$ spent on car insurance

[mrsf1sh]

Not sure if this is the best place to post this...

I just received our renewal for insurance. Like many others it is one of those bills that keeps going up every year. I have been in bc for the past 4 years, and there is only icbc government insurance. Coming from Alberta where it was private we end up paying about 30% more for our 2 cars. We also get a 43% discount for having clean driving records for 10+ years. It is still too much $!
My problem is my car is covered with collision (2007), I have it under pleasure purposes driving about 6-8x month. It is $130! $21-16 for insurance each time I used the car is crazy! (There is no public transit either)

Just looking for others opinions on what amount of liability coverage is reasonable? Would you forgo collision? Why?

I remember years ago 1 million was the norm...then when we moved I brought a copy of our old insurance to icbc and said I want this coverage....the said that it isn't enough these days if you get sued...would like to lower these payments a bit. Going to increase the deductibles to see if that helps.

thanks

[mrsf1sh]

So no one has car insurance?

[Darth Penguin]

A quick google brings up plenty of places to buy car insurance in BC...is ICBC like SAAQ which covers your plates and drivers licence payments??

[Natalka]

I'm in SK where we have a monopoly with government insurance, too, but I've discovered it's a good thing. It does help keep overall premiums lower.

Basic insurance - deductible is $700; covers up to $200k liability; for personal injury, we get a choice of no fault or tort coverage.
Also have a great safe driver program, earning points up to a maximum of 20% off.

We have a 1996 van, monthly we pay about $85.

[mrsf1sh]

$200,000 liability...hmmm why do they want me to have more than 1 million!?

[mrsf1sh]

Yeah it is all included with icbc. How much liability coverage do you have?

[lilo0003]

I just spoke with our agent as we need to change cars (car died & it’s not worth fixing). It’s also insured for pleasure and we live in a very expensive postal code for insurance. They pointed out we have 1 million liability but the recommendation is 2 million. But the kicker is the old car was a 2005 Nissan Maxima, the new one is a 2014 Ford Edge and insurance is actually less on the new vehicle. With one million liability it is $946 a year (it was $990). When the new car arrives I will bump up the liability, better to be safe than sorry. We saw a decrease this year with renewal, but I suspect it is because both DH and I have hit 30 yrs. of driving. It was a significant decrease after years of increases so it was nice to see..

[ahatt]

My best friend worked for a large insurance company about 3 years ago. She said 1 million used to be the usual for liability, but suggested to have 2 million liability now. There's a lot of insurance fraud, and everyone seems to be suing everyone and their mother nowadays, so you can never have too much liability coverage.

If it's not going to cost you too much extra I would go 2 million just to be safe. Depending on the age of the car it might be worth it to forgo collision. I had 2005 cavalier (that I got rid of last year) that I took collision off of it after 5 years because it wasn't worth it anymore. My new vehicle is a 2012 and financed, so I have no choice but to have collision.

[Natalka]

$200,000 liability...hmmm why do they want me to have more than 1 million!?

Because that is the least one really should have... What I explained before was the very basic; we are encouraged to get extra insurance.

http://globalnews.ca/news/1247052/sg...ity-insurance/

[mrsf1sh]

Thanks for the input everyone. I currently have 3 million (I watch our friends son 3 days a week, and sometimes take the kids to groceries /park/library) but will drop down to 2 on renewal since I will not be watching him come June.

My car is a 2007 vw gti, it only has 67,000km and is paid off. On the fence about collision, repair bills could be huge, and we plan on keeping this car for at least 5 more years too. Defiantly going to up the deductible and see if that helps out the monthly costs. Since it is only on the road 2x week, 60 km driven it not a daily commuter....I feel that I am a lower risk of collisions vs my hubby who drives to work everyday (he has been rear ended, and side swiped this past year) lucky both minor non injury, and not his fault

[Brooke_]

I used to have a 2003 cavalier and just had collision on it since it wasn't worth anything. It cost me $108.83 a month. And I just got a new-to-me 2008 Ford Focus and decided to get full insurance, I'm in Alberta and it is $2M. If I just wanted collision it would be $90/month but for now I am sticking with full coverage at $175/month.