# My Auto Insurance (almost) doubled - Ontario



## Tostig (Nov 18, 2020)

I just received my renewal and it looks almost as high as the insurance I switched from two years ago.

This article gave us a heads up for increases but double is beyond reasonable.


https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/car-insurance-premiums-ontario-1.6630458



When I switched to CAA two years ago, my new premium for two cars was $1282 saving me about 45% from TD Insurance.

Now my CAA premium is $2131. Up from $1282 over two years is a 25.42% annual rate of increase.

For each automobile four or five of the six increases are over 100% over one year.

The article states that insurance companies had been trying to maintain premiums for a few years but costs for theft and medical have spiked.

So I ran my 2021 premiums against the Canada Inflation Calculator.








Inflation Calculator


Calculate how much the cost of a fixed "basket" of consumer purchases has changed, using monthly consumer price index (CPI) data from 1914 to now.




www.bankofcanada.ca





For 2022 my 2021 should be $1369.13. Add another 7% inflation for 2023 and we have $1465. But my renewal is $2131. That's another 45% spread out over 
Bodily Injury (125% to 170% increase over one year)
Property Damage (100% to 160% increase over one year)
Standard Accident Benefits (113% to 192% increase)
Uninsured Automobile (I'll have to find out what that is for - is it rental, like on vacation?) (120% to 214% increase)
Collision or Upset ($500 Deductible) (84% to 143% increase)

This is the kind of thing that really makes me think if I want to drive anymore. Most of the time I ride my bike. I drive only when I have to go buy a lot of groceries. But I don't think my wife would be able to give up a car easily.

I'll have to call CAA tomorrow.

Before I start shopping around, I want to know how much your insurance had increased since last year.


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## like_to_retire (Oct 9, 2016)

Tostig said:


> Before I start shopping around, I want to know how much your insurance had increased since last year.


My auto insurance went down about 5% in 2022 compared to 2021. 
The reason being is that COVID resulted in a lot less driving, with people isolating and those that worked from home rather than driving to work. Not as many accidents.

ltr


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## AlwaysMissingTheBoat (8 mo ago)

Oh, man. I am looking at the scenario in the OP exactly! Longtime TD Home and Auto customer. Have seen my rates gradually increase over the past several years and figured it was time to shop around. Called CAA and got a quote. It was $350 cheaper for the year.

The problem was that our TD insurance had just renewed (I was late getting on the ball). So I checked the refund rate and my eyes almost popped out when I saw that TD starts off withholding something like 14% within the first week or two! That's outrageous!

So I'll hold off until next year to make the jump to CAA. But I hope it's not just one year of attractive rates followed by a big hike.


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## Money172375 (Jun 29, 2018)

It was my home insurance that was creeping up over the years. I made adjustments along the way (higher deductibles, lower coverage). Finally this year, I shopped around.

i ended up saving $1600 a year for the combined home/auto and my home coverage is WAY better. deductible is back down to $1,000 from $5,000. Water damage coverage limit went from $50,000 to $700,000. Only downside was that I had a $0 deductible on my cars, now it’s $500.


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## Synergy (Mar 18, 2013)

OP should have called CAA before posting. There is likely a valid reason, change, mistake, etc. CAA's rates in Ontario are still dirt cheap. Mark my words, this won't last for ever! They will eventually be stung by the wrath of Ontario. Just like all the others....


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## Tostig (Nov 18, 2020)

like_to_retire said:


> My auto insurance went down about 5% in 2022 compared to 2021.
> The reason being is that COVID resulted in a lot less driving, with people isolating and those that worked from home rather than driving to work. Not as many accidents.
> 
> ltr


My 2022 premiums went down 16% compared to 2021. Now compared to 2022, my 2023 premiums almost doubled and coming close to my old TD Insurance (2021) before I cancelled.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Auto insurance went up by 5 percent when we renewed last October. TD insurance. Alberta. I suspect a much larger increase next time.

Did you move/change postal codes?

The inflation calculator is meaningless.  The only thing that matters is the premium on the policy that you buy. 

Shop around, try an independent insurance agency.

There was a study on UK insurance rates a few years ago. Bottom line, as I recall, was that like for like new customers pay less than loyal, long term customers of their respective carriers on renewal.


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## Gumball (Dec 22, 2011)

With the amount of catalytic converter thefts (as well as auto thefts) this is not surprising unfortunately...


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## Beaver101 (Nov 14, 2011)

ian said:


> Auto insurance went up by 5 percent when we renewed last October. TD insurance. Alberta. I suspect a much larger increase next time.
> 
> Did you move/change postal codes?
> 
> ...


 ... and so how many times do you change carriers before the next carrier couldn't care less if they got your business or not so as to not give you a discount. If I was a business, I would look at "loyalty" as a major factor but then the insurance companies are too stupid to recognize that these days.


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## MrMatt (Dec 21, 2011)

Semi-organized Crime of low level theft is increasing.

The police seem helpless to do anything about it, they catch them, the courts set them free. Look at that cop killer, he should have been in jail, and that's a violent criminal.

Low level property crime of only a few $k doesn't even get a callback. Call insurance and file a report on the website.
Even assault complaints might not get a response.


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

time to allow the choice to self-insure.


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## spiritwalker2222 (Nov 7, 2017)

Mine went down a few %. Now $1,200 for a 3 year old and 10 year old car (with 2 primary drivers).


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Beaver101 said:


> ... and so how many times do you change carriers before the next carrier couldn't care less if they got your business or not so as to not give you a discount. If I was a business, I would look at "loyalty" as a major factor but then the insurance companies are too stupid to recognize that these days.


The insurance companies look at loyal customers as apathetic. People who will probably accept an increase and pay it. I can understand this is the rate increases are low but over time they add up. 

I would be shocked if anyone who had a large percentage increase did not go out to the market for competitive quotes. That is exactly what we did when the company that took over State Farms book of business raised our rates on both home and auto. We shopped, then voted with our feet and our wallets.


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## Dilbert (Nov 20, 2016)

Highly recommend Costco for insurance.


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## marina628 (Dec 14, 2010)

We recently traded our 2016 Mazda CX-9 for a 2022 Kia Telluride Night Sky edition and our insurance went down $135 a year. We are with CERTAS use to be State Farm ,that is a huge increase to deal with. My friend has bad credit so he told me he switched car insurance from where he had his house insurance ,they do not do credit checks on car insurance and he saved $130 a month moving to TD.Not to say OP has credit issues but many factors on insurance.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Regardless of any increase, or even a small increase, I typically on line and verify that are home and auto insurance is within the ballpark. We will not switch for a small saving but.

We do the same with similar recurring costs-especially internet/cel costs. These have yielded the biggest savings in the past two or three years. Last year our cost decreased from $191 month to $114 per month...and a better level of service.

It pays to shop.


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## sags (May 15, 2010)

We have our car insurance with Heartland Mutual, which is owned and operated by the policyholders.

At some point they may sell the company or demutualize it and we would benefit as we did with Economical. We received $3500 from that demutualization.

Heartland didn't charge high enough premiums for a couple of years and had to raise premiums and didn't take on a lot of new business.

They won't insure high risk drivers and dropped some brokers because they had too many higher risk drivers as clients.

When the circumstances changed they dropped the premiums again, so they rise and fall as circumstances dictated.

Our current insurance for both drivers with excellent driving records on a new vehicle is $1400 a year with full coverage, which includes several discounts.


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## Synergy (Mar 18, 2013)

Mortgage u/w said:


> time to allow the choice to self-insure.


There was talk about making more of the coverages optional in Ontario - accident benefits, etc. In a no-fault system that would be tough. You can't sue for items that could have been purchased from the insurer. The average person would have a tough time trying to self insure - life altering severe injuries, unable to work, etc.


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## Synergy (Mar 18, 2013)

Dilbert said:


> Highly recommend Costco for insurance.


Costco just sends you to a licensed broker. Similar markets you'd get from other brokers. Costco may however have a group plan with one of the large players - Aviva, etc.


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## Birder (9 mo ago)

Definitely shop around. I tried one of those on-line quote sites and they call you as soon as you hit enter. Definitely cheaper options out there but I would have had to switch both house and auto and I was not ready for the hassle. I asked the broker why they were recommending one insurance company over another and he said every year one company is a lot cheaper. And then I asked whether people actually change their insurance provider every year, and he said yes, absolutely! I was surprised. Maybe it's because he gets more commission but I thought it was interesting.

 https://www.brokerlink.ca/

Not 100% positive this is the site I used.


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## Birder (9 mo ago)

Actually it is this outfit that seems pretty competitive but also quite aggressive in contacting you as soon as you hit "enter".

Kanetix is RATESDOTCA


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