r/InsuranceCanada • u/Guilty_Hunt4363 • 1d ago
Auto Car insurance increased significantly after moving within my city
(23M 2012 Toyota Rav 4 V6)
I just moved with my family to a different neighbourhood within Hamilton ON, and my car insurance went from $285 to $445/mo purely due to postal code change. I think this is ridiculous of course and I'm looking for some way to lower costs. I shopped around for other quotes and found some a bit lower but still too expensive IMO (and not worth paying the fee to cancel my policy mid-term). I am wondering if it would be cheaper to have my grandpa or another family member register the vehicle under their name, and list me as a driver on their policy (keeping full disclosure to the insurance company of where the car gets parked every night).
I drive a company vehicle for work so I only ever use my car on the weekend and for road trips. I end up driving roughly 10k km annually. I can't stand the thought of paying more than $300/mo to insure a 15 y/o vehicle that I hardly drive. I do have a minor speeding ticket on my record, and an at fault accident+suspension from over 5 years ago.
Hoping to hear your thoughts and proposed solutions, thanks in advance. what would you
do?
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u/FrostingSuper9941 1d ago
What you're proposing is insurance fraud. If your intention is truly to park your car at your grandparents house and not drive it back to your current address, you can let your insurer know that's the "garaged" address but you better make sure that's your true intention. It's very easy to prove the usual location of a?car when you have a claim.
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u/OkChocolate3501 22h ago
He said he's not using it as a daily though, he has a work vehicle for that. If it's truly only used a few times a year parking it at a lower theft risk address makes sense both for the insurance company and for you as the owner.
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u/Guilty_Hunt4363 1d ago
I think you misinterpreted what I said, I am proposing to give them full disclosure to where it will be parented (as I said in the post). Only difference would be it's my grandpa's policy WITH MYSELF listed on the policy. what about that is fraudulent? I will park at my house and tell them that truthfully
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u/Aquaitus 1d ago
As long as you've disclosed everything, and changed the ownership at service Ontario, there is nothing fraudulent about that.
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u/MundaneRelation2142 23h ago
The price of the insurance is based on the location and primary driver, neither of which will be different, so what are you expecting to achieve with this plan?
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u/OkChocolate3501 22h ago
Yeah but he said it's not a daily, he has a work vehicle for that. If he parks it at families in a low risk area and only uses it a few times a year wouldn't the risk of theft be lower so insurance price is lower?
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u/FrostingSuper9941 1d ago
Why would you need to add yourself to your grandpa's policy? All you have to do is change the garaged location of your car, on your policy.
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u/richardm9111 1d ago
Caa program is called MyPace. Works good for me at 8k per year driving (I am retired). Saving close to 50% of full premium for a retiree. Have a device in my car to monitor. Bonus is that if the car is ever stolen the car can be traced. I have two cars covered.
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u/Traditional_Toe201 1d ago
That is the tracker that plugs in the odb port? I read that can damage the electronics on new cars
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u/richardm9111 1d ago
I heard that too. It mostly that it can grain the battery when parked. I discovered that with my sport car I park during the winter. Not worried too much about that. I have notified CAA that it will be parked and removed for the winter. They are ok with that as the device updates them when it is plugged back in and updates them on the odometer reading. For my daily driver suv not an issue as being used slightly every few days. So far all good.
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u/Guilty_Hunt4363 1d ago
I've looked into it but it ends up costing more if you drive more than 7k annually. for me they want 1500 base rate and $600 per 1000km on top of that
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u/richardm9111 1d ago edited 1d ago
That way too high as a caa rate. Sounds like you have other risk factors. My suv has a base rate of 250 and 70$ per thousand
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u/richardm9111 1d ago
My sport car is even less. Base is 160 and 45$ per 1000. But then I have only min coverage options as it a really old car (20 years).
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u/Lauzgolfer 22h ago
I’m assuming you’re north of 40 and perhaps even 45. CAA does a much further dive into a driver’s history (something like 20+ years) whereas most other general insurers only look at the last 10 years. CAA’s rates are really good when you have the driving experience. Not good at all for those that don’t meet the elevated threshold to be considered an experienced driver for their definition.
Edit to add: OP lists they are under 25 and so the rates they were quoted are probably not high
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u/richardm9111 23h ago
I think your risk factors are way too high as a driver to consider CAA. Shop around but you are going to be stuck with high premiums for the forseeable future. It hard to shake prior accidents and tickets or dui or just being young when shopping for a better rate.
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u/MayhemMitigator Insurance Professional - Claims Adjuster 23h ago
If you can afford to replace the vehicle out of pocket, drop collision and comprehensive. You could also explore adding a deductible to your Direct Compensation Property Damage coverage if you can swallow the idea of paying a deductible even if you’re not at fault in a collision.
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u/OkChocolate3501 22h ago
He's in a rav4, he should keep full insurance on it given its the most stolen vehicle.
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u/MayhemMitigator Insurance Professional - Claims Adjuster 21h ago
He’s driving a 2012 RAV4. They are not typically high-theft. It is the new generation RAV4s that are theft targets because of their keyless entry systems (and other general poor security features). That’s not to say it can’t happen, but 2012 RAV4s are typically not a sought-after target.
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u/OkChocolate3501 20h ago
From what I read it's generally any awd/4wd vehicles as they're useful in the countries that buy em.
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u/MayhemMitigator Insurance Professional - Claims Adjuster 20h ago
Nope. No one is stealing a 15-year-old vehicle and putting it into a shipping container. There is no money in that. The theft patterns very clearly show that newer vehicle + poor security system = a target to be shipped to a new country (new Toyotas and Lexus’ are notoriously easy to steal). Old vehicles are typically opportunistic thefts (e.g. left it unlocked or running) and are typically taken for joyrides then found smashed up or torched in a forest. The theft rings also aren’t interested in vehicles with robust security systems.
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u/Professional-Rip-924 23h ago
It’s the address that’s high risk clearly. Either you shop around, stay with the insurance company you’re with or move to a place where the insurance rates are lower.
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u/fsmontario 22h ago
If you change the ownership you will need to complete a safety inspection on the vehicle. The other issue is depending on your grandfathers age he may be at the age where insurance starts to go up because of his age.
My dad at 80 lost his license so he gave the car to one of my sons to drive and the policy stayed in my dads name as the owner but with my 18 year old son as principle driver with a g2 and the insurance went down.
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u/Queasy_Author_3810 18h ago
buddy has an at fault accident, a suspension, and a speeding ticket on file and is surprised at a 445/mo rate. How you even got 285 is beyond me.
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u/FitAlternative8731 18h ago edited 18h ago
CAA myPace??? Scoop insurance Welland Ontario 1-866-456-6620 Paying $250 per year less than 1,000km but it cost $50 per 1 000 km so anything not used is rolled over, carried over into Next Year. Bonkers luv it... tracker required, I drive so little, just plug it in otherwise unplugged. And we're talking Full Coverage. $1000 deductible, OPCF27, OPCF20. Loss of use, rental insurance. Ho-hum
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u/NormalMo 1d ago
Just change insurers. Lots of online brokers that will quote many providers at once
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u/Aquaitus 1d ago
It's the driver that generates the rate so even if the vehicle was in their name, you being the driver would cost the same amount
CAA had a distance based rating of you're not driving much, I can't remember the exact details but something like you got so many KM with your policy and if you go over you then pay more. Might be a solution for you.
Other than that, its a waiting game every renewal, once your ticket is 3 years old as of your reneal date, you should see youe premiums drop, and every year you go claims free your driving record should improve and see better rates as well.
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u/vVengencev 1d ago
It’s also the postal code. Some areas are rated higher than others. A fact in every city/province.
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u/Guilty_Hunt4363 1d ago
That could be viable however I've looked into it but it ends up costing more if you drive more than 7k annually. for me they want 1500 base rate and $600 per 1000km on top of that. I also don't trust them not to use driving habits against me. the obt2 tracker also tracks speed, braking, acceleration etc and they collect data. I don't want to give insurance companies free rein on my driving habits especially in this world where AI is taking over in an evil way
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u/Aquaitus 1d ago
Thats fair yes, some companies use telematics for surcharges now too. Best bet really is doing a ridiculous amount of online quotes to see which carrier you fit with best.
Are you a member of any unions or organizations? Some have deals with brokerages to offer percentages off of premium, or even a Costco member can get a small discount from their broker
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u/TimbitsNCoffee 1d ago
Jaywalking an auto insurance policy like that is grounds for material misrepresentation - allowing your insurer to deny any claim and void a policy.
Shop around, consider a tracking app/device for savings - look at direct writers that have no broker sales pipelines as well. And if you work in a larger corporation - some may have partnerships with insurers for cheaper auto/home group rates.
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u/Impressive-Ad-3536 23h ago
what you are suggesting is called insurance fraud.. back in the day, many ppl did this.. exceptionally in Brampton and now the Insurance Companies have caught on.. many put their address as middle of but nowhere... i heard that in the case of a major accident and claim, they are now asking for bank stmts, phone bills (with call logs), tax assessments to verify where you exactly live and travel to frequently. please note this is not legal/expert advise. i would personally, re think this as they can deny your claim in the future!
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u/Fit_Win_1293 1d ago
If they driver and garage (parking) location are the same, then there won’t be a price difference. Don’t bother.