Vehicles

The vehicle you choose to purchase affects rates as well. The following is an explanation of the rating system most insurers use to categorize automobiles. Contact our office before you buy your new car so you can avoid surprises in this area or you can check the list on their website here under "sorted by Make, Model & Year" link.


Vehicle Information Center Of Canada (VICC) - Administrators of the Clear System
http://www.ibc.ca/vehinfo_pub_howcarsmeasureup.asp

VICC was established to develop a fairer, more scientific approach to rating cars for insurance purposes. Until now, insurers have been primarily relying on the price to rate a car's potential for claims, but this approach has several shortcomings. You can have two cars that cost $20,000 each to purchase and yet one gets stolen ten times more than the other, or one is much more expensive to repair. Is it really fair to charge both owners of these cars the same for insurance?

In step 1, Using a vast amount of data collected from insurance companies across Canada over several years, statistical models find the relationship between various car characteristics and claims experience. For example, the relationship between wheelbase and claims, body style and claims, weight to horsepower ratio and claims, price and claims, etc. Using these relationships, the statistical vehicle has a wheelbase, body style, etc. Frequency and severity (average size) of claims are predicted separately for Collision/Property Damage, Comprehensive and Accident Benefits coverage, separately for cars and trucks. It is important to treat frequency and severity separately since some factors may impact one, but
not the other. For example, a manufacturer may develop a new type of bumper that is easy to repair. This may have an impact on the severity (size) of claims, but not necessarily on the frequency of claims.

In step 2, They use the most recent data available to adjust each vehicle's predicted values. As an example, they use the claims experience of the Honda Accord to adjust the predicted values of the Honda Accord. The more of this vehicle there is on the road, the more its data is credible and the more we can rely on the adjustments for the calculation of the final rating category. If there are very few of this model of car on the road, then the final calculations will rely more heavily on the values predicted by the statistical models.

Many companies across Canada are implementing CLEAR using the approach that best meets their needs. Most are phasing in the system by capping premium increases over several years. In some jurisdictions this has been imposed by insurance regulators. CLEAR is a great improvement from what had previously been available to insurance companies, and it is expected that within the next few years, most insurers across Canada will be using this system. The Consumer's Association of Canada says that CLEAR "will lead to a fairer system for motorist so that safe vehicles do not continue to subsidize those vehicles with higher loss costs." By rewarding consumers for buying cars that are less likely to incur insurance losses, the CLEAR system also serves to encourage manufacturers to build safer, less damage-prone vehicles, which are also more resistant to theft.

Follow the link to the VICC information site located here. Look under
"tables" & sort in different ways to see how your vehicle is rated.