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Wondering what the best auto insurance company for young drivers in Ontario is? Here’s the scoop: For women under the age of 25, Aviva has the lowest average premiums. For men in the same age group, it’s Intact. But because auto insurance rates are determined by so many different factors, these definitely aren’t one-size-fits-all answers. In fact, when we ran quotes for 14 young drivers using our online auto insurance quoter, six different insurers had the best price for at least one of them.

Insurance companies view young men and women very differently. To determine which insurers are the best for young drivers, we created 14 fictional driver profiles consisting of seven men and seven women, aged 25 or younger, and ran insurance quotes for all of them.

Key findings:

Before digging into the specifics of our study, it’s important to note that determining the best insurance companies involves much more than just who has the lowest price. We’re highlight premiums here as it’s the one factor that definitely varies by age. But there’s a lot more to examine. For a comprehensive look at other factors like service and claims experience along with Google and JD Power ratings, check out the best Ontario auto insurers of 2024.

When it comes to premiums for young drivers, this is how our top auto insurers stack up against one another:

To create a meaningful ranking, we generated separate lists for men and women, and for high-risk and regular market insurers.

Male and female drivers are examined separately because young men are much worse drivers statistically, and because of this are viewed differently by insurance companies. However, this difference disappears by age 25.

High-risk insurers are also ranked separately because the nature of the drivers they take on (people with a history of insurance non-payment, at-fault claims, multiple tickets, etc.) means that their premiums are higher than regular market insurers.

As mentioned above, there are several ways that you can evaluate insurers. In this instance, we’re comparing companies based on their offerings to a specific demographic, and because of that, the only reliable way to rank them is on price since it’s the only factor that differs significantly for young drivers.

To gauge how different insurers perform in terms of pricing, we created 14 fictional driver profiles – seven men and seven women – and obtained quotes for all of them. Although the drivers aren’t real, the rates reflect what someone with similar characteristics (age, gender, location, driving record) could realistically expect to pay for their auto insurance.

All of the quotes were based on the same coverages, policy limits, deductibles and discounts, as follows:

We ran quotes for the following drivers:

Here are the auto insurance quotes for the individuals above:

Intact is the winner for young male drivers in the regular market. They have the lowest average premiums by 6% over second place SGI, offer the best quote for two drivers, and they are no worse than fifth on any profile. But if you’re Jock, Intact will cost you 39% more than Commonwell.

We ran quotes for the following drivers:

Here are the auto insurance quotes for the individuals above.

For young females, Aviva is the winner with the lowest average quote by 7% over runner up Commonwell, and offering the best price for four out of the six regular market driver profiles. If you’re Karlee, you may not mind paying 1% more than the lowest price with Aviva, but if you’re Akilah, Aviva’s quote is 34% higher than the rate offered by Wawanesa.

The short answer is yes, they will. Rankings based on auto insurance rates are accurate at the time the quotes are run. While some insurers may remain competitive for years in certain market segments, exact rates usually vary every few months and will certainly change over the course of a year or more.

The rankings presented in this article are based on the rates that insurance companies file each quarter with the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA). While not every company adjusts their rates quarterly, many do, and they are required to justify their rate changes by providing evidence of how much they’ve paid out in claims. When a company experiences a quarter with lower claims costs for a particular market segment – say young drivers, for example – they may reduce rates for that segment. On the flip side, if their claims shoot up, it becomes necessary to raise premiums to cover these expenses and rates will increase.

This means the auto insurance market is in a constant state of flux with some insurers reducing rates to attract a particular type of customer, and others raising rates for that same demographic to maintain profitability. It’s unlikely that one insurer will consistently be the cheapest option in a given segment for an extended period. Should they manage to achieve this while remaining profitable, eventually competitors will also lower their rates in an attempt to replicate their success.

All of the quotes in this article are for standalone policies with the person in question being the primary driver on the vehicle. But for young drivers, especially those under the age of 20, the most affordable way to gain experience is to be listed as an occasional driver on their parents’ policy.

Take Keegan, for example. He’s 20 years old, lives in Cornwall, and had a conviction for following too close in 2020. If he were to get coverage on his own, his best price would be $2,882 with Intact. But assuming he’s still living with his parents, he could be listed as an occasional driver on the same car for only $994 more than his parents are already paying with CAA (or only $402 if he was female). This can be an even more cost effective choice in the GTA, where insurance rates are considerably higher for young drivers.

Even if you’re a responsible, safety-oriented driver, you are paying for the mistakes made by all the other young drivers who came before you. This is because you haven’t had the opportunity to build a long history of clean driving. This may feel incredibly unfair, especially for young men – who even with a clean record, may sometimes pay insurance premiums that are three or four times higher than the provincial average.

The only way for young drivers to offset this is to opt for a telematics device that measures their driving behaviour. Doing this can lead to significant savings if you drive safely. For instance, consider our G2 driver, Riley, whose best rate would ordinarily be $4,328 with Aviva. If Riley decided to register for Aviva Journey (Aviva’s telematics program), he’d get a 10% discount just for signing up. This would lower his base rate to $3,903, and it could decrease to $3,470 (a 20% discount) by the end of the policy term if he consistently demonstrated excellent driving habits¹.

Please note: If you decide to participate in a telematics program, you’ll need to install a device in your vehicle, or download an app to your phone. It will measure things like how much you drive, when you drive, and how quickly you start and stop.

¹Most users save 10%. You’ll only get the maximum 20-25% discount by severely limiting your kilometres, avoiding rush hour driving, and making sure all your starts and stops are gradual.

If you’re 50 years old and have over three decades’ worth of driving experience, having a speeding ticket or even an at-fault accident on your record won’t necessarily affect your premium that much. But for young drivers, tickets and at-fault accidents will result in significant increases to your insurance costs.

For example, Wren’s best rate is $9,055 with Aviva. Without a speeding ticket on her record, Aviva would still be her best choice, but her premium would be lowered to $6,642. That’s an extra 36% she’s paying because of that one speeding ticket.

We want all drivers in Ontario to be able to find the insurance company that’s best suited to their individual needs. Depending on who you are, where you live, your age and your driving record, your best insurer could be any one of six or more companies.

Searching for the best auto insurance companies for male drivers in Ontario? If you’re looking solely at price, CAA Insurance has the lowest average rates for men in Ontario. But unfortunately, things aren’t that straightforward. When it comes to finding the best car insurance, the answer will be different depending on your age, where you live, what kind of vehicle you drive, your driving history and a lot more. To demonstrate this, we ran quotes for eight male driver profiles and found there are at least four other insurers that might offer you a better deal than CAA. Working with a licensed insurance broker is a great way to ensure you’re always getting the coverage that’s right for you at the best possible price.

When looking for the best insurance company, the answer will be different depending on who you are, where you live, what you drive, etc. That’s because some companies love older drivers, and some don’t. Some want to insure people with clean records, and some would rather sell insurance only to high-risk drivers. Some insurers like to have customers in big cities like Toronto, and others consider that too risky.

So which insurance companies are best for male drivers in Ontario? To figure this out, we created eight male driver profiles and ran quotes for each of them using our online auto insurance quoter. CAA Insurance offered the best rates for four of the eight people, and had the lowest awesome premium by $575 a year. But that being said, three other insurers had the best price for at least one of our drivers.

Important note: When shopping for auto insurance, there are a number of things that need to be considered including coverage options, service quality, claims satisfaction, and of course, cost. The insurer rankings below are based solely on price as it’s the only factor that varies by gender. Please see our 2024 best Ontario car insurance companies article for more detailed information.

To provide an accurate ranking of the best auto insurance companies for male drivers, it’s important to distinguish between regular market and high-risk insurers. This is because companies that specialize in coverage for high-risk drivers have higher premiums.

In order to determine who the best insurers for men are, we ran quotes for eight fictional drivers with different ages, relationship statues, postal codes, driving records and vehicles. While the drivers may not be real, the rates below are and reflect what a male with similar characteristics might pay for their auto coverage.

So we ran quotes for eight fictional male driver profiles. Each had a unique location (postal code), age, driving record, type of car, and relationship status.

All quotes were based on the same coverages, policy limits, deductibles and discounts.

Yes, they will. The auto insurance marketplace is always changing, and because of that no single insurance company will offer the lowest rates forever. Right now, CAA Insurance has the best prices for many men. But how long they stay on top will depend on how well they’re doing financially with this group. An uptick in claims amongst male drivers could cause CAA Insurance to charge more in order to make sure they have enough money to cover those claims and still make a profit.

If CAA Insurance continues offering low rates and remains profitable, other companies may see it as an opportunity to do the same to try and gain customers. Because of these factors, it’s unlikely that one insurer will dominate a specific segment for an extended period.

The truth is, there isn’t one insurance company that’s the best for all men. For many men out there, CAA Insurance likely has your best rate right now. But tomorrow if could be Aviva, Wawanesa or someone else. And as the quotes above demonstrate, the best insurer for most men may not have the lowest price for you.

In 2023, CAA Insurance is the best insurance company for drivers with clean records in Ontario. We ranked insurers based on quotes we ran for seven drivers with at least 10 years of auto insurance experience, with no tickets or at-fault accidents. CAA had the best average premiums, and the lowest rate for four of the seven drivers. Wawanesa, Portage La Prairie and Aviva had the lowest premium for the other three.

Auto insurance premiums are calculated based on a number of factors that are unique to you, including your age, gender, where you live and the type of vehicle you drive. But insurers don’t all use the same formulas, so if you ask for quotes from 30 companies, they’ll all have different prices.

The question most Ontarians want answered is, who has the best rates for me? Well, if you’re a driver with at least 10 years of perfectly clean driving experience, there’s a good chance it’s CAA Insurance. But if you’re like Abigail, one of the drivers in the study, you’d pay 16% less with Wawanesa. Mitch Insurance, as a licensed insurance brokerage, can get you quotes for both, and at least another dozen companies that could have your best rate.

These rankings are based solely on rates for drivers with at least 10 years of driving experience with no blemishes on their records. It’s important to note that price should never be the only factor you consider when choosing an insurer. For a broader comparison of Ontario auto insurance companies and how they perform in terms of service, claims, customer satisfaction, etc., take a look at our 2024 post on the best auto insurance companies in Ontario.

For the purposes of this ranking, we used our online auto insurance quoter to get competitive quotes for seven different Ontario drivers. All have clean records but represent different age groups, genders and geographical regions. They also drive different vehicles.

When choosing an insurance company, there are a number of factors that can impact your decision. Most, like service hours and claims experience, are the same regardless of your driving record. The rankings above are a reflection of the one factor that does vary by driving record: premiums.

To arrive at the premium quotes below, we created seven fictional driver profiles and entered their particulars into the quoter. The only thing they all have in common is that none of them has a ticket or at-fault accident on their record.

Meet our fictional drivers:

All the quotes below are based on full coverage, a $1,000 deductible, and a winter tire discount.

^[1] Outlander is expensive to insure. Driving a Dodge Ram, Mateo would pay $1,222 with CAA.

^[2] Q50 is expensive to insure. Driving a RAV4, Janusz would pay $1,139 with Commonwell.

CAA Insurance had the lowest average price by 9% over Aviva, but Abigail, Aubrey and Janusz would find their best rate elsewhere.

The important point to take away is that regardless of the averages, any individual driver could get their best rate from a number of different insurers, so it pays to use a licensed insurance broker like Mitch to compare rates from as many companies as possible. 

It’s broadly understood that insurance companies give you better prices the longer you’ve been driving with no tickets or claims. New drivers tend to see considerable savings year over year, while experienced drivers don’t save quite as much for adding another year of experience.

To illustrate, we took our most and least experienced drivers from the study, and, since they are fictional drivers anyway, saw what happened to the premiums they were quoted as we took away years of experience. As suspected, Abigail saw a lot of savings (56%) going from one year of experience to 10. Josette, on the other hand, only saw 29% savings going from 10 years’ experience to 50, and actually paid a little more by the time she hit 60 years’ experience.

29% savings from 10 years’ experience to 50.

56% savings from one year’s experience to 10.

Auto insurance companies in Ontario submit their financial results to the provincial regulator – the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) – quarterly, and use that data to apply for changes to their rates, if needed. In a given quarter, an insurer with lower rates could lose money and increase premiums. Likewise, a company with higher rates could make a big profit and decide to lower rates to try to win new customers. For this reason, the rankings here can and do change. Usually not radically in one quarter, but the list could certainly look very different in two years.

If you’re a really conscientious driver, and are proud of your long record of clean driving, no doubt there are a number of insurance companies that want your business. But the reality is that the insurer that gave you the lowest price last year won’t necessarily have your best rate this year. That’s just the ebb and flow of the insurance industry.

At Mitch, we want you to get your best rate every time, which is why we recommend working with a licensed insurance broker, like us! When you become a member of the Mitch family, no matter how a given insurance company’s premiums go this year or next, your best rate is always right here. Call and talk to one of our awesome brokers. You’ll be glad you did.

If you’re an Ontario driver over the age of 65, there’s a good chance that CAA Insurance is the best insurer for you. That’s what we discovered recently when we ran quotes for seven different fictional driver profiles, all aged 65 and up. CAA had the best rate for all but two of the profiles, and had the lowest average premium by 4% over the next closest competitor, Aviva Canada.

The problem, if you’re shopping for a new insurance company right now, is that you might be like Edward, the one fictional driver who didn’t get his best rate from CAA. Instead it came from Aviva, and it was 30% lower than the price he got from CAA. The point is that although it can fairly be said that CAA is the best insurance company for many older drivers, that may not necessarily be true for you and your unique needs.

For your convenience, we’ve ranked some of Ontario’s top insurance companies based on the rates they offer older drivers. That being said, you should never choose an insurer solely on price, and if you want a more general overview of how different companies perform (Google ratings, customer satisfaction, etc.), please see our latest 2024 instalment of the best car insurance companies in Ontario.

Below are the rankings for both regular market and high-risk insurers in terms of their rates for older drivers.

Because the results are based on average premiums, we couldn’t rank all the companies together on the same list. High-risk insurance companies will always have higher average premiums, because they only insure high-risk drivers. Of all the driver profiles we created for this piece, the three high-risk insurers only offered rates for one of them, Raymond. Jevco by far had the best price for Raymond, 31% lower than that offered by Coachman.

We entered personal and driving information for our seven fictional drivers into our online auto insurance quoter, which is connected with all the insurance companies that we work with. To get an accurate sense of how insurers treat older drivers in general, we varied other factors like gender, postal code, driving record, etc.

(All the quotes are based on the same coverages, policy limits, deductibles and discounts.)

CAA had the best rate for most of the drivers. The two exceptions were Raymond, who wouldn’t get a quote from CAA because he’s a high-risk driver (recent at-fault accident and conviction for following too close), and Edward. Edward doesn’t seem to have anything that would distinguish him from the other drivers, but Aviva offered him a great rate. Much better than CAA. It’s not clear why, but it’s the reality of the auto insurance market. Different companies are always trying to capture particular types of drivers, and only they know the exact formulas.

There’s much made about how insurance companies use age as a rating factor with younger drivers. If you’re a 20 to 25-year-old male, those five years can make a huge difference in how much you pay for auto insurance. If you keep your record clean, your rate could be just about cut in half in those five years. The same is not true when you’re an older driver.

To illustrate how your age affects your premiums as you reach retirement age and beyond, we ran quotes for Jessie (all rating factors the same other than age) at five-year age intervals from 55 to 99 (our quoting software doesn’t accept age 100). What we found is that most companies offer you the best rate you’ll ever get between 65 and 70, then increase rates (as much as 20%) between 75 and 85.

Insurance is a very cyclical business. In a given year or quarter, companies that lose money (or don’t make much profit) on their current customers are likely to increase their rates. On the other hand, insurers that make a good profit and want to win new customers might lower their rates. This means that rankings like those above could change every quarter, and the ones we’ve shown reflect this particular point in time.

That’s not to say that the rankings are likely to be flipped upside-down anytime soon. Companies do specialize in certain market segments (males, females, new drivers, experienced drivers, certain regions, etc.), and will do their best to remain competitive over time. The insurers at the top of today’s ranking are unlikely to drop to the bottom next month or even next year.

Like we said, there’s always an insurer that’s trying to capture a tiny niche of the market, and that could include you. Just because CAA or Aviva offers the best rates on average for drivers over 65, doesn’t mean they have the lowest price for you.

There’s only one way to know for sure that you’re getting the best rate out there. Call a broker. Mitch works with lots of insurers, and when you call, we’ll get you quotes from all the companies that are looking for new customers like you. If you’re reading this in 2023, 2025 or even 2032, that will still be true.

We care about more than just the best rate, and your Mitch broker will talk with you about your needs and make sure you have the right combination of coverage, service and price for you and your family.

It’s no secret that men pay more for auto insurance than women. In Ontario, that gap is largest for the youngest, least experienced drivers, and then disappears around age 25. But is the gender gap consistent across Ontario? And are there other factors that can make the gap larger or smaller? We used our online auto insurance quoter to run quotes across the province’s largest cities (and a couple of very small towns) to get some answers.

In order to see how the gender gap breaks down across Ontario, we created imaginary 18-year-old and 22-year-old drivers, then ran quotes for them in two different area codes from each of Ontario’s 10 largest cities. To determine if population density plays a role in the gender gap, we also ran quotes in two very rural area codes, Rainy River and Maberly. Note that our drivers are identical in every way except their gender and age.

Across the province, the gap is reduced by 18 percentage points between the ages of 18 and 22. The most dramatic decrease is in Vaughan, where the gender gap drops by 27 points.

Just for fun, we added a few minor speeding tickets to 18-year-old Kylie and Kyrie’s driving records. Here’s what we found:

We ran quotes using different vehicles to see if that makes a difference in the gender gap. It doesn’t.

We also ran the original quotes for 18-year-old drivers with the Subaru Outback, but listed the drivers as married. This did close the gap somewhat to 26%, but probably not enough for us to recommend that you get married at that age.

The way that the gender gap is manifested in different parts of Ontario doesn’t really show us an overall pattern. Age and driving record seem to be the more relevant factors. It’s interesting that one small blemish on the driving record doesn’t seem to affect the gap, but any more tickets and the discrepancy between male and female premiums balloons. Getting married seems to have a small mitigating influence on the gender gap.

All the rates shown above represent the lowest quote that our system generated for the particular driver personas we created. Ten different insurance companies are represented in those prices, meaning that if we had just been shopping with one company, we would not have found the best rate most of the time. Mitch works with 70+ insurance companies. So when you shop with us, whether you’re male or female, young or old, you can feel confident that you’re really getting the best price.

Opening in theatres on May 19, Fast X is the latest installment in the Fast & Furious saga. One of the highest-grossing film franchises of all time, the Fast & Furious flicks have captivated both movie lovers and car buffs for more than 20 years.

The trailers for Fast X have given fans a sneak peek at some of the cars that will be appearing in the movie. Let’s take a look at how much it would cost to insure these rides.

One of the franchise’s most iconic vehicles, Dom Toretto’s baby is valued at around $147,000. It has been destroyed a number of times throughout the series, but keeps coming back. If you believe the trailers, it’s returning again in Fast X.

“I think it’s safe to assume that Dom might have a few speeding tickets on his record,” says Scott Logan, Director of Personal Lines at Mitch. “If he somehow managed to keep a clean record though, he’d save about $1,200 a year. And given what he’s put this car through in the past, we’d strongly recommend a defensive driving course. Increasing his liability coverage would be a wise decision as well.”

Fast X will see Jason Momoa playing Dom Toretto’s new nemesis, Dante Reyes. In this series, every villain needs a fast car and Reyes is no different with his purple 1966 Chevy Impala.

“It’s important to remember that auto insurance does not cover criminal acts,” adds Logan. “But if Mr. Reyes can avoid that, and also limit his use of the vehicle to occasional summer driving, he might be able to insure his Impala as a classic for under $900 a year.”

The metallic gold Lamborghini Gallardo may be the most spectacular vehicle in the Fast X trailers, and is driven by the wisecracking Roman Pearce. It’s also easily the most expensive of the cars to insure, with a premium over $10,500 a year.

“I guess this puts to bed the myth that you’ll pay more for insurance if you drive a red car,” says Logan. “Actually the colour of the automobile has nothing to do with your premium, which is determined mostly by your driving record, the value of the car, and past claims for vehicles of the same make and model.”

We love cars, and decided to run insurance quotes for the most tantalizing rides shown in the Fast X trailers. A lot of them are classic muscle cars so we wanted to see how much it would cost to insure these beauties for occasional as well as daily use.

We’ve used Dom Toretto’s date of birth, but instead of living in Los Angeles (like in the movie), we’ve given him an Oshawa postal code to get an accurate quote with Ontario rates.

All of the quotes assume that the cars are in excellent condition with no modifications.

“I think it’s safe to say some of the Fast X cars are modified,” adds Logan. “As long as they are street legal, you could still get them insured in Ontario, but you’d be looking at two to three times the premium with a high-risk insurer. We might ask the owner of the El Camino to remove the rocket launchers.”

Mitch Insurance works with some of the best auto insurers in Ontario. We’ve got great rates – including affordable car insurance for classic and exotic rides –  and lots of coverage options. Call for a quote today.

[1] Values for all but the 2023 Dodge Charger SRT are from Hagerty Canada’s online vehicle valuator.

[2] To be insured as a classic in Canada, vehicles must be stored in winter and only driven occasionally in the summer. Maximum mileage may apply. Note that classic coverage may not be available for vehicles under 20 years old.

[3] Driver quoted for daily use with two speeding tickets in the past two years.

Feature photo by Universal

When the Ontario government announced in 2022 that it would no longer charge a fee for most personal license plate renewals, it was welcome news for Ontarians, who had previously paid up to $120 a year per vehicle to keep their license plate stickers up-to-date. Unfortunately, the government also stopped mailing out renewal reminders for expiring driver’s licenses, health cards and license plates. This is proving to be more problematic, as the number of people driving with expired licenses and plates has increased.

Drivers used to get a reminder in the mail that their driver’s license or plate sticker was coming up for renewal. Mitch has heard from a number of customers that they have been ticketed for driving with an expired license, plates or both. Anyone who still needs a heads-up to renew their driver’s license or plates can sign up on the Service Ontario website to receive free, electronic renewal reminders by email, text or phone.

If you get a letter from your insurance company saying that you’ve been non-renewed because your license is expired, try not to panic. If it’s just a question of a month or two, all you need to do is show your broker proof that you’ve renewed your license, and your insurance will be reinstated. There’s no permanent damage to your record and it shouldn’t affect your premium.

The reason this might happen is that insurance companies have access to systems that periodically pull updated driving records. If it shows your license is expired, your insurer can’t renew your policy because they can’t legally cover an unlicensed driver. However, if you renew your license before getting a ticket, there will be no record of the lapse.

You can renew your license or plates up to 180 days before they expire, either online or in person at any Service Ontario location. Your expiry/renewal date is usually your birthday, but keep in mind that the two may not line up because plates can only be renewed for one or two years, while your driver’s license renews every five years. Check your current documents to see when they expire.

To renew your driver’s license, you’ll need:

If your license and health card expire at the same time, you may be able to renew them together online.

Note that in some cases you cannot renew your driver’s license online:

If any of the above apply to you, you likely need to go to a Service Ontario centre to process your renewal. If your license expired more than one year ago, you will need a vision test. Beyond three years, you will have to pass a knowledge test and two road tests. After 10 years, you need to restart the graduated licensing program as a new driver.

To renew your plates, you’ll need:

There are a number of potential consequences for driving with an expired driver’s license or plates. Here in Ontario, you could get hit with a $325 ticket for driving with an expired license or $110 for expired plates. If you happen to get caught outside Ontario, the fines could be even higher.

In terms of insurance, if you get caught driving with an expired driver’s licence, that could impact your rate for the next three years. The good news is that insurance companies typically won’t deny your claim for an expired license if it’s a matter of a few months. If you let your license lapse for more than a year however, that could invalidate your coverage. A ticket for an expired plate won’t affect your insurance premiums.

Either way, it’s better to be safe than sorry, so check your expiry dates, and sign up for reminders if you need them.

Mitch is always happy to help if you have any questions about how licensing, tickets or anything else could impact your insurance. Give us a call today.

There are different ways to insure yourself for damage to or theft of a rental vehicle. The best way to be sure you’re always protected is to add an endorsement to the auto insurance policy on your own car that extends coverage to rentals, often for less than $5 a month.

CTV News recently ran two separate stories about Ontario drivers who were left with huge, unexpected bills when vehicles they were renting were stolen from their driveways. Auto theft rates continue to rise, especially in the GTA, and these two motorists got a first-hand look at the issue. Unfortunately, the problem was exacerbated in both cases because the renters didn’t have the right insurance coverage.

“Many Ontarians are misinformed about what insurance they need when renting a car or truck,” says Scott Logan, Director of Personal Lines at Mitch Insurance. “Some credit cards have coverage, and rental companies offer damage waivers, but many of us decline the damage waiver thinking we have coverage when we really don’t.”

In Ontario, there is an insurance endorsement called an OPCF 27, which extends the coverage on your own vehicle to any car you happen to rent or borrow. You can usually add this endorsement at any time as long as your policy includes coverage for physical damage (collision and comprehensive).

When you rent a car in Ontario, the price includes the basic auto insurance coverages that are required by law, but it does not include any coverage for physical damage to the vehicle. If anything happens to the vehicle while it’s in your possession, you are personally liable and the rental company will send you a bill.

There are three different ways to get coverage for physical damage to a rental car:

When you’re shopping for auto insurance, you’re likely to hear about a number of different options that can be added onto your policy. One of them is the OPCF 20 endorsement, commonly called loss of use. It is also only available if you have collision and comprehensive coverage. With this endorsement, if your car is damaged or stolen, your insurance company will pay for a rental car (up to a dollar limit) during the time when your own vehicle is being repaired, or while you’re shopping for a new one.

It’s easy to think of loss of use as “rental car coverage”, but an OPCF 20 only gets you the rental car. If you want physical damage coverage on the rental car, you need an OPCF 27.

If you opt for year-round rental car coverage through an OPCF 27 endorsement on your own auto insurance, note that there is a dollar limit on this coverage, and the standard limit is $40,000 or $50,000. That would mean you’re fully covered for a vehicle of that value. If you tend to rent vehicles with a value over $50,000, or if you’re renting in the states in US dollars, be sure to ask your broker to increase this limit, to $75,000 or even $100,000. Not all insurance companies offer these higher limits, but if your insurer does, it shouldn’t make a huge difference in your premium.

If you accept the damage waiver from the rental company, the vehicle should be fully covered regardless of its value. If you have insurance through your credit card, coverage is usually limited to $65,000, or with a few cards, $85,000.

“Make sure that you have the right insurance before you decline the damage waiver,” says Logan. “You want to save those $20 a day, but a lot of credit cards look the same. Did you use right one when you booked the rental? If you have year-round coverage on your own insurance, you can rest easy.”

If you’re not sure whether or not your auto insurance includes physical damage coverage for a rental car, feel free to call the auto insurance brokers at Mitch.

Car thefts continue to increase in Toronto and other Canadian cities. Luxury vehicles like the Lexus RX series are tops on the list for thieves looking to cash in by selling them overseas. One security expert recommends aftermarket immobilizers over other security systems.

Toronto police reported that car thefts in the city rose by 45% between 2021 and 2022, and early reports from 2023 suggest that the trend is continuing upward. For drivers across Ontario, the big question is how can they protect their vehicles, and avoid all the hassle and expense of recovering or replacing them.

Car Systems Installation (CSI) in Toronto installs different vehicle security systems. According to CSI founder and CEO Ronen Yossef, the best way to protect your car is to make sure it takes a long time to steal it.

“The more time a thief spends in your driveway, the more likely they are to get caught,” says Yossef. “So time is definitely your friend.”

There are a number of reasons that vehicle thefts have been on the rise.

Short supply of cars – Vehicle manufacturers continue to suffer through supply chain issues that started during the COVID-19 pandemic. This means it’s taking a long time for people who buy a car to actually receive it. This seems to be particularly bad with electric vehicles, with some customers waiting over a year for delivery.

Since vehicles are in short supply, prices, even for used vehicles, have increased, and thieves have hungry buyers who want cars now.

And in terms of demand, stolen vehicles can often fetch better prices overseas, especially for newer luxury models. If your car is stolen this morning, it could be on a container bound for Europe or Africa the same day. In 2022, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) recovered 1,050 stolen vehicles just from the port of Montreal.

Push start technology – The increased use of technology in vehicles has also affected theft rates. Specifically, more and more new vehicles come with push-button start. In fact, from 2008 to 2018, the percentage of new cars in the U.S. with push-button start shot up from 11% to 62%. Keyless ignition systems allow you to start your car with a button because when your fob is in the car, it sends a signal to the vehicle’s onboard computer. If the fob is too far away, there is no signal, and the car won’t start. But thieves are now employing their own technology to steal and magnify the signal to make your car think the fob is in the vehicle. If they can get within a few feet of your fob, it’s like they now have your key.

In the past, thieves used slim jims, crowbars and bats to break windows or force doors open, but they now come armed with electronics. In some cases a thief can steal the fob signal through the door of your home and drive away in less than five minutes. No noise, no broken glass, no damage to the car.

Every year, an organization called Équité Association uses auto theft data from the insurance industry to compile a list of the top 10 stolen vehicles in the country, and by province. In Ontario, the Lexus RX series is by far the most likely vehicle to be stolen, with more than 9% of all the RXs on the road having been stolen in 2021.

The RX series is also number one in pure numbers, with close to 2,100 stolen in 2021. In terms of total numbers, The Honda CR-V ranks first nationally, and second in Ontario. The Range Rover Sport has the second highest theft rate (4.2%). Most of the cars on the list are 2013 to 2020 models.

Here is the full list for Ontario:

Source: Équité Association

Here are some steps you can take to protect your car from theft.

“No security system is 100% effective,” says CSI’s Yossef. “If you give a thief enough time, they can disable anything. But they don’t want to get caught, so make it as hard as possible.”

Since 2007, every new vehicle sold in Canada has come with a built-in immobilizer. This makes it very difficult for thieves to use what used to be called “hotwiring” to start your car without the key or fob. Unfortunately, thieves have gotten much more sophisticated, and can often get around your immobilizer by making your car think the fob is there, even if it isn’t.

If you want to add an extra layer of protection, here’s a list of some of the more popular security devices on the market, and their pros and cons.

CSI installs a number of the above devices, including alarms and trackers, but if you have to pick just one, Yossef recommends an IGLA immobilizer with a PIN code.

“In six years of installing them, we’ve never had a customer report a theft,” says Yossef. “One gentleman did call us just to say thanks because thieves have tried to steal his car five times, and failed every time.”

Yossef explains that the IGLA system is especially challenging for thieves because it can be installed in different parts of the vehicle and thieves don’t know it’s there until they try to put the car in gear and drive away. The PIN code system also protects against carjacking by requiring the PIN to be entered when certain conditions are met that indicate a theft may be in progress.

Given that thieves are specifically targeting vehicles with push-button start, be strategic about where you leave your key fob. Many of us are in the habit of leaving our keys by the front door when we get home. This is what car thieves count on. If your vehicle is in the driveway, they will approach your front door with a sensor. If your fob is close by, they can steal your signal and be gone in sixty seconds just like in the movie. This is called a relay attack.

One way to protect yourself is to keep your fob away from the front door. Another is to store your fob inside a bag or box lined with aluminum. You can actually make one yourself with aluminum foil, but if you want to be a little more stylish about it, you can use a faraday bag. It’s a pouch that is lined with a conductive metal like copper, nickel or aluminum and blocks the digital signal from your fob. They are very affordable.

The movie is called Gone in Sixty Seconds because thieves know that the longer they take to steal your car, the more likely they are to call attention to themselves, and get caught. If you can park your vehicle in the garage, that’s one extra step that will slow down thieves and perhaps make them move on. If you need to park outside, choose somewhere with good lighting and high traffic, where thieves are likely to be seen. Installing cameras is also a good idea, not only as a deterrent, but also to help police if your car does get stolen.

To illustrate the impact of theft on car insurance premiums, we used our online auto insurance quoter to price out policies for two of the vehicles on the top ten list above. The quotes below are for Izzy, a 59-year-old male with a clean driving record in Oshawa, Ontario.

The reason we chose the Ram 1500 and the Lexus RX350 is not only because they’re both on the list, but also because they have dramatically different theft rates. Whereas only 0.1% of all the Ram 1500s on Ontario roads were stolen in 2021, that number was an astonishing 9.4% for the Lexus RX series. And as you would expect, these theft rates do have an impact on premiums.

Izzy would pay more than $1,600 a year in premiums for coverage on the Lexus, including more than $400 a year just for comprehensive coverage, which is the part of the policy that pays when your car is stolen. By comparison, he would pay just over $1,200 a year for the RAM, and more than half the difference would be on the comprehensive coverage.

In terms of security devices, some insurance companies do offer discounts that run between 5 and 15% on your comprehensive coverage for an approved and professionally-installed aftermarket immobilizer. That’s about $40 on the Lexus and almost $20 on the RAM. If you’re considering extra security for your vehicle, it should be mostly to save yourself the trauma, hassle and expense of having it stolen, but the insurance discount is an added perk.

CSI’s Yossef has been in the vehicle security business for a long time, and has seen technology evolve on both sides of the auto theft battle over the years. He has one last piece of advice.

“Car thieves are persistent, but they’re also practical. They want a vehicle, but it doesn’t have to be yours. It’s not magic. Make it hard, make it time-consuming, and they’ll move on to the next car.”

To learn more about how car theft affects your insurance, or to get competitive quotes for your vehicle, call one of our auto insurance brokers today.