You’ve had an accident, what do I
do. Your broker is your advisor; review all
accidents with your broker prior to reporting a claim to
the insurance company. The situation may warrant that
you consider paying the claim yourself. Once a claim has
been reported to the Insurance Company, what happens to
your rates? If the accident is not your fault, your
rates will remain the same. If the accident is your
fault you may have a slight increase, but many companies
now waive the first at fault accident and your rates
would remain the same. A second at fault loss within a
6-year period can have a dramatic effect on your rates.
Rates:
The premium that you are charged depends on the
following criteria
Age
Driving Records (Accidents &
Tickets)
Make and Model of Car, 2dr, 4dr,
basic model vs. loaded with all the options (colour
doesn’t matter)
Usage of Car (Pleasure,
commuting, business)
Location in the province
Coverage’s & Deductibles
Additional Underage Drivers
Applicable discounts ( Multi
Vehicle, Multi Policy, Retiree)
No Fault Insurance:
Ontario does not operate
a true No Fault System. The only true No Fault Benefits
that you have are your Accident Benefits. Included in
those benefits are Replacement of lost wages,
rehabilitation costs and death benefits. Insurance
companies still determine fault in all situations based
on police reports and fault charts. Only at fault claims
can affect your rates and companies will consider at
fault losses in the past six years when determining your
rates. Your deductible is only applicable for at fault
losses or hit and run accidents when you cannot identify
the third party. Comprehensive claims, i.e. broken glass
or vandalism does not affect your rates, but companies
are concerned about frequency of claims and may increase
deductibles
