Get ready for higher insurance premiums!

This was sent to us here @ work this morning:



GTA drivers face 14% car insurance hikes

By James Daw Personal Finance Columnist
Published On Tue Oct 20 2009

Millions of Ontario drivers are about to be slammed with double-digit premium hikes, with the average Toronto-area driver likely to pay nearly 14 per cent more.

Ten insurers serving more than a quarter of Ontario drivers have just been cleared to raise their rates a second or third time in about 12 months.

Their policyholders will be hit with increases averaging between 11 and 19 per cent when the policies come up for renewal, joining drivers insured by several other companies that had already been cleared for double-digit increases. Another seven companies have been cleared for smaller increases in the latest round of approvals.

But these are only provincial averages, which do not represent what most GTA drivers can expect to pay.

Calculations by the Star show that Toronto-area policyholders of the 17 companies face an average increase of 14 per cent, while in the province as a whole drivers will see an increase of 9.1 per cent.

But some Toronto-area drivers – depending on the company they are with, their driving record and the neighbourhood they live in – face increases of 30 per cent or more.

"The big cost driver in Ontario, and even more so in the Greater Toronto Area, is accident benefits costs," said Leonard Sharman of Co-operators General Insurance Co.

"Things like assessments, medical rehabilitation, physiotherapy costs, etc., have been increasing pretty dramatically, and this is most pronounced in the GTA."

His company has been allowed two increases totalling 8.57 per cent since the middle of last year. But its GTA increases would be 11 and 14 per cent, said Sharman, warning there is more to come in March.

Don Forgeron, president of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, said "insurers are doing all that they have at their disposal (in the face of rising demands for treatment and compensation) – to pass those cost increases on to consumers.

"I guess we, like everybody else, are waiting with anticipation for an announcement by government. We think we have made a credible case for substantive reform, and we hope we have been heard."

Insurers complain the only means they have to stand up to what they see as excess requests for assessment and treatment of mainly minor sprain, strain and whiplash injuries is to order their own costly assessments.

While Finance Minister Dwight Duncan is expected to announce changes to auto insurance policies within days or weeks, it won't be this week.

A spokesperson says his fall update of the budget Thursday is his first priority.

The Financial Services Commission of Ontario said in its latest quarterly announcement it had cleared insurers serving a third of Ontario to raise rates an average of 6.2 per cent.

But that was just the latest rate change for the 17 insurers. When compounded with increases approved over 12 months, the increase will be 9.1 per cent as annual policies are renewed.

To come up with its estimate of 14 per cent in the GTA, the Star took that 9.1 per cent provincial figure and added the same amount extra that Co-operators revealed Monday its Toronto policyholders would pay.

The average premium per auto in the GTA was $1,682 last year. A 14 per cent increase would take the average to $1,917.

Insurers serving about 27 per cent of drivers have been granted double-digit province-wide increases. These include AXA Insurance (Canada) at 12.2 per cent, Kingsway General Insurance (recently renamed Jevco Insurance) at 21.2 per cent, State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance at 12.5 per cent and Wawanesa Mutual Insurance Co. at 15.1 per cent.

Drivers with Pembridge Insurance Co. Ltd., who already paid some of the highest premiums due to multiple accidents or driving infractions, will see rates rise an average of 18.8 per cent.

Based on Co-operator's experience, that could translate into an average increase of nearly 30 per cent in the Toronto area for drivers with poor records.

A spokesperson for Pembridge said he could not reach executives to confirm the actual figures.

Meanwhile, drivers with a perfectly fine driving record are facing extra demands to keep their preferred insurance rates with Economical Mutual Insurance Co.

The company is notifying brokers that owners of old vehicles must update and have all drivers in their household sign applications for insurance, to ensure all the information on record is current. In addition, they must have their vehicles inspected.

Randy Carroll, chief executive of the Insurance Brokers Association of Ontario, said most brokers would prefer not to put their clients through the inconvenience.

But he said they are getting pressure from other insurers not to switch Economical clients to their companies, as the insurer for 6.2 per cent of Ontario drivers suffered the heaviest losses in the industry last year.

Noel Walpole, president of Economical, said his company would prefer not to require policyholders to complete an entirely new application form.

Unfortunately, regulators have taken weeks to approve a shorter, more efficient method of updating client information.

Andrew Wicken, general manager of InsuranceHotline.com, said he cannot promise drivers, who use his website to search for the lowest auto insurance premium, will find savings these days.

"But it is particularly important to shop the market when we see increases like this," he said.

"Consumers cannot control these increases, but they can control other things that affect their rates," Wicken said.

bullllllllllllllshit

fuckin faggot ass insurance companies

We should all start taking the ttc

..get on the rocket!! hahaha
actually I'm really getting on the rocket starting November.
might not be wise for me to drive this winter too..
with all the accidents that happened, I'm sure she'll be fine in the basement parking..

so i guess not only lancer insurances will go up, but everyone else too....just hope that lancer drivers won't be paying an even higher amount

Infamous wrote:bullllllllllllllshit

fuckin faggot ass insurance companies

well actually it’s not the insurance companies you should be mad at. It’s the drivers on the road. So next time you’re at a stop light... look to the person beside you and give them the evil stare down because it’s basically their fault.

Insurance is going up due to the amount of accident benefit claims... people are getting into the smallest accidents and claiming large amounts of accident benefits. Unfortunately, you can't turn people down. When someone says there back hurts, there is no medical proof to say, ‘hey your lying’. So, they are off work for months, they have maids come to their house, they have child care services etc etc.

I'm not here to be on insurances side because hell, I already pay enough for insurance but you have to realize that it’s not the insurance company. Obviously any way you look at it, every insurance company, state farm, allstate, td etc are making large amounts of money. But so is every other company out there who has raised their prices, fast food companies, electronic stores, banks fees.....

The government is working with insurance to put a cap on the amount of accident benefits one is allowed when they get into an accident. Once this happens you will see insurance drop I'm sure. Until then the best thing to do is avoid accidents, tickets... and shop around. Every insurance company has different ratings for different cars, territories, and drivers abstract.

i agree it the drivers on the road grrrrrrr big time .like the outher day i was in my skyline on qew getting off at jamison .and a red bmw out of nowhere drove up extreamly close ,& was swerving right n left behind me & driving like an azz.. as i went to stop at stop sign (at the end on off ramp)he almost rammed into back end of me .I had to go threw stop sign to avoide the rearending:( lucky no one was comming the outher way
like you said though .. ppl like that grrrr that get to me (there was no reason to ride ppll closely keep safe distance is the problem in my comment) but anyways i guess im luckey my lic is registered in lindsay not t.o.

its still b s tho , raise the prices for those that file claims and all that , id be pissed if i was paying ins for 20+ years with no record ever and they raise my shit , but i been paying ins for8 yrs with a pooh record so i cant say shit

miss jess is right, big time.
i just got my renewal notice and it jumped up.
but i just tell myself that it's part of having a car.

on a diff note, no more GST and PST!
but don't get excited, we gotta new one, fucking HST!
GST + PST = HST!
which means some things will have to go up in prices!
FUCK!

ehhhhhh flip wat up

it is people like this.....
http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-CA&vid=283522c4-5b80-48ed-b18d-7d98a474e9e0

its KINDA understandable... i mean.. we lost 3-4 lancers alone in just 2 months.. thats whack yoo

Infamous wrote:its still b s tho , raise the prices for those that file claims and all that , id be pissed if i was paying ins for 20+ years with no record ever and they raise my shit , but i been paying ins for8 yrs with a pooh record so i cant say shit

i get what your saying but insurance isn't exactly an individual thing. Its the sharing of the losses of a few people among the many that pay premiums.

Like a pot of cash... putting it in simple terms if 10 people had a pot of money but only 3 were taking out of it. All 10 people have to help put the money back in but the 3 that took the money out would obviously have to contribute more.

But ya i think your right... the people that have the claims and who have the poor driving record should be the one who only have to pay more and the people with the clean record shouldn't be affected. I think its dump to raise premiums for those who dont deserve it but unfortunely that will never be the case.

Infamous wrote:ehhhhhh flip wat up

not much, man!
been busy lately!
how are things at the D-Region?!
might drop by there @ my dad's place this Saturday to watch the boxing match!

what boxing is this weekend? i know there is a free ufc saturday

yeah, free UFC (Couture vs. Vera).
I think it's at 3 pm since they're airing from London.

the boxing is between Pacquiao and Cotto.
should be an interesting bout.

i still havnt gotten a notice for any insurance increase , i aslo live in ajax , maybe i wont be hit

stitchflip wrote:yeah, free UFC (Couture vs. Vera).
I think it's at 3 pm since they're airing from London.

the boxing is between Pacquiao and Cotto.
should be an interesting bout.

ah , ill find the boxing on the net for free ,

Infamous wrote:i still havnt gotten a notice for any insurance increase , i aslo live in ajax , maybe i wont be hit

dont think your going to get off that easy haha its going to effect everyone

miss_jess wrote:

Infamous wrote:i still havnt gotten a notice for any insurance increase , i aslo live in ajax , maybe i wont be hit

dont think your going to get off that easy haha its going to effect everyone

this is bullshit , after i worked so hard to get my prices down over the past 3 yrs and now it goes up for no fault of my own , and people wonder why alot dont even bother with insurance

Infamous wrote:

miss_jess wrote:

Infamous wrote:i still havnt gotten a notice for any insurance increase , i aslo live in ajax , maybe i wont be hit

dont think your going to get off that easy haha its going to effect everyone

this is bullshit , after i worked so hard to get my prices down over the past 3 yrs and now it goes up for no fault of my own , and people wonder why alot dont even bother with insurance

well basically ya thats what happening, everyone is being effected. Not to ruin your day anymore but there will be another increase coming next year sooooo you also have that to look forward too.

if I move 3 blocks north... the territory changes and would drop my insurance about $60/month. Stuff like that annoys me haha

not only is auto increasing but home is too, there was an article in the toronto star today about it

people not bothering with insurance is a different issue, and its stupid. I understand it is expensive, but insurance is meant to be a 'piece of mind' just being able to know, if something where to happen everything will be ok and you won't be screwed for the rest of your life.

miss_jess wrote:

Infamous wrote:

miss_jess wrote:

Infamous wrote:i still havnt gotten a notice for any insurance increase , i aslo live in ajax , maybe i wont be hit

dont think your going to get off that easy haha its going to effect everyone

this is bullshit , after i worked so hard to get my prices down over the past 3 yrs and now it goes up for no fault of my own , and people wonder why alot dont even bother with insurance

well basically ya thats what happening, everyone is being effected. Not to ruin your day anymore but there will be another increase coming next year sooooo you also have that to look forward too.

if I move 3 blocks north... the territory changes and would drop my insurance about $60/month. Stuff like that annoys me haha

not only is auto increasing but home is too, there was an article in the toronto star today about it

people not bothering with insurance is a different issue, and its stupid. I understand it is expensive, but insurance is meant to be a 'piece of mind' just being able to know, if something where to happen everything will be ok and you won't be screwed for the rest of your life.

thats something on my side tho im in ajax so i dont pay as much as the people in the city , and next yr ill be even further east so hopefully it will go down more

well my lic is registered in town of lindsay so i should be ok 4 now at least