Pete_Coach
Dec 11th, 2007, 06:43 PM
Found this in the newspaper today. They don't seem to mess around in Alberta
So, for all those who think their rates are high, read this. :cheesygri
Young driver hit with $104,000 premium
Since 2005, teen got 10 speeding tickets; totalled his car
Mike Sadava
The Edmonton Journal
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
EDMONTON - Barbara Wellensiek knew her son's insurance premium would be steep because of his less-than-stellar driving record, but she never expected it would be $104,566.63 when the renewal notice came in.
"I thought it was a typo," Ms. Wellensiek said yesterday. "I didn't panic -- I thought it was a mistake."
When she phoned her insurance broker, Access Insurance Group, it confirmed the total, hiking the premium from $1,300 per month.
Her 19-year-old son, Towers, has a "tendency to speed," Ms. Wellensiek admits.
He got his first car at the age of 16. His licence was suspended twice. Since May 2005, he has received 10 speeding tickets, and has been in two minor "fender-benders" as well as an accident that totalled his car.
Given those factors, Towers' insurance premium could actually be higher.
When the details of his driving record were put into the auto-insurance premium calculator on the Alberta government's website, the maximum allowable charge was $122,727.42.
His mother went to another insurance company, Morgex, which has quoted her $50,000 for a premium on her son's sporty Nissan 240.
Towers plans to attend Okanagan College and is moving to British Columbia permanently.
He says he's optimistic he can insure his car there for about the same rate he was paying in Alberta last year.
If that doesn't work out, he says he'll have to ride his bike.
He's still shocked by the invoice, and says most of the speeding tickets were just a few kilometres an hour over the limit.
Alison Gates-Kriston, spokeswoman for Alberta Finance, said there are three factors on Alberta's insurance-rate grid: number of years of driving, accident claims and convictions.
She said that as high as the rates are for drivers such as Towers, "It's the driver's decision as to whether they want to be insured or whether they want to stop driving."
So, for all those who think their rates are high, read this. :cheesygri
Young driver hit with $104,000 premium
Since 2005, teen got 10 speeding tickets; totalled his car
Mike Sadava
The Edmonton Journal
Tuesday, December 11, 2007
EDMONTON - Barbara Wellensiek knew her son's insurance premium would be steep because of his less-than-stellar driving record, but she never expected it would be $104,566.63 when the renewal notice came in.
"I thought it was a typo," Ms. Wellensiek said yesterday. "I didn't panic -- I thought it was a mistake."
When she phoned her insurance broker, Access Insurance Group, it confirmed the total, hiking the premium from $1,300 per month.
Her 19-year-old son, Towers, has a "tendency to speed," Ms. Wellensiek admits.
He got his first car at the age of 16. His licence was suspended twice. Since May 2005, he has received 10 speeding tickets, and has been in two minor "fender-benders" as well as an accident that totalled his car.
Given those factors, Towers' insurance premium could actually be higher.
When the details of his driving record were put into the auto-insurance premium calculator on the Alberta government's website, the maximum allowable charge was $122,727.42.
His mother went to another insurance company, Morgex, which has quoted her $50,000 for a premium on her son's sporty Nissan 240.
Towers plans to attend Okanagan College and is moving to British Columbia permanently.
He says he's optimistic he can insure his car there for about the same rate he was paying in Alberta last year.
If that doesn't work out, he says he'll have to ride his bike.
He's still shocked by the invoice, and says most of the speeding tickets were just a few kilometres an hour over the limit.
Alison Gates-Kriston, spokeswoman for Alberta Finance, said there are three factors on Alberta's insurance-rate grid: number of years of driving, accident claims and convictions.
She said that as high as the rates are for drivers such as Towers, "It's the driver's decision as to whether they want to be insured or whether they want to stop driving."