Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Car Insurance but Were Too Bored to Ask
Don’t worry, you can say it. It won’t hurt our feelings (much). We are well aware that, at times, auto insurance can seem both boring and confusing. To put it bluntly, it may feel like a necessary evil.
It’s easy to get lost in a sea of extended liability coverage, deductible waivers, and specified perils. But despite how you may feel about it, we never get tired of talking about insurance at Insurance Jack, and we’re here to help by answering a few key questions so you can better understand insurance.
1. What do I Need?
If if you own a vehicle in Ontario, you are required by law to have the following coverage:
Liability Coverage:
This protects you if someone else is killed or injured, or their property is damaged in an accident. It will help pay for claims as a result of lawsuits against you up to the limit of your coverage (the absolute minimum coverage amount is $200,000 in Ontario, but we personally recommend $2 Million).
Accident Benefits:
This part of insurance policies includes coverage to protect drivers against financial losses resulting from injuries incurred in an accident, regardless of who caused the accident. It can include benefits like supplementary medical, rehabilitation and attendant care, caregiver, and income replacement benefits. Like liability, options exist to increase this coverage.
Direct Compensation – Property Damage Coverage:
This covers damage to your vehicle or its contents in the event of an accident where another person was at fault. This section only applies if certain conditions are met.
Uninsured Automobile Coverage:
This covers you if you are ever injured or killed by a hit-and-run driver or by an uninsured motorist. It also covers damage to your vehicle caused by an uninsured driver.
Increased liability and optional accidental benefits coverage as well as specified and/or all perils, collision, comprehensive coverage, and many more options are all available to customize your policy to meet your needs. You can discuss these further by contacting your Insurance Jack broker.
2. Why do I Need it?
For starters, it’s the law in Canada, but beyond that, insurance isn’t really as evil as it may seem. It’s not often you pay for something you hope you don’t have to use, but auto insurance is one of those anomalies.
When everyone has it, potential financial ruin is not always awaiting us at every left hand turn or highway exit ramp. If you look at the coverage required by the standard auto insurance policy in Ontario, it becomes clear that it’s focused on protecting you and others in the event of injury, death, or property damage. Should an accident happen, insurance companies bear the brunt of the financial burden, allowing people to focus on their safety and well-being. Insurance works if everyone has it because we’re all protecting ourselves and each other.
3. How Much Does it Cost?
Well, that depends on a lot of factors that can all affect your rate—your vehicle, your driving record, where you live, your use and storage of the vehicle, and even the particular insurance company’s experience with different claims and losses (just to name a few).
All insurance companies assess risk differently so rates can vary significantly from company to company for the exact same coverage, vehicle, and driver. This might make it seem frustrating when you’re trying to buy insurance. As consumers, we’re not used to buying many things this way. When you go to pick up milk, stores don’t often change the price based on a record of how you drank your milk in the past or how everyone else who bought that kind of milk drank theirs.
It can seem overwhelming, but it ultimately benefits you to be able to shop around to find the best rate available. And of course, your broker and sites like Insurance Jack are here to help make comparing rates quick and easy.
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