What is the Insurance Price Tag on a Bad Driving Record

When you get an auto insurance quote, many criteria are taken into consideration.  Your age, the value of the vehicle, and your driving experience are just a few factors that affect your risk on the road.  But it’s also your driving record that strongly impacts auto insurance premiums. So, how does the driving safety compares across provinces? Most importantly, how exactly does a bad driving record impact driver’s premiums?

Digging for Insight

In order to answer these questions, Canadian company InsurEye conducted a study across Canadian consumers. Evaluating over a thousand insurance data points across Canada, all drivers were divided into three categories according to their driving record:

• No violations within the last 6 years (excluding parking tickets)
• Maximum 2 violations in the last 3 years
• More than 2 violations in the last 3 years, or license suspension in the last 6 years

Further insurance premiums of these driver categories were analyzed.

Example Ontario: How Safe Are Drivers Here?

Drivers in Ontario are comparatively quite safe. 84% of Ontario drivers claim to have no serious violations within the last 6 years (parking ticket violations excluded). That is just 3% lower than British Columbia, which leads with 87%. Two other large provinces, Alberta and Quebec, have a slightly lower amount of drivers with clean records.
15% of drivers in Ontario state to have a maximum of 2 violations in the last 3 years, and just 1% of Ontarians had more than 2 violations in the last 3 years or faced a driving license suspension in the last 6 years.

What Is the Price Tag on a Bad Driving Record?

How does a negative driving record impact our auto insurance rates? To find out, InsurEye compared the auto insurance spending of Ontario drivers across various age segments. It came out that Ontario drivers who have a maximum of 2 violations in the last 3 years pay approximately 20-25% more than drivers with a clean driving record.

To illustrate the potential increase in rates, let’s assume a driver is spending $150 monthly on auto insurance premiums.  If the driver falls into the 2 violation category, add 25% and they will pay up to an extra $37 each month, adding up to ~$450 annually.  Should the driving record worsen with more violations, there is a great chance that the auto insurance cost will further increase.  Not only does safe driving keep you and others out of danger—it also pays off on your insurance bill.

This research was conducted using the data from InsurEye Peer Comparison – an interactive online service that compares consumers’ insurance costs with their peers, showing them how to save through aggregated social knowledge.