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Young Families - Buying a Car
Avoid surprises … talk to us before buying a new
vehicle.
When buying a new vehicle the cost of insurance
is an important consideration. Some vehicles cost more
to insure than others, and it is not always just related
to the cost of the vehicle. The insurance cost for
vehicles is rated based upon their cost to repair,
incidence of theft, and safety features. The Vehicle
Insurance Center of Canada develops and gathers statistics on each
vehicle and from these statistics cars are assigned rate
factors which are used to determine the cost of
insurance.
Typically we find that 2 door cars, sports cars, and
foreign or exotic cars where parts are hard to get or
expensive, are more costly to insure. Contrary to
popular misconception, colour doesn’t play
a factor. Purchase price can – all other factors being
equal, the more expensive car will usually be the more
expensive to insure. Safety features such as all wheel
drive, ABS brakes or sophisticated alarm systems may
help reduce the cost of a particular model.
When adding a vehicle to your personal “fleet”
make sure you think about the use – is it a second
vehicle – can the older vehicle be used to commute,
saving the less expensive pleasure rating for the new
car. If it is a third vehicle in the household, will a
child be designated as the driver? Insurance companies
will assign one driver to each vehicle in the household
– if you have two parents and a child, the third vehicle
could result in a costly underage driver rating.
As an Utter Morris client we will check rates on new
vehicles before you buy them, and offer advice on the
best (and least expensive) method to insure them. We’ll
also phone the dealer to confirm coverage so the
licensing can be done, confirm coverage with the leasing
company, and hold covered on your old vehicle if
necessary. We’ll also make sure you get all the correct coverages. On new vehicles it is important to
make sure you receive the OPCF 43R – Waiver of
Depreciation – this endorsement waives depreciation on
repairs meaning new parts are used. In the event of a
“write off” due to an accident, theft or fire, it means
that the insurance company will pay you what you paid
new for the vehicle, without deducting for depreciation!
This important endorsement is good for the first 24
months that you own the car.
Temporary coverage is included in the auto policy
when you are buying another vehicle. Subject to a number
of conditions, newly acquired vehicles are insured
automatically for 14 days – however this applies only if
we insure all your vehicles and only for common coverages so it is a good idea to talk to your Utter
Morris professional to ensure that it will apply in your
situation.
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