Ottawa auto insurance among cheapest in Ontario
Posted Mar 18, 2019 10:24:28 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
A new ranking of insurance rates finds that Ottawa is one of the cheapest places in the province to insure a car.
Kanetix — a company that aggregates insurance rates — found that the average driver in the capital pays $1,151 per year for auto insurance, while the provincial average was $1,475.
Average premiums in some parts of the Toronto area are more than $2,000 per year. That disparity prompted provincial legislation that aims to lower rates for Toronto-area drivers, but experts have warned that it could result in Ottawa drivers paying much more.
A Toronto-area Progressive Conservative MPP introduced Bill 42, last year, which — if passed — would remove geography as a factor in calculating insurance premiums. The Ford government has stated that ending what it calls “discriminatory practices” is one of its goals.
Insurance experts have predicted that Bill 42 would mean higher premiums for drivers in Ottawa and eastern Ontario. Alexandria insurance brokerage McDonell Levert Insurance has predicted that ending geography-based pricing could mean a 20 to 30 per cent increase in the auto insurance rates for eastern Ontario drivers, to subsidise the insurance premiums of the higher-risk areas in the province.
