Some easy tips
Remember that if you lease your car or you've taken out a bank loan to buy it (which you haven't paid off), you have no choice. You must carry collision coverage. This protects the leasing company or bank lender from having to shoulder the cost of repairs if you don't.
Another possible saving: Remove the coverage for rentals if your car is damaged. You can get by if you live near public transit or you have several cars in the family. (That's another cut I made to our policy.)
Leave your car at home during the day. You'll save about $145 a year in insurance costs by not driving to work, assuming you commute 10 to 20 kilometres, Romanov says. You can save $275 a year if you give up a 30-kilometre daily commute.
Use the same company for both your home and car insurance. That can get you a loyalty discount of 5 to 10 per cent a year.
Driving safely saves you money. Your rate probably won't go up if you get a ticket for speeding, making an illegal turn or not buckling up. But with two tickets, your annual costs can rise from $250 to $1,000. One at-fault accident can increase your rates by $1,000 to $5,000 a year. Two accidents can increase your rates from $3,500 to $6,000 and stay on your record for six years.
Taking a driver's training course can improve your skills at the wheel and get you an insurance discount, too.
Location, location, location
Where you live often makes a difference in what you pay for car insurance. One of my readers discovered that when he changed addresses in Toronto, the insurance went up $1,000 a year for him and his wife. He went online to compare insurance rates and found he always got higher quotes when he put in his new postal code. "For moving 10 minutes away, I have gotten punished on insurance rates," he says about his new home, which is closer to the busy and accident-prone 401 highway. This means he's more likely to get into an accident and make a claim.
The Ontario government has promised new legislation outlawing this practice, but price discrimination based on location is legal when it comes to car insurance. Drivers in larger cities pay more. There are more cars on the road and more accidents - and also a greater likelihood of getting your car stolen.
Take, for example, a married couple, age 35 and 38, who own a 1998 Ford Taurus and drive less than 16,000 kilometres a year. They've had no accidents or driving convictions in six years. They'll pay about $1,430 a year for car insurance if they live in Toronto, compared to about $937 a year if they live in London, Ontario. This couple could try driving the car only for pleasure (and not taking it to work). This would save them $75 a year.
Short of moving to a safer area, there are a few other ways to cut costs. Reducing your annual mileage can help. The more time you spend on the road, the greater your chances of getting into an accident.
