ARTICLES

Understanding Auto Insurance

Auto (car) insurance is a type of insurance coverage for damage to and resulting from an auto. Insurance of this type can cover a variety of things depending on the kind of auto insurance that has been purchased. All auto insurance policies involve a premium, which is the payment a customer makes to have auto insurance. Premiums for auto insurance can be extremely divergent and are determined by a number of factors. Gender is the major determinant for auto insurance premiums. Statistically, men are 80% more likely to be involved in an accident, and therefore have a greater need for insurance. Auto insurance premiums for men are higher than auto insurance premiums for women. Similarly, teenagers are considered high risk and will have to pay higher auto insurance premiums. The auto insurance premium can be reduced if the teenager takes a defensive driving course. Many states require teenagers to take defensive driving courses in order to obtain a driving permit and auto insurance. It is customary for auto insurance plans to have a deductible that the customer is responsible for before the auto insurance provider offers coverage of expenses. Deductibles can have an effect on the coverage available under an...
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Auto Rates Still Slipping in Canada

Like political football, auto insurance can remain in storage for the Oct. 10 Ontario provincial elections. Rates have been relatively stable for months, and they have fallen substantially since the Liberal and Conservative parties last campaigned on promises to reduce premium costs, reports The Star. What is there to argue about? Well, not much. But the future could give surprises along the way. A clutch Canada could not even handle the shifts. "Ontario drivers have saved $4.5 billion since November 2003 from lower premiums as a direct result of changes to the (auto insurance) product," says Jane Voll, an economist with the Insurance Bureau of Canada. "The average premium per vehicle has dropped from $1,499 to $1,260 annually - a reduction of nearly 16 percent." Statistics Canada and the Financial Services Commission of Ontario each take a diverse methodology to calculating the cost of insurance than the IBC. Regardless of the methodology, however, the level of public anguish has sinked. The industry lobby group IBC merely takes total premiums accumulated and divides that by the number of insured autos. The computation discloses how much shoppers are spending. But not how much coverage they are purchasing. Statistics Canada attempts to do...
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