Should I insure my family’s vehicles together on one policy?

If your household has multiple vehicles but they’re all insured separately through different providers, you could be missing out on a tremendous savings opportunity. 

Multi-car insurance is how it sounds: it’s getting insurance for multiple cars through a single policy. Since there are about 1.5 cars per household in Canada, many households could benefit from multi-car insurance. Let’s explore the benefits and drawbacks of this option, plus examine some scenarios where people may get the most benefit from multi-car insurance. 

Multi-car insurance, multiple-car insurance, or even multi-vehicle insurance is getting insurance for more than one vehicle through the same provider. If you own two or more vehicles with the same garaging address, it can help you save money as insurance providers typically discount policies with multiple vehicles. Some insurers will discount between 5%-15%.  

Insurers will discount customers with multiple vehicles or assets on a single policy to incentivize loyalty. It’s a way to encourage return business, which then benefits both the provider and the policyholder. It can also be more convenient to have all your insurance in one place. 

There are two main benefits of insuring your family or household’s vehicles all through one policy: saving money and convenience. With the vast majority of insurers, you can expect to save up to 20% on your auto insurance overall by bundling your vehicles through a single policy. You can even double that savings by bundling your home, condo or renters policy in with everything else. 

Multi-vehicle policies are also more convenient. You only have a single policy renewal date to keep in mind, the paperwork is easier, and in the event of an unexpected storm or disaster you only have one insurance company to deal with for claims. It’s easy to modify coverage for all of your vehicles if need be, as you only have one place to go to do it! 

Yes, depending on the provider. If the insurance provider you’re with covers non-standard vehicles like RVs and ATVs, they may permit you to include your assets in a multi-vehicle policy. RVs and ATVs can sometimes be a tad trickier to insure than regular vehicles, as they may only be used part of the year, but insuring them through a multi-vehicle policy can help you cut down on costs. 

Boats cannot be added to an auto policy, however. They either need to have their own policy or would be added to a property policy.

Some multi-vehicle policies will permit vehicles that have different garaging addresses, like if you have an adult child who’s away attending university and brought a car with them. Rules vary by provider, so be sure to ask a broker to see what’s allowed.

You must meet a few requirements to combine your partner or spouse’s auto insurance policies into one. Here is what is required of you before you may qualify for a multi-vehicle policy: 

It’s worth noting as well that some companies will still offer multi-vehicle discounts even if your vehicles aren’t on the same policy but are insured with the same company. This could count for parents and children in the same household but with their own policies. 

In the event an accident results in litigation, the named insured will be sued along with the driver. So, if a child is driving and gets sued but the vehicle is in parents’ name, they also get sued. This is just something to be mindful of when insuring through the same policy. 

There are specific circumstances where, despite the savings opportunities and convenience of having all your insurance in a single location, it makes more sense to insure your vehicles separately. 

Here are some situations where it may make sense to insure vehicles separately: 

Insuring multiple vehicles, including special types (like RVs), through one policy will usually save you money, but only so long as that insurer covers them. Depending on how much you’d save by finding an insurer who would cover both, you could be better off with separate policies (sometimes the loyalty discount with your existing insurers would exceed whatever you’d receive by bundling). 

Some insurance companies won’t offer as much a bundling discount as others, in which case it could serve you better to insure your vehicles separately. Sometimes changing insurers will diminish any loyalty discount you would have received by staying with one insurer consistently, which can outweigh the benefits of what you’d receive by bundling.

If you have any drivers or vehicles in your household that fall under a “high-risk” category, it could make sense to insure your vehicles separately. One, not all insurers will cover high-risk vehicles, and two, you might receive more significant savings by insuring the high-risk driver/vehicle through a special high-risk insurer and the other vehicle(s) through a standard carrier.

If one or more of your vehicles are being used for commercial reasons and not personal, it could be more beneficial to insure them through a separate policy or even a commercial policy. Conditions for necessitating a commercial policy can vary though, so be sure to ask a broker.

Interested in multi-car insurance, or just bundling discounts in general? Mitch is happy to discuss with you what the benefits are, plus give you some advice on how to arrange your policies so you’re saving the most money possible.