Finding the Right Car Insurance in Oshawa, Canada
Oshawa is one of the fastest-growing cities in Canada, attracting people from both sides of the border. If you have chosen Oshawa as your home, you may find yourself on one of the busiest and most expansive road systems in North America. Whether you drive across the border to Buffalo, NY, or stay in the Greater Toronto Area, you may share the roads with nearly 400,000 daily commuters.
According to the 2016 Census of Population, about 17% of people who commute from Oshawa spend up to an hour driving between work and home. Nearly all these commuters drove their car or participated in a rideshare program. That’s a lot of time spent in a vehicle each day. The best way to protect yourself, your passengers and your property is to have at least the minimum car insurance coverage on your policy.
Ontario Doesn’t Offer Public Car Insurance
When searching for Oshawa car insurance, you may be surprised that public car insurance isn’t available. Ontario allows companies to sell private car insurance, unlike Canada's other provinces. When deciding which policy is best for you, HUB International offers you many different options to choose from, while ensuring you have all the necessary requirements.
Understanding the Minimum Requirements in Oshawa
The Financial Services Commission of Ontario requires all drivers to have the following four categories of Oshawa car insurance:
- Uninsured Automobile Insurance – It’s necessary to have this type of coverage to protect yourself and your vehicle from an accident caused by a hit-and-run or uninsured driver.
- Third-Party Liability Coverage – While you may never intend to cause an accident, this coverage pays for expenses and medical bills if you are at fault for a collision. Under the law, you must have a minimum of $200,000 in coverage, but Oshawa car insurance offers higher limits if you want more than the minimum.
- Accident Benefits Coverage – If you become injured in a car crash, this insurance pays for some of your medical bills and gives you a percentage of your salary if you are out of work.
- Direct Compensation–Property Damage Insurance – Coverage under this portion of your plan pays to help fix your car if another insured driver is at fault. However, the coverage is only effective if the accident happens within Ontario. Additional products are available to cover accidents that occur outside these boundaries.
HUB International offers all these options as well as additional coverages to keep you safe on the road.
Add-On Options for Oshawa Car Insurance
If you have a higher-valued vehicle, you may want to consider adding more than the minimum coverage to your policy. Some options to consider are:
- Additional Third-Party Liability Coverage – You can increase this coverage from a minimum of $200,000 up to $2 million.
- Additional Property Damage Coverage – This option helps pay to repair your vehicle if you are at fault in a collision.
How No-Fault Insurance Protects You in Oshawa
Ontario’s automobile insurance laws require that companies follow no-fault rules. This means that each party files a claim with their own insurance company when an accident occurs. It doesn’t matter at that time who is at fault. This helps speed up the processing time and ensures that people get their payments. However, this doesn’t mean that no one is at fault for the accident. Investigators still review the scene to determine the percentage of responsibility in the collision. If they find you were at fault, you may need to pay your collision deductible and could see an increase in your Oshawa car insurance rates going forward.