Toronto, Ontario — A PC Insurance commissioned survey found that safe driving discounts are the prime factor for most Canadians, with collision and liability coverage ironically considered the second and third most important factors in an auto insurance policy.
The survey polled 1,500 Canadians, asking which factors they considered important, along with the most common misconceptions about auto insurance.
Safe driving discounts topped the list, with 50 percent considering it the most important factor. This was followed by collision coverage at 42 percent, liability coverage at 38 percent, bundles with home insurance at 38 percent, and multi-car discounts at 25 percent.
Forty-six percent of Canadians believed that credit scores had no impact on their insurance rate. However, this is only partially true as insurers cannot use credit scores to dictate rates in Ontario and Newfoundland and Labrador.
In practice, rates are determined by province and residence, with credit scores playing a role in other provinces.
Other misconceptions include 32 percent believing that parking tickets impacted insurance rates, 25 percent believed it costs more to insure cars as they got older, while 16 percent believed they could only cancel or change their plan upon renewal.
“We know there are significant misconceptions about auto insurance and the survey data confirmed this,” said Ciara Beauchemin, senior vice president of PC Insurance, in an interview with Insurance Business.
