Car insurance is one of those things like taxes that you just have to pay, at least ostensibly. A worrying trend in the UK has seen many drivers knowingly and intentionally not buy insurance. They have worked out that it is cheaper to pay a fine if they get caught. It may be cheaper for them but the idea of insurance is that if everybody has it, driving will become cheaper for everyone. Those people who refuse only raise the cost for the honest drivers. In any case, the average cost of car insurance in Canada is $1,320 per year. That is quite a lot, and it is more expensive yet when you look just at Ontario which has an average annual cost of $1,920, followed by $1,428 in British Columbia. However, insurance does not need to be so expensive. There are a few reasons why it may be high for you in particular though. If you are female, you can expect to pay a little less, with men paying on average $1,968 whereas women pay on average $1,836. This does not mean that women get into fewer accidents than men, it just means that the accidents that men find themselves in are most costly to the insurer.
One thing that can make insurance more expensive is modifying your car. It is quite obvious when you think about it, but if you spend a lot of money on parts, you will have to spend a lot of money on protecting them. A more valuable car will have higher premiums. If the modification is something cosmetic, like alloy wheel refurbishment, for instance, it will still cost more because lots of people would not claim if their standard issue hubcaps were scratched. However, if they are custom models that were fitted specifically for your vehicle, they will be harder to replace and your insurance will be more expensive.
Apart from changing your car, insurance fraud is also raising the price of insurance for everyone. Since criminals are staging crashes and then claiming for damage that did not take place or for injuries that they did not sustain, insurance companies need to pay out more. They are not going to shoulder that cost alone and are therefore passing on their losses to their honest, law-abiding customers. It is not fair, but it is the reality. One particularly deceitful trick that they sometimes use is to pose as an insurance official. They encourage you to seek help at a medical clinic or garage that they know. The person on the other end of the phone will take your details and then claim on the insurance on your behalf. To stop this sort of thing from happening, you can refuse any assistance from people that you do not know and file a police report immediately. This will make it difficult for the criminals later on when they try to prove their claim.
Lastly, a good way to reduce the amount you have to pay in insurance is not have an accident. That is easier said than done but it is the best advice because it works and you will not risk injury that way either.
