ATV use banned across N.L. until Sunday, as wildfire risk remains extreme
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CBC
35 minutes ago
- CBC
$7,080 to insure a Honda Civic? Welcome to Alberta auto insurance in 2025
Social Sharing Wali Hassan is 21 years old and has been driving for as long as he's been legally able in Alberta — he got his learner's permit at 14 and full licence when he turned 16. Now, as an adult with a newly financed vehicle, he's required by the terms of his financing to get full insurance, including collision and comprehensive coverage. He said he shopped around with four different providers and ultimately went with the cheapest option he could find: $590 per month in premiums, totalling $7,080 for the year. "You would expect I'm driving a Lamborghini, but it's a Honda Civic," said Hassan, an Edmonton resident. The 2018 Honda Civic is the first vehicle he's insured, so he expected to pay more than long-insured drivers. But Hassan figured his driving history, with no traffic tickets or licence suspensions, would have counted for more in his favour. But he said the quotes he received were "absurd" — one was as high as $880 per month — so he ultimately went with the cheapest policy he could find, which comes with a $2,500 deductible. "So I'm just hoping I don't get into any accidents because, if I do, then my life is pretty much over," he said. Experiences like this are becoming more common in Alberta, according to the provincial auto-insurance rate regulator, which anticipates things will get worse before they get better. 'Very serious concerns' "I'd say overall, we have very serious concerns about the health of the market right now," said Heather Mack, a policy and communications advisor with the Automobile Insurance Rate Board (AIRB). In a recently released report, the AIRB outlined those concerns in detail. They include worries not just about insurance becoming unaffordable, but also potentially even unavailable in some parts of Calgary that have been routinely struck by costly hailstorms. The regulator also highlighted how virtually all auto insurers lost money in Alberta last year, how drivers here tend to receive more traffic violations and get in more accidents than drivers in other provinces, and how premiums are set to rise even further in 2025 due to a confluence of factors driving up costs. If there's one spot of optimism, in the regulator's view, it's the provincial government's planned shift to "care-first" insurance in 2027 — although the government itself appears to have backed off earlier claims about how much the reforms will save Alberta drivers. "The introduced regulatory uncertainty is a challenge to insurers in the short term, but we believe the implementation of care-first will have a positive effect on both Alberta drivers and insurers," the AIRB report reads. Even if the move to care-first (also known as no-fault) insurance delivers on the government's most ambitious promises, it's still a year and half away, and the AIRB expects the issues with the current system to persist in the meantime. Hail, climate change and N.E. Calgary Peppered throughout the AIRB report are numerous references to the August 2024 hailstorm that struck Calgary, particularly the northeast part of the city. The AIRB geographically breaks down these costs by the first three digits of the postal code where vehicles are insured. It found that four of these postal-code regions in Calgary — concentrated in the city's northeast — accounted for $39 million in premiums paid to insurers last year for comprehensive coverage (which includes hail damage) versus $420 million in claims paid out by insurers. Comprehensive coverage includes both theft and weather-related events, but weather accounted for the vast majority of claims last year, according to the report. Total comprehensive payouts "increased dramatically" in 2024, the report said, primarily due to the Calgary hail event. "Overall, as climate change continues to accelerate, we believe catastrophic weather events and general weather-related claims will continue to grow," the report reads. "We foresee availability concerns for some regions in northeast Calgary who are regularly hit by these hailstorms. There is a real possibility these regions cannot be sustainably insured for weather-related claims when considering affordability for those drivers." If companies were to effectively stop offering hail insurance in parts of the city, Mack said drivers who lease or finance their vehicles would be most affected. "It's one thing if it's very expensive, which is a concern for us as well, but if companies actually pull their coverage, that's a big problem because if you finance your vehicle, your lender requires you to have full coverage of insurance and not every Albertan can afford to pay cash for a vehicle," she said. 97% loss ratio last year Hail damage is just one factor driving up losses for insurers. The report also outlined how third-party liability claims for bodily injury have nearly doubled in severity (that is, cost per claim) since 2020, due in part to "increased legal representation and larger claim settlements." Collision claims were actually down by about 10 per cent in frequency from 2020, but up 65 per cent in severity, which the report attributes largely to "increased automation and new safety features" in vehicles that are "attractive to consumers but expensive to repair." "We're seeing inflation in parts, more expensive vehicles, and things like bumpers having sensors that need to be recalibrated even with a minor fender bender," Mack said. Total payouts per policy increased 74 per cent from 2020 (which also happened to see a major hailstorm strike northeast Calgary) to $1,707 last year. That pushed Alberta insurers' loss ratio to 97 per cent, meaning for each dollar in premium earned, they paid out 97 cents in claims alone. Insurers also have additional costs for staffing, commissions and other expenses, which typically amount to about 27 cents per dollar collected in premiums, meaning the industry took significant losses in 2024. The AIRB report found that 23 out of 25 major insurers in the province lost money last year, with an average loss of 20 per cent of premiums collected. Six companies saw losses in excess of 40 per cent. Tariffs are expected to drive up costs even further, the report said, not just for parts but also for labour and temporary replacement vehicles as supply chain disruptions can lengthen the repair process. On top of all that is driver behaviour. Alberta drivers get more tickets, have more crashes Minor driving convictions stay on a driver's insurance record for three years, and 8.7 per cent of insured Alberta drivers had one in 2024, according to the AIRB report. That compares to 8.2 per cent in Ontario and 3.2 per cent in the Atlantic provinces. When it comes to major driving convictions — such as exceeding the speed limit by more than 50 km/h — 0.8 per cent of Alberta drivers had one on their record, compared to 0.2 per cent in both Ontario and the Atlantic provinces. A minor conviction typically adds a 25 per cent surcharge on your premium, while a major conviction typically comes with a 50 per cent surcharge, the report said. The report also found 11.3 per cent of Albertans had an at-fault accident on their insurance record last year, compared to 8.3 per cent in Ontario and 8.4 per cent in the Atlantic provinces. It notes, however, that some of this disparity can be attributed to differences in how "zero-dollar" claims are handled. In Ontario, a driver can discuss with their broker if they should file a claim or not, and it will not be counted as an at-fault accident if the insurer doesn't pay out any money. In Alberta, by contrast, these kinds of situations can be used to surcharge the policyholder. Coverage restrictions and rate caps The report also highlights AIRB's concerns over how some insurers, in recent months, have been introducing restrictions on optional coverage like collision. "In particular, individuals with one criminal code conviction, major conviction, or at-fault accident are either being denied these coverages or having a very large deductible mandated," the report said. "For people with at least one of these, we are very concerned about their availability." It notes Alberta has a "take all comers" rule, meaning insurers must provide quotes to every potential customer and insure them if they agree to pay the quoted premium, but this only applies to mandatory coverage like third-party liability. So far in 2025, just 67.1 per cent of drivers with a criminal record, major driving conviction or at-fault accident on their records purchased collision coverage, down from 73.2 per cent the year before. The AIRB expects the proportion of these drivers with collision coverage "will continue to decrease" as the year goes on and more policies come up for renewal. On top of all this, the "good driver rate cap" the Alberta government introduced last year is set to increase. Last year, the cap was 3.7 per cent for Albertans who meet the criteria and are insuring the same vehicle, with the same coverage, in the same area, with the same drivers as their previous year's policy. In 2025, the cap has been decoupled from the rate of inflation and totals 7.5 per cent (which the province explains as a base rate of five per cent plus an additional 2.5 per cent "to account for natural disaster-related costs, such as the Jasper wildfire and Calgary hailstorm of 2024"). 'It could be a rocky 18 months' When the new, care-first system comes to Alberta in 2027, both the provincial government and AIRB — an arm's length government board — have said they expect it will curb costs for good drivers. "The new care-first system will focus on providing improved medical, rehabilitation and income support benefits for all Albertans injured in a collision, while continuing to hold at-fault drivers accountable through higher premiums," the provincial government said on its website outlining the new system. "Albertans injured in a collision will be able to access these enhanced benefits without the need to sue." Mack said this is expected to reduce insurers' costs for bodily injury claims, in particular, which can be tied up in court for years and have resulted in larger and larger payouts in recent years. "These are pain-and-suffering type of awards and they've just gone up and as we're now moving to a care-first system in 2027, where those types of lawsuits won't exist anymore, there may be some action from the legal community to produce more of those claims now in advance of the new system," she said. In the meantime, cost and availability concerns could continue to escalate. "It could be a rocky 18 months until we get there, and we're just trying to keep things from going too far off the road," Mack said. 'I cannot believe how expensive insurance is' As a driver, and someone who used to work in insurance himself, Robin Taylor isn't optimistic about what the future holds. "My expectation is rates are going to continue to rise," said Taylor, who also lives in Edmonton. He's currently insuring an older vehicle — a 2015 Jeep — with no accidents, no tickets and no claims on the insurance record, and himself, his wife and his stepdaughter on the policy as drivers. His latest policy renewal was nearly $1,900 for the year, including all the discounts he gets for the longstanding business and clean driving records. "I cannot believe how expensive insurance is here," he said. "And so I've reached out to my broker to shop around and see if we can do better, but they're kind of just saying, 'Shrug, this is what it is.' But they're going to see what they can do." As for Hassan, he said he believes the $7,080 policy on his Honda Civic is "unfair" but he has no other choice but to pay for it. "I want to be able to drive my car. I want to be able to start with my life," he said.
CTV News
7 hours ago
- CTV News
Painted roads already peeling
Winnipeg Watch A colourful part of the painted road on Graham Avenue is already in need of a touch-up.
CTV News
8 hours ago
- CTV News
Saskatoon rolling out new parking meters with tap payment and touchscreens
WATCH: If you recently parked in downtown Saskatoon, you may have noticed the parking metres have changed. The city says it's part of a long overdue upgrade.
