Trying to choose which company has the best car insurance offer in Canada is not a simple task as you need to normalize several factors which determine the number of premiums one needs to pay—including the location of living, driving records, mileage driven per year, etc.
In that context, you need to climb a couple of stairs in order to reach the appropriate angle on the level of coverage and to be confident in the quoted rate for the insurance policy of your vehicle.
A complex set of components form the overall insurance policy and you need to understand each of them. Using this article is a good start, but you might also want to read the Insurance Bureau of Canada’s latest report to find specifics on insurance policies in different provinces. The second stop is collecting different quotes from professional brokers or your existing insurer and then feel free to compare them with some other offers you’ll find along the way.
Here are some different approaches to what can actually affect your quote to help you find the most competitive and the best auto insurance quotes that will fit your budget and car coverage requirements the best.
What Affects Your Car Insurance Quote?
First of all, when searching for the most suitable car insurance deal for your needs and wants, you have to know and go through the things that can raise, lower, or don’t affect your car insurance quotes.
What Raises Your Insurance
The parameters that can raise your annual car insurance quote include:
- Your driving record. The insurance premium will increase as your number of tickets, accidents, and penalties increases. The riskier driver will pay the higher rate.
- How often do you drive. The daily commute and other travel habits will also determine the rate proportionally to the time spent on the road.
- Change of address. Moving from a small town to a big city usually brings rates up as the latest is associated with a higher risk of a robbery, or accidents related to more frequent traffic.
What Lowers Your Insurance
Let’s see how car insurance premiums can go down:
- Training. Taking some additional driving lessons can do the trick. It will be regarded positively by your insurer as risk factors would mitigate all encounters on the road (other cars, passengers, etc).
- Safety features. Buying SUVs and crossovers over regular cars with good safety features such as rain-sensing windshield wipers, road sign recognition software, and excellent test crash reports will considerably diminish insurance premiums.
- Credit history. Some provinces in Canada may check your credit score and determine the risk premiums based on the higher or lower credit mark.
- Demographics. Some of these factors regularly influence the risk premiums as to whether it is about a male or a female driver, or the age of a driver. Based on a decent driving record, a female driver would pay less. Also, a person over the age of 25 will pay a lower premium than the one below this age.
What Doesn’t Affect Car Insurance Quotes
Here are the elements that will not affect the insurance policy quote:
- Employment history. Unless you are a professional driver, employment status will not impact the rate of insurance. It may be used to double-check the records in the file, not more.
- Car color. Although the colors, in general, have some effect on the light velocity, the car colors have no influence on the insurance rate. Feel free to choose any color you like.
Comparing Quotes To Find The Best Deal
Any insurer will offer a car insurance quote based on the following information: the number of drivers that need to be insured; vehicle coverage required by a financial intermediary if any; amount of insurance coverage; average mileage on the daily commute; and some other factors mentioned above. You also need to provide driving license details and driving records including any claims towards your previous insurance companies.
The insurance company may offer different quotes, on the grounds of the above information and especially regarding the amount of insurance coverage. It is up to you to pick the right one based on your own experience and assessment of risks associated with the driving routes most frequently used and overall driving habits.
Nevertheless, a dissenting analysis would examine the following:
- Check the content of a policy diligently. All personal information, amount of coverage, etc. needs to be precise and adequately stated in the agreement.
- As the rates are disproportionate to deductibles, you may be insured with a minimum coverage amount, which is not always the best option.
- If you use the same insurance company for other insurance policies, it may be possible to bundle all policies in one and save on the overall premium. You may also benefit from the premium payment frequency should this option be offered by the company.
Final Words
The advantages of an appropriate car insurance policy are multifold. It is highly recommended that drivers make thorough research or even better, use good insurance brokers that can help in the process.
The important inputs are on the factors influencing the rise or decrease of the rates, and once the risk factors are determined and the amount of insurance needed the diligent rate comparison can take place based on the above-mentioned points. Be sure to set all of the points made in the article in place and enjoy the peaceful driving.