Besides watching hockey and pouring maple syrup on our pancakes, another favourite pastime of Canadians is grumbling about car insurance. And who can blame us? Car insurance premiums have been on the rise in recent years. But don’t despair. There are simple ways to you can trim your car insurance bill.
Here are 10 tips for getting cheap car insurance.
1. Keeping a Clean Driver Record
Probably the simplest way to get cheap auto insurance is to keep a clean driving record. If you’ve ever been involved in an accident where you were at fault, don’t despair. By driving safely in the coming years, you can help lower your auto insurance premiums.
2. Shop Around Online
Whether you’re looking for auto insurance the first time or your auto insurance is coming up for renewal, by taking the time to shop around you can save yourself big bucks. With a few clicks of the mouse, websites like InsurEye, InsuranceHotline, Kanetix, and LowestRates make shopping around for inexpensive auto insurance a breeze.
3. Shop Around with an Insurance Broker
Is your auto insurance situation a bit more complicated or you’d prefer a human touch? Then you might consider shopping around with an insurance broker. An insurance broker is similar to a mortgage broker. They shop the market on your behalf for cheap vehicle insurance. Best of all, in most cases you don’t have to pay them anything for their services. It’s a win-win situation!
4. Raising Your Deductible
Your deductible is the amount of money you’ll pay out of pocket in the event of an accident. By raising it, you can save big bucks. Before raising it to the maximum though, make sure you can afford to pay out of pocket in the event you do need to make a claim. You want your auto insurance to provide you with at least some protection.
5. Bundle and Save
You might have home and auto insurance, but have you ever considered bundling them together? That’s what my family does and we save big bucks! You can expect anywhere from 5 to 10% or more off your total insurance bill just for bundling. Inexpensive auto insurance – not bad!
6. Choose Your Vehicle Carefully
You may not be able to control your age and gender, but one thing you can control are your vehicle’s make and model. Before buying a new vehicle, ask for a quote for car insurance premiums. It’s better to know up front what the premiums will be, rather than being blindsided by them later on.
Motorcycle insurance is priced differently than car insurance. Make sure you know what to expect in terms of insurance premiums before you buy one.
7. Choose Your Neighbourhood Carefully
Likewise, if you’re moving, you might want to consider what the auto insurance premiums will be for your neighbourhood. Some neighbourhoods have higher auto insurance premiums than others.
8. Group Plans
Similar to health, life and disability insurance, you can save money by buying your auto insurance through a group plan instead of an individual one. Check with your employer and alumni association to see if group plans are available.
9. Lower Optional Insurance on Older Vehicles
Is your vehicle nearing the end of its life? There’s no point in insuring it for more than its worth. When your vehicle is on its last legs, consider lowering the optional insurance to save.
10. Share Your Auto Insurance with Someone
Do you share your vehicle with your spouse or adult children? Instead of them taking out their own auto insurance policy, you might want to consider adding them as an occasional driver. This is what my mom did when I was first leaning to drive and it saved our family big bucks.
Sean Cooper is the bestselling author of the book, Burn Your Mortgage: The Simple, Powerful Path to Financial Freedom for Canadians, available now on Amazon and at Chapters, Indigo and major bookstores, and as an Audiobook on Amazon, Audible and iTunes.