RATESDOTCA (rates.ca) recently compiled a list of the most expensive cities in Ontario to get your car insured.
Also listed were the least expensive, and Cobourg and Port Hope made that list!
You may be paying a lot for insurance in you live in Brampton, where the average premium is $2,698.
Deanna Thickson, account executive at Brokerlink in Cobourg, says she couldn’t agree more.
In order, after Brampton, the most expensive cities are Mississauga, Vaughan, Richmond Hill and Markham.
Vehicle theft, fraud and the high cost to replace and repair vehicles are generally what is driving up costs in these areas.
The cheapest places to own and operate a car in Ontario are in Kingston, Napanee, Port Hope, Cobourg and Brockville, which all have average annual premiums of $1,103.
At the height of the pandemic, insurance companies promised $1 billion in relief to drivers but new statistics show that rates still went up, but, Thickson says these rate increases were already in place and we probably would have seen them, pandemic or not.
She says some insurance companies did give back.
Many insurance companies offered discounts during the onset of the pandemic, while some automatically reduced premiums by a set percentage for a few months; others you had to request the discount/changes in your vehicle usage, creating a reduced premium and one of their companies just sent every client a cheque for $100.
In a report by CTV Toronto, it states that while Brampton remains the most expensive city in Ontario to own a vehicle, the four most expensive postal codes to own a car are in Scarborough, where the average premium is $3,000 a year.
The rates quoted in the statistics are for a 35-year-old, with a good driving record owning a 2017 Honda Civic.
Thickson explains why this isn’t a great example.
The rates quoted in the statistics are the average premiums for a good driver, so anyone who has had an accident or tickets could be paying hundreds or even thousands of dollars more.
Thickson adds it may seem easier to go online to get car insurance, but going through a broker can give you the peace of mind with nothing you don’t need, and everything you do.
To contact Thickson, call 905-372-8701 ext 46506 or email dthickson@brokerlink.ca or check her out on FaceBook at https://www.facebook.com/deannathicksonbrokerlink.
