Find Cheap Car Insurance in Sarnia

Car insurance in Sarnia

Drivers in Sarnia are required by law to have car insurance. If you’re on the road without insurance, you may be subject to a fine. And, you’ll be without protection in the event of an accident.

While car insurance policy types are standard across Canada, the minimum levels of coverage vary from province-to-province.

Mandatory coverage

In Ontario, drivers must the following coverage is mandatory:

• Accident benefits: If you’re hurt in a car accident, this will cover your medical bills and any lost income.
  
• Direct Compensation Property Damage (DCPD): If your car or any of the contents in it are damaged in a collision caused by someone else, you’ll be protected.
  
• Third-party liability: This coverage protects you if you’re found at-fault in a collision where someone is injured or their property is damaged. In Ontario, you must have a minimum of $200,000 coverage limit in third-party liability insurance.
• Uninsured vehicles: If you or your family are injured in a hit-and-run or by an uninsured driver, this will protect you.

Optional coverage

For additional protection, drivers can also add the following coverage to their car insurance policies:

• All perils: Covers many perils. Broadly, it has similarities to collision and comprehensive coverage.
  
• Collision: Covers car replacement, or repair costs, if you’re in a collision and your car is damaged and the other driver is at-fault. Also protects against single vehicle collisions as well as hit-and-run accidents.
  
• Comprehensive: Protects against damage from perils such as debris, earthquake, explosions, hail, theft and vandalism.
  
• Specified perils: Protects against damage from a list of perils explicitly named in your policy. This can include attempted theft, damage in transport, earthquake, explosions, fire, lightning, riots or windstorms.

Endorsements

Drivers in Sarnia can update their policy further with endorsements, which is an insurance industry term used to describe an amendment to a policy which broadens, restricts or alters its terms.

Common endorsements include:

• OPCF 20 – Loss of use: Covers the cost of a replacement vehicle, or transportation costs, when your car is damaged. This protection comes with All perils, Comprehensive or Specified perils coverage.
• OPCF 27 – Damage to non-owned vehicle: Also known as ‘a 27’, this coverage means that any bodily injury, accident benefits, uninsured automobile and other property damage coverage you have is extended to a vehicle you don’t own.
  
  When your policy has ‘a 27’, if you rent a car, there’s no need to purchase property damage coverage, popularly known as a Loss Damage Waiver, or ‘LDW’.
  
• OPCF 35 – Emergency roadside: If you need roadside assistance, this will cover the cost of any labour required where your car broke down, the cost of a tow, battery, gas or tire replacement and/or the cost of a locksmith.
  
• OPCF 44R – Family protection: Covers the difference between your coverage and any liability coverage of a third party who’s found at fault during a collision.
  
• OPCF 43 – Depreciation waiver: If your vehicle is written off following a collision, this coverage means you’ll receive back the full value of the car. This is an option especially worth considering if your car is new.

The amount of coverage you get will affect the overall cost of your coverage; expect to pay more for more coverage.

Your car insurance costs can also fluctuate when the Financial Service Regulatory Authority of Ontario, which regulates car insurance premiums in Ontario, approves a rate change.

To manage overall insurance costs there are several steps drivers in Sarnia can take, including comparing rates and customizing their policies so that they’re only paying for the coverage they need, nothing more.

Top 7 tips on how to get cheap Sarnia car insurance in Sarnia

1. Buy a cheaper car: When you purchase a less expensive car, your insurance costs are likely to be lower than if you were seeking coverage for a pricey vehicle. Expensive repair and replacement costs tend to translate to more costly premiums.
   
2. Comparison shop: Shopping around for the best coverage at the lowest rate is the single most effective way to reduce your insurance costs.
   
3. Customize coverage: When you customize your car insurance policy, you’ll pay for the coverage you need and nothing more.
   
4. Increase deductible: If you’re likely to have the cash available in the event of having to file a car insurance claim, you can reduce your premiums by increasing your deductible. But before you commit to one, we recommend that you carefully consider if you’ll have the cash available to pay a higher deductible if necessary.
   
5. Pay upfront: If you’re willing to pay the full annual cost of your premium upfront, you may be eligible for a discount.
   
6. Use-based coverage: For drivers who don’t clock have significant mileage, use-based coverage makes good sense. You end up paying for coverage based on how much you drive, or don’t drive.
   
7. Telematics: If you allow your driving habits to be tracked, your premiums are adjusted to reflect them. For example, if you don’t speed