Changes come to Ontario auto insurance

May 31st, 2016  |  Canadian Business

As the temperatures rise, the insurance rates are dropping. If you’re an Ontario driver you’re probably happy to hear that. However, the premium decrease isn’t the only thing you need to be aware of.

We’ve known for a couple of months now that average auto insurance rates were going to drop -3.07% today. And as a busy driver you may not have looked too closely at the other stuff. However the other changes could be a good reason to get on the phone and change your coverage or possibly even start shopping around for a better policy.

In order to make coverage cheaper, insurers have been allowed to reduce the amounts of accident benefits by a pretty significant amount. For someone who's survived a serious collision that changed their life on a fundamental level, that coverage reduction is a big deal.

Whereas before, non-catastrophic injuries were covered up to $86,000. Now it will be $65,000 with the option to get extended coverage up to $130,000. For Catastrophic injuries benefits were set at $2,000,000. Now it’s $1,000,000 with the option to extend it to 2.

While a million bucks certainly isn’t a small sum of money, it certainly isn’t much if someone is injured so badly that they can’t work or take care of themselves. Even $2,000,000 isn’t really enough for a young person who may not have a source of income for the foreseeable future.

So the auto insurance changes are a slightly double-edged sword. On the one hand, you may be getting a lower auto payment. On the other hand, you might not be getting adequate accident benefits should you need them.