Question about Car insurance

[benbenben]

I need to modify my car insurance policy these days, can some one help me to find out which opition is best for me?
What I have now: 1,000,000 Liability; 0 comprehensive; 0 collision.



What I want to do is to add some comprehensive and collision coverage to my policy, in order keep the permium low I will increse the dedutible as much as possible.

My car is worth 3-4 thousand dollars only.

Can some one explain what comprehensive and collision means for the policy? and How should I chose my dedutible level?

[rems]

I need to modify my car insurance policy these days, can some one help me to find out which opition is best for me?
What I have now: 1,000,000 Liability; 0 comprehensive; 0 collision.



What I want to do is to add some comprehensive and collision coverage to my policy, in order keep the permium low I will increse the dedutible as much as possible.

My car is worth 3-4 thousand dollars only.

Can some one explain what comprehensive and collision means for the policy? and How should I chose my dedutible level?

Both coverage deals with damage to your car. Basically, collision is for when you're driving your car and comprehensive is for when you're not (like theft, fire or vandalism).

What condition is your car in? I don't think it's worth it for you to get these physical damage coverages,especially if you're gonna get like a $1000 deductible.

[matradley]

That quote looks like is it is from Belair Direct since they are among the few that offer 0-deductible. How much is the policy anyways?

[benbenben]

Td Meloche Car Insurance, 171/month

[lor74]

you're paying $171/month for a car valued at ~$3,500 ???

That makes no sense!

[rems]

you're paying $171/month for a car valued at ~$3,500 ???

That makes no sense!

Makes a lot of sense since he only has Third Party Liability...do you want to know what that 171/month is paying for (hint: it's not the value of the car)?

[HoTiCE_]

Makes a lot of sense since he only has Third Party Liability...do you want to know what that 171/month is paying for (hint: it's not the value of the car)?

I think he meant it the other way around as in that's WAAAAAY TOO MUCH


I pay 83$ / month for a 41k car with everything,

full collision/comprehension/full value replacement for 3 years
1M liability

1k deductible.

26yr old, no ticket, no accidents, ever.

[MP3_SKY]

I think he meant it the other way around as in that's WAAAAAY TOO MUCH


I pay 83$ / month for a 41k car with everything,

full collision/comprehension/full value replacement for 3 years
1M liability

1k deductible.

26yr old, no ticket, no accidents, ever.

You are in Quebec.....I used to pay 63$ with 0 Deductible in MTL, my premium goes double when I switched to Ontario insurance.

[rems]

I think he meant it the other way around as in that's WAAAAAY TOO MUCH


I pay 83$ / month for a 41k car with everything,

full collision/comprehension/full value replacement for 3 years
1M liability

1k deductible.

26yr old, no ticket, no accidents, ever.

I know he meant it was way too much...and I was telling him that it wasn't. So many factors go into premiums that you can't compare your Quebec premium to an Ontario one. He also didn't say how old he was, nor his driving history, etc...

You're just comparing apples to oranges...I'm sure someone somewhere is paying less than what you have with more coverage but it doesn't mean it's a valid comparison

[Tiberius]

With old or low value vehicles, some would suggest you not bother with collision. Of course, you risk losing the value of the vehicle if you get in an accident - but you save the insurance cost of covering yourself for collision... so... get the quote both ways and see how much it will cost to add collision and make your decision from that.

I would also suggest going with high deductables ($1000 collision, $500 comprehensive for example) because it usually isn't wise to use insurance for small claims (if they can find a way to use your claim history against you - they will).

Regarding the Quebec - Ontario cost difference... the cost of insurance varies greatly based on many factors - insurance can pretty much double in Ontario if you live in the Toronto area vs. the boonies (all based on claim history by postal code).

[heiachi]

is it possible to get insurance from month to month? or do u have to commit for a whole year with every insurance company?

[kin0kin]

is it possible to get insurance from month to month? or do u have to commit for a whole year with every insurance company?

There are various options. You can do biweekly, monthly, semi annually, and annually.

[heiachi]

no...i meant...do you have to renew you policy for a year...or can you pay month to month and then sign up with another company afterwards?

[MoreMiles]

Quebec insurance is lower because the government covers the liability insurance. http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/ That's why their MTO is called "Societe de l'ASSURANCE..." Ontario residents have to buy them privately. With the litigious society these days, it's better to get more than 1 million dollar coverage unless you have no personal asset to protect. TD Meloche Monex for example, offers an umbrella coverage, for 5 million.

There is a "minimum cost" of insurance. Let's say you purchase an auto insurance, use it for one month, then cancel it. You will not get 11 months of premium back. You will pay for a penalty. This is to prevent you switch to a new company before annual renewal. If the saving is big, sure, you can switch in the middle. It's like a mortgage, there is that penalty or service charge or whatever euphemism they call it.

[rems]

Quebec insurance is lower because the government covers the liability insurance. http://www.saaq.gouv.qc.ca/en/ That's why their MTO is called "Societe de l'ASSURANCE..." Ontario residents have to buy them privately. With the litigious society these days, it's better to get more than 1 million dollar coverage unless you have no personal asset to protect. TD Meloche Monex for example, offers an umbrella coverage, for 5 million.

There is a "minimum cost" of insurance. Let's say you purchase an auto insurance, use it for one month, then cancel it. You will not get 11 months of premium back. You will pay for a penalty. This is to prevent you switch to a new company before annual renewal. If the saving is big, sure, you can switch in the middle. It's like a mortgage, there is that penalty or service charge or whatever euphemism they call it.

the penalty isn't that big...they go by the short rate table in determining how much you pay/get back...what you pay won't be 1/12 but it definitely won't be over 2 months premium...

[lor74]

yes, I plead ignorance to the difference between QC and ON! Didn't give it any thought......so you are saying that "no fault insurance" only exists in Quebec?

If this is the case, I suppose it is nice to have low premiums, but if you are ever in an accident and need to make a claim as a result of an injury, the SAAQ will end up screwing you over....as as happened to many people I know including my father :(

[IzzLe]

yes, I plead ignorance to the difference between QC and ON! Didn't give it any thought......so you are saying that "no fault insurance" only exists in Quebec?

If this is the case, I suppose it is nice to have low premiums, but if you are ever in an accident and need to make a claim as a result of an injury, the SAAQ will end up screwing you over....as as happened to many people I know including my father :(


The No Fault in Quebec only covers injuries to individuals and stuff related to it. You can not sue, or get sued if you are involved in a car accident. SAAQ has nothing to do with material damages though. That is why you still need a private insurance to cover your liability.

[Just Confused]

What I want to do is to add some comprehensive and collision coverage to my policy, in order keep the permium low I will increse the dedutible as much as possible.

My car is worth 3-4 thousand dollars only.

As mentioned earlier, collision and comprehensive protect your car from me damaging it; liability protects me from you doing something to my person or property. We are all required to carry liability for the common good of society. Collision and comprehensive, on the other hand, are optional simply because it really depends on whether you consider $4000 a lot of money. If your car gets totalled or stolen, would your life change irreparably or would you be able to get another car loan and just buy another one just like your current car?

Keep in mind too that simple fender benders can easily cost several thousand. For a used car such as this, the insurance comapany may write it off and offer you say $2000 or $2500 for it and you're left in the same situation as no insurance except you have a couple of thousand (temporarily)in your pocket. And prior to this possible event you paid them several hundred a month for the privilege of doing that to you! Insurance is for catastrophes not maintenance. Your life is never put back exactly as it was before the accident. Long time customers (10+ years claim free) sometimes get a "free" accident claim, but in most cases your premiums will go up after you put in a claim. So they eventually claw back that $2000 they "gave" you through increased premiums. That's why I called it temporarily in your pocket. Insurance companies are not in business to give money away; they are in business to cover their liabilities with sufficient premiums to leave room for a profit. Either way you're going to pay for the accident claim; regardless of fault. Pay them before or pay them after! As you may have surmised, my approach is to "suck it up princess" and pay only for my mistakes when & if they happen and keep the insurnace companies out of it. It may hurt at the time but I don't add a single nickel to the insurnace company just to give me my own money with a fee. I drop my collision/comprehensive coverage a couple of years after we buy our cars.

As for collision/comprehensive deductibles, the higher you agree to make them the lower the premium charged to you monthly. It is simply a case of you taking full liability for small value claims and that reduces the risk to the insurnace company, so they "reward" you with lower premiums. If your going to be submitting a claim for every paint chip you will be charged premiums accordingly. It is a continuum with what I described in the last paragraph... if you raised the deductible to $4000 (in other words the full value of your car) you would essentially leave the insurance company with no risk. For which they should in theory charge you no premium.

When leasing the leasing company sometimes specifies the maximum deductible you are allowed to accept. Similarly some insurnace companies do not offer deductibles over a certain amount.

IMO, you shouldn't bother with collision/comprehensive on an older used car.

[MoreMiles]

Collision and Comprehensive coverage = physical damage
Liability = personal injury damage

"No-fault" in Ontario means that an insurance company will cover accident benefits under the SABS regulation regardless who is at fault. These benefits include physiotherapy, housekeeping, caregiving, and funeral costs.

Most people get confused... in a "No Fault" system, you still calculate the premium based on who is at fault for an accident (eg, reareneded by a driver in the back). So there is always a fault determination for premium calculation purposes.

Not only that, you can still sue for person injury in a "No-Fault" system. It is called "Tort Claim". You can file a tort claim against the other driver for pain and suffering, as a result of serious and permanent impairments affecting activities of daily living.

A regular tort claim may be filed for tens of thousands of dollars. If there is a brain or spinal cord injury, you are looking at over 1 million. If there is a death, you are looking at a few million dollars.

It is very sad but dangerous. The poor driver will either file for bankruptcy or have enough liability coverage for protection. Imagine a dentist killing a pedestrian, even if that pedestrian is jaywalking.... That dentist will likely lose millions from the lawsuit by the family. So it is NOT enough to have ONLY 1 million coverage these days in my opinion.

[IzzLe]

Not only that, you can still sue for person injury in a "No-Fault" system. It is called "Tort Claim". You can file a tort claim against the other driver for pain and suffering, as a result of serious and permanent impairments affecting activities of daily living.

A regular tort claim may be filed for tens of thousands of dollars. If there is a brain or spinal cord injury, you are looking at over 1 million. If there is a death, you are looking at a few million dollars.

It is very sad but dangerous. The poor driver will either file for bankruptcy or have enough liability coverage for protection. Imagine a dentist killing a pedestrian, even if that pedestrian is jaywalking.... That dentist will likely lose millions from the lawsuit by the family. So it is NOT enough to have ONLY 1 million coverage these days in my opinion.

Not in Quebec. You are only liable for material damages. All injuries (and treatment, readaptation, etc) are under the public system. Basicly, if a doctor kills/injures a pedestrian, his private insurance will cover the material damages, SAAQ (public) will cover all the fees involved in the injuries of the doctor/pedestrian. The pedestrian CAN NOT sue the doctor for any injuries.

That's what they call the ''No fault'' in Quebec. Basicly, if you are involved in any kind of car accident, you can't sue for any injuries. It doesn't matter if the driver is drunk, driving illegally or w/o license, is poor, rich, or anything.

They made this system to make sure that the doctor vs pedestrianthing, or pedestrian vs doctor would no longer happen. Also, lawyers were abusing the system. With the public system, everyone gets paid, and it doesn't matter how rich the guys involved in the accidents are.

[Jacklad]

IMO, you shouldn't bother with collision/comprehensive on an older used car.

I agree with you generally, but you need to run the numbers. For me to drop the collision/comprehensive on my older vehicle would save me a grand total of $153 per year. As the current value is still ~$6000, that's not enough of a saving for me to drop it.