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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.

A study from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) in the U.S. asked more than 2,000 drivers about distracted driving. Half said they regularly use smartphones and other devices behind the wheel. An astonishing 8% admitted to regularly gaming on their phones while driving. Males, parents and Uber, Lyft and Skip drivers are the most likely to drive distracted.

We talk a lot about distracted driving, but nothing quite puts it into perspective like some data about who is doing it, how often, and what exactly they’re doing. The IIHS released a study in 2022 that answers a lot of those questions, and the results are alarming.

The study surveyed 2,013 drivers about their driving habits. The sample was about half male, half female, and tried to reflect U.S. demographics in a number of other ways.

Some of the general findings:

The results were broken down by gender and a few other criteria and revealed the following:

The report breaks down distractions into three categories:

Results related to device-based and non-device based tasks are listed above.

Perhaps the most alarming results relate to modern device distractions, which 21% of drivers said they engage in on a regular basis. Although the numbers are much lower in this category, these are tasks that generally require looking at a screen instead of the road. In the case of gaming and apps, they also require the driver’s hands.

More specifically:

The results strongly indicate that drivers aren’t just using their devices for necessary tasks. About 26% of respondents said they regularly program their GPS while driving (5% manually, 21% hands-free). This should be done before getting on the road, but it is a task related to driving. On the other hand, posting to TikTok and gaming are completely unnecessary while behind the wheel.

A big part of the solution seems to be in improving functionality, training and promotion of hands-free features on mobile devices. Although talking on the phone, sending texts and programming a GPS can all take a driver’s attention away from the road, the study found that 70-80% of drivers who admit to doing these things did so hands-free.

Another focus should be on education, particularly targeting parents, and drivers working in the gig economy.

And speaking of the gig economy, certainly the onus needs to be put on companies in this sector to improve training, codes of conduct, and enforcement. Because gig workers interact with their employers almost exclusively via their mobile devices, there are solutions to be found in restricting what other apps a driver can use while logged in, and how they can use them.

All insurance companies in Ontario offer a discount of up to 5% on your auto insurance if you use winter tires from November to March. Winter tires help you brake faster and keep control of your vehicle in snow and ice. They save lives.

Winter driving conditions can vary from good, on sunny days with no precipitation, to very, very bad when the snow flies and the temperature dips. Snow and ice can make it next to impossible for your car to maintain contact with the road, and falling or blowing snow can reduce visibility to almost zero at times. Insurance companies offer a discount to drivers who take practical steps to prepare their vehicles for the winter weather.

A majority of insurance companies in Ontario offer a winter tire discount of 2 – 5%. Given that the average auto insurance premium in Ontario is now over $2,000 a year, that means you can save $40 to $100 simply by doing something that makes sense anyway.

To get the discount, you need to have your car equipped with winter tires (also called snow tires) between November 1 and April 1. All four tires need to be winter tires.

Most insurance companies will require that you provide some kind of proof of installation when you first apply for the winter tire discount. In some cases, it can be a receipt from the mechanic who installed them. In others, the insurer may ask for a picture of your car and a closeup of the tires, showing the winter tire logo.

In most cases your insurance company won’t ask to see proof every year, but you will likely have to make a declaration at the time you get the discount that your vehicle will be equipped with four winter tires during the winter season. Most insurers expect that your tires will last six years, and may ask for proof again after that period has passed.

No, they do not. The name “all-season” suggests that the tires should be used year-round, and some people do that. But all-season tires perform best in warmer temperatures, and are not nearly as effective as winter tires on snow and ice. When the temperature dips below 7° Celsius, all-season tires start to lose their grip on the road. To get the discount from insurance companies, your tires need to be actual winter tires, identified by a symbol of a three-peak mountain with a snowflake inside.

Your savings really depend on how much you pay for auto insurance, which can vary from less than $1,000 a year to more than $7,000.

Given that most insurance companies offer a 5% discount, here’s how much you can save:

They don’t, but they do. A set of new winter tires costs between $600 and $2,000. And twice a year, you’ll pay $80 to $120 to have your mechanic switch them on and off. If you need somewhere to store the tires you’re not using, that’s an extra $40 to $100. So even at the bottom end, you’ll pay $600 up front plus $200 a year.

But the reality is that you don’t have to count the cost of the actual tires, because they are more or less the same price as all-seasons, and when you switch them back and forth, it extends the life of both sets of tires. So if your all-seasons would usually last six years with year-round use, you may be able to extend that to 10 years if the tires get a five-month winter break. Over the long haul, the cost of buying tires is a break-even proposition.

How much you can save on insurance depends on how much you pay. The average premium in Ontario is now over $2,000, so for most Ontarians, a 5% winter tire discount will save about $100. If you don’t need storage, your ongoing costs for winter tires could be as low as $160 a year. A difference of 60 bucks, and a small price to pay for safety.

The answer depends on whether you are going by the rules of the insurance companies or the recommendations of safety experts. Typically, your insurance company will require that you have the winter tires on the car every year from November 1 to April 1. If you want to pre-schedule your tire changes, that’s a good guide.

What tire professionals will tell you is that winter tires should ideally be put on when the outside temperature goes below 7° Celsius. According to Weatherspark, daily low temperatures in the GTA reach 7° in October, and daily highs reach 7° in November. It’s not an exact science.

In terms of when to take the snow tires off, driving on winter tires in warm weather will result in premature wear, and they won’t last as long. That said, there are always a few snowfalls in April and the average temperature is only 6°, so waiting until the middle of that month might be better.

Since 2016, FSRA has required all companies providing auto insurance in Ontario to offer a winter tire discount.  It varies between 2 – 5%. Talk to one of our brokers about all of the different insurance discounts that are available for Ontario drivers.

Most winter tires are designed to last five or six years. But if you forget to take your winter tires off, and use them in warmer weather, they are likely to wear out faster.

Tire manufacturers recommend that you replace all four tires at the same time for maximum safety and durability. When your mechanic puts the tires back on in the fall, they will rotate them so that they will wear evenly.

Winter tires are designed differently than all seasons. The three main differences are:

But the most important thing you need to know about winter tires is that they will stop your car faster on snow and ice. According to tests done by Consumer Reports, even when driving as slowly as 16 km/h, winter tires will stop your car 16 feet shorter than all-season tires. That could easily prevent an accident, and save a life.

It’s always a good idea to be prepared for the worst. Here are a few things to consider before getting on the road in winter.

Winter driving conditions can be treacherous, and change at a moment’s notice. Safety experts always recommend that you drive according to the conditions. In winter, that can mean snow, ice, slush, water and/or mud on the road, and snow, rain or sleet affecting visibility.

In Canada, any business that sells tires is likely to sell winter tires. If you value convenience above all else, it makes sense to buy your snow tires from the car dealership or garage that you trust with your other auto service needs. Many garages offer storage so that you can keep the tires you’re not using right there. One stop shopping. This also allows you to schedule your bi-annual tire swap along with other scheduled vehicle maintenance.

If price is your main motivator, you may be able to save up to 10% by buying your winter tires online.

Mitch Insurance works with more than 70 different insurers in Ontario, and our expert brokers can find the best combination of discounts for the auto insurance you need. Drive safe this winter. We’ve got you covered.

If you’re in the market for a sports car, you may think you’re going to pay an arm and a leg for insurance. But that’s not necessarily true. Yes, a Porsche 911 may cost quite a bit more than you pay now, but the Mazda MX5 Miata is even more affordable than some sedans.

As always, premiums are based primarily on your driving history, but for some of the more expensive sports cars on the list, the price of the car has a clear impact on the price of the insurance.

A deductible is the part of a claim that you, as the policyholder, agree to take responsibility for. If you make a claim for $10,000 and have a $500 deductible, if the claim is approved, the insurance company will pay $9,500. If the claim is for repairs to your car, you may have to pay the deductible directly to the shop before they’ll fix your ride.

For home and car insurance, $500 and $1,000 are the most common deductibles. Some business policies have deductibles as high as $50,000 or more. You should make sure your deductible is low enough that you will be able to come up with that money on a moment’s notice if needed.

You can save about 10% on your home insurance and 2-3% on your auto insurance by increasing your deductible from $500 to $1,000.

To understand what a deductible is and why it exists, we first need to understand that insurance is there to protect you from costs that you can’t easily afford to pay for yourself. For example, if your house burned to the ground, most of us wouldn’t have the money on-hand to pay for it to be rebuilt. Although you can get insurance against smaller losses, it often makes more sense to just pay for these yourself. If your $900 golf clubs are stolen, most of us are able to buy a new set, whether it be paid for in cash or on a credit card.

Deductibles help to reinforce the above principle. If you have a $1,000 deductible, it wouldn’t make sense to claim your stolen clubs (even if the claim was approved, you’d get no money back). But it would definitely make sense to claim for your charred home. You would pay the first $500 or $1,000, but the total cost of rebuilding would be in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.

When you get car or home insurance, your broker will probably quote you a premium based on one of the standard deductibles, usually $500 or $1,000. Most insurance companies will allow you to opt for a higher one, maybe $1,500 or even as much as $2,500. A deductible can theoretically be any dollar value, and you can get a lower premium by increasing it, but on a standard auto policy, you typically cannot choose a deductible lower than $250, or higher than $2,500.

Deductibles can also be different for different types of claims. In an auto policy, you can choose a different deductible for collision vs. comprehensive claims, for example.

To illustrate how much changing your deductible can affect your premium, we ran auto and home quotes for four sample Ontarians:

All of the above premiums assume the following:

Based on the above quotes:

If you have to make a claim on your home insurance policy, you will always pay a deductible.

Deductibles work similarly for auto insurance claims. The exception is that there is no deductible to get your car fixed if the damage is related to an accident for which you are NOT AT FAULT.

Let’s go back to that case of the stolen golf clubs. But let’s say that they were worth $1,500 instead of $900. Even though you could be reimbursed $500, the fact is that it would count as a claim on your home insurance record. Here’s the most important thing to consider: In home insurance, it doesn’t matter whether the loss was your fault or how much the claim is for. Each claim you make is just a claim on your record. Having one claim on your record doesn’t make a big difference in the premium you’ll pay on renewal. However, that all changes if you have to make a second claim within a five-year period. Two claims in five years disqualifies you from many of the standard insurers. This means your annual premium could double or triple on renewal, and stay that high until the claims are five years old.

So if you’re thinking about making a claim for less than $5,000, you always have to consider:

Auto insurance is a completely different story. If a claim is not related to an accident (your car was stolen or a tree fell on it), it shouldn’t affect your premium on renewal, so you can go ahead and make a small claim, even if it’s a $1,300 windshield replacement and you have a $1,000 deductible.

If the claim is related to an accident, however:

The last possibility is that you are involved in a single vehicle accident. That means you hit a guardrail, a tree, a post or some other object (not a person). By law, even if it happens in the middle of nowhere in the middle of the night, you should go and report this accident at a collision reporting centre, and because there is no other driver, you are automatically at fault.

In this case, if you’re going to report the accident, you may as well claim your damage. The effect on your premium will be the same. If you’re not sure, here are a few things to consider:

There are other deductibles that apply for different types of insurance, and different types of claims.

If you have extended health benefits through your employer or membership in another group, it’s very possible you have an annual deductible. So, for example, you may have drug benefits, but you might have to pay the first $25 or $50 out of pocket for the year. Some plans have a $100 annual deductible that applies to your whole family, and any costs beyond that will be covered by the plan.

Just like with EI benefits, if you claim long or short-term disability through your workplace benefits plan, there is usually a waiting period before you can start collecting benefits. It’s typically five days for short-term disability, and 120 days for long-term disability. This waiting period is essentially the same thing as a deductible, in that it discourages smaller claims.

In Ontario, if you are injured by an at-fault driver in a car accident and choose to sue them for your pain and suffering, any award you receive is subject to a $40,000 deductible. The deductible won’t apply to any actual financial losses you sustain (medical bills, loss of income, damage to your property, etc.), but only to claims specifically for pain and suffering. So if a jury decides that you deserve $38,000 for your pain and suffering, you won’t receive a cent. This is a measure to discourage frivolous lawsuits and keep costs down in the auto insurance system.

Modifying your deductible can be a good way to make sure you have the right mix of coverage and price. Practically speaking, if you choose a higher deductible, you have less coverage, but you’ll also pay a lower premium. When you talk to one of our experienced brokers, they’ll walk you through the options and make sure you have the right deductible for your circumstances. Give us a call!

^{1 Quotes reflect CAA Insurance’s minimum deductibles, $500 for collision and $300 for comprehensive. Most insurers have maximum and minimum deductibles.}

On average, a brand new car loses about 20% of its value over the first year, and half its value over 4 years. After 10 years, it’s probably worth less than 5% of its original value. The fact is your car is worth what someone would pay for it, which means to find the actual cash value, all you have to do is find similar cars for sale online, and nudge up or down based on the exact features, conditions and the number of kilometres driven compared to your car. That’s what insurers do when deciding how much to pay you after a total loss.

It’s been said that a new car loses 10% of its value the second you drive it off the lot. This may not be exactly right, but it’s close. Your car does lose value quite quickly over the first year that you own it, and then more slowly over time. That said, when your car is badly damaged in an accident, and the insurance company determines that it’s a total loss (or write-off), it can seem like they are low-balling the value. As a policyholder, you have the right to challenge the insurance company’s valuation, but you’ll have to present proof.

There’s no formula for depreciation, because in a free market economy like ours, your car is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it. Different brands are said to hold their value better than others, but generally, depreciation works something like this:

A quick search on AutoTrader.ca will show you that depreciation is not at all an exact science. You may see 3-year-old vehicles and 7-year-old vehicles both listed for about half their original price. When you look more closely, you’ll always see a reason for the discrepancy. Generally it’s one of the following:

Here’s an example of how you would determine the ACV for your 2015 Nissan Pathfinder S 4DR 4WD, with 91,500 km, no accidents and no optional features.

The easiest way to get an approximate ACV for your vehicle is to go to Kelley Blue Book, and enter the particulars of your vehicle.

According to Kelley Blue Book, the ACV for your Pathfinder, in good condition, is $17,577.

Your insurer is likely to do a little more research than that, so you should too. That means finding comparable models that are currently for sale. So when you search for a 2015 Nissan Pathfinder, you’ll find a lot for sale, but they’re not all comparables. You’ll see Pathfinder Platinums and Pathfinder SVs and Hybrids. Try to find exactly your model. Here is a list of exact matches on year, make and model.

First off, you can forget about the first vehicle listed, which has very low mileage and so is in a different stratosphere price-wise. Number 2 also can be excluded because the owner is asking significantly more than the market for a vehicle with more km and an accident on its record. Your price is somewhere among the other 4.

One perfectly valid way to pinpoint it is to take an average ($18,125), but then subtract 5% to account for the fact that buyers will negotiate.

That makes your price $17,220.

So you have two methods, both pointing to a price in the $17,000s. If your insurer offers you less, you have a valid argument against them. If you think your vehicle is worth significantly more, you’ll have to produce proof that it was in exceptional condition, or that it had features that would make it more valuable.

If you drive a vehicle that’s less than 5 years old and you’re the first owner, there may be a way to avoid any arguments about what you should be paid in the event of a total loss. Starting around $5 a month and increasing to around $25 as your car ages, you can get what insurers call a waiver of depreciation. That means that if your car is a total loss, the insurance company will pay you either the price you originally paid, or the price of a comparable brand new vehicle, whichever is less. This is still subject to your deductible, but it essentially means that your car is insured for what you originally paid.

You may need fight to get a fair price for your vehicle if it becomes a write-off. We’ve given you some strategies to make sure you know what a fair price is, but if you’re working with a licensed insurance broker, they will be on your side against the insurance company, and will help you get the claims payout you deserve. Moreover, when you’re shopping for with Mitch Insurance, we always recommend a waiver of depreciation if yours is a newer vehicle. It’s well worth the price.

Two ways that managing your insurance through a top brokerage like Mitch Insurance can make for a better insurance experience.