What You Should Know About Toronto Car Insurance
Toronto. T Dot. The Six. Any way you say it, living in Canada’s cultural capital comes with a high cost.
Whether it’s gas, taxes, real estate prices, or transit, it always seems like Toronto has drawn the short end of the stick when it comes to prices. Unfortunately this is also true for auto insurance with Ontario (and the GTA specifically) having the highest insurance rates in the whole country.
The average Toronto car insurance policy costs upwards of $1,500 a year. This means you want to know as much as possible about how to cut costs where you can. Here are some things everyone should know about Toronto car insurance.
It’s really easy to get quotes online
First of all, the good news is that you can get multiple quotes for Toronto car insurance by filling out a quick form. In a few minutes you’ll get a picture of how much it’ll cost to insure you in Toronto, and you’ll have different quotes to choose from so you can pick the rate that works best for you.
Why is it so expensive?
According to the latest census, the GTA has a population of about 5.1 million. Of those five million people 3.4 million of them have jobs they need to get to day in and day out. Using Statistics Canada’s percentages for the amount of people commuting by car, van, or truck in Toronto, that means there are about 2.3 million drivers commuting in the GTA every week day.
That is a TON of people. Unfortunately, the city has trouble handling the volumes of traffic on its roads. Every day, twice a day at rush hour, the city is plagued by very heavy traffic. Roads and highways can turn into little more than parking lots on bad days. When that happens, traffic accidents are more likely, affecting the Toronto car insurance premiums of everyone in the area.
Big cities also carry the unfortunate side effect of higher crime rates than smaller communities. Because of that insurance is higher, due to the increased risk of break-ins, damage, and theft.
Drivers get discounts when they complete a ministry approved training program.
The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario maintains a list of approved driver training courses that will not only help new drivers get their license faster, but will also shave a pretty significant chunk of change off their insurance premiums.
That’s not all though. There are also province-wide discounts for using winter tires during the appropriate months.
Some Companies reward loyalty with reduced premiums if you stay with them for a certain number of years without any at-fault accidents.
Review what discounts you could be eligible for on the Financial Services Commission of Ontario website.
What car should I drive if I’m in the GTA?
When buying a car, you may try to pick something that will save on insurance. While there are some cars that are bad for auto insurance, the car is only a small factor when it comes to the premium you end up with on your Toronto car insurance policy.
Even so, Toronto drivers who spend a lot of time downtown can benefit by purchasing smaller vehicles that can park easily and are light on gas usage. For those with different needs, it can make sense to buy a family-friendly crossover. Also, keep in mind that while new cars have all sorts of advantages in both security and reliability, they are also attractive targets for theft.
Last but not least
The Ontario Highway Traffic Act charges some pretty hefty fines for tickets. If you think Toronto car insurance is expensive already, you don’t want to see how high premiums get when you have tickets on your record. The best things you can do to keep your insurance premiums down are to drive safely and obey the law.