attend the scene to make sure everything was looked after and that everybody was safe.

Q.  I bought a house. How can I get insurance on it? 

A.  If you call or email one of our branches or brokers, we can get you started remotely. We can set up a conference call or ZOOM conference to have a face-to-face meeting if that is what you would like. We have e-signature software set up and can handle all our applications and contracts via secure email.

Q.  Is this COVID-19 pandemic covered on my business policy as a “business interruption?”

A.  We would have to submit a claim request to your insurance provider to see if your policy wordings responded to this type of loss. However, based on the initial assessment of the insurance industry as a whole, it is rather unlikely as business interruption coverage responds when there is a direct loss from an insured peril (ie. fire or wind), then this coverage is triggered to that corresponding claim. Some wordings exclude pandemic, some are vague on the exclusion, so it is worth submitting the claim to see what the interpretation of your wordings will be.

Q. How long will your operations continue in this manner? When will things turn back to normal?

A.  As you can imagine, our operations will be decided on the recommendations of the Chief Health Officers of Canada and Saskatchewan. When they recommend that we can continue business as “usual.” We will update you and let you know when our doors have reopened.

We are grateful for your patience as we continue to navigate through these unknown waters. Your business is very important to us and we appreciate your support. Our people and our communities are our main priority and we want to be here for you during this stressful and chaotic time. Thank you for your continued patronage. It does not go unnoticed.

How “roaring” are these 20s going to be?


We are on Day 7 of this new decade. The “Roaring 20s.” It seems very strange to think that this past year was the end of the decade. It has felt like since 2000, we have been living in a new era of the “2000s” and the perspective of time has been skewed. I often think, “Oh a 2001 truck is still pretty new!” Then realize that in 10 years, it will be an antique! Wild! Time is just flying by. To think that every day now revolves around online streaming and internet content and it has only been “mainstream” since 1993! Most of us had dial-up internet through the Y2K Armageddon Debacle. Now, between Netflix, Amazon, and Social Media, our lives pivot on the axis of this new Net-World.

So looking forward, what is to come? What will the next decade bring? These are the exciting questions that many are asking, and many others are building and creating. Tesla continues to create innovative autonomous products. Google, Apple & Microsoft are developing new technology all the time to house all this data that we continue to create. To put that into perspective, YouTube has 500 hours of fresh video content added every minute.That works out to 30,000 hours of new content per hour, and 720,000 hours of new content per day. No wonder we are addicted. There is no way we can keep up to that amount of content. This is unreal. To think, that just 25 years ago, television ENDED at 12pm every night. Our minds are always on, because the content never stops. It is hard to grasp and actually find time to shut down and unwind. 

Just like these companies and the products they offer, insurance companies are continuing to innovate and develop new technology to help their consumers as well. In fact, Block’s Agencies just created “Saskatchewan’s FIRST Digital Insurance Brokerage” called Mello Insurance. With Mello Insurance, you can purchase Condo or Renters Insurance online INSTANTLY. You can also make billing changes, policy changes ANYTIME, online through your customer portal. We are currently developing Home, Auto & Travel Insurance products and should be up in early 2020.

Mello Insurance offers the very best coverage, with the most convenience for our customers. We understand that business doesn’t end at 5pm and so with our platform, you can continue to make those changes on your time. We also understand that in the event of a claim, you still want people in your corner; so even though we are a digital company, we still have great people who will continue to support you through your hardships and give you that small town customer service you expect.

Technology continues to advance and blow our minds. In our industry, we know we need to continue to advance, however, we also know it is people that are at our core and make our business valuable. We know a robot will not have the same level of customer service and bedside manner as an actual person does, when your basement is flooded. However, we know that you want to shop, be efficient, and make changes to your policy on your own time. So we are working around the clock to offer every level of service imaginable.

With that in mind, as we move into the twenties, we need to continue to think outside the box and push ourselves. Whether it is in our own business, our work ethic, trying to be healthier or in helping the environment. Let us be better and work together to make this decade the best one yet.