Protecting your property from all the things life can throw at it and protecting you from high insurance prices aren’t the only things an Insurance Hero does!
We’re also here to clear up the mysteries surrounding car insurance so you can make the informed decisions that work best for your coverage needs.
In this post, we’ll do a deep dive on a couple of optional coverages, comprehensive car insurance and collision coverage, and one that’s included in mandatory auto insurance in Ontario – attendant care coverage.
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What is Comprehensive Car Insurance in Ontario?
Comprehensive car insurance in Ontario is protection for your vehicle for a wide range of non-driving-related damage that would otherwise also cause major damage to your finances. If your car gets burned up in a fire, needs draining and repairs after a flood or is stolen from your driveway or while parked at a shopping mall, for example, and you don’t have comprehensive car insurance, you’re looking at having to pay for the damage, or the entire vehicle itself, from your own pocket. Type of insurance situations comprehensive car insurance can protect you from include:
- Fire, flooding, hail, tornadoes and other natural disasters that can directly damage your vehicle.
- A falling tree branch, sign or a part of a fence that gets dislodged in a windstorm and lands on your car.
- Theft and vandalism. Say, for example, you were to come out to your car one day and find your tires slashed, a long scratch on the side of your vehicle where someone had keyed it, graffiti spray-painted on it or your car was stolen and later recovered but was damaged.
Comprehensive additional coverage can pay for the costs to repair your car for situations like the ones above, subject to any deductible on your policy. And if the repairs to your vehicle cost more than the value of it, or it’s stolen and not recovered, your comprehensive car insurance can pay to have it replaced. Depending on your policy, however, you likely wouldn’t get the same amount that you paid for the car, just as wouldn’t get the same price for it if you sold it. The value of your car is calculated by taking things like its age, maintenance history, purchase price and mileage into consideration.
That said, considering the high cost of parts and labour for repairing a car in Ontario, or buying a replacement, having comprehensive car insurance could very well end up saving you from having to pay the cost of repairs, or buy a replacement vehicle, that you can’t afford.
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If you lease or are financing your vehicle, the leasing or financing company may also require you to carry comprehensive car insurance policy to protect their investment. If they do, they likely also insist that you get collision insurance from insurance companies, which we cover in the next section.
What is Collision Insurance in Ontario?
As comprehensive car insurance protects you from damage to your vehicle that happens when you’re not driving, collision insurance is the coverage that protects you from having to pay for damage to your car that happens when you are driving.
Not to be confused with the Direct Compensation – Property Damage (or DC-PD) section of mandatory auto insurance coverage in Ontario which pays to repair damage to your vehicle for accidents in Ontario that are not your fault, involve another vehicle and the other driver is insured and hit-and-run accidents, optional collision insurance protects you from almost all other types of fault accidents.
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Accidents covered by collision insurance policy can include:
- Accidents where you are considered at-fault
- Uninsured automobile coverage from collisions with an uninsured vehicle
- Collisions with a trailer
- Rollover accidents (a collision with the ground)
- Collisions with objects in the ground like hydro poles, signs, traffic lights, guardrails and parking lot barriers
Like comprehensive insurance providers, collision insurance can pay for damage to your vehicle, minus any deductible, or compensate you for your car if it’s a complete write-off.
As you can see, between comprehensive insurance and collision insurance coverage options, your car and your wallet are protected from almost anything that can happen to it while it’s parked or on the road.
Let’s take a look now at attendant care coverage.
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What is Attendant Care Coverage in Ontario Auto Insurance?
Attendant care coverage is included in all mandatory auto insurance policies in Ontario. It’s available under the Statutory Accidents Benefits Schedule (SABS) and is a no-fault insurance coverage meaning that even if you are at fault for an auto accident, you may still qualify for attendant care coverage.
To be eligible for attendant care coverage, you had to have been injured in an auto accident and your injuries have to be considered non-minor or catastrophic. Minor injuries will not qualify you for attendant care accident benefits.
If you are eligible for attendant care benefits, you’re allowed compensation for reasonable and necessary expenses for in-home care from a personal support worker, aide or attendant that can help you with daily tasks like:
- Cooking & feeding
- Cleaning
- Bathing
- Grooming
- Mobility
- Errands
Attendant care coverage can also help you pay for care in a long-term care facility not covered by OHIP if needed.
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FAQs
- How is collision coverage different from comprehensive coverage?
In a nutshell, comprehensive coverage can pay for damage to your vehicle for non-driving incidents while collision coverage can pay to repair damage for driving-related collisions. Both may also compensate you for a replacement vehicle if your car is totalled and the two work together, and with your mandatory insurance, to ensure that your car’s protected, come what may.
- Why choose comprehensive coverage?
Life is unpredictable. And with weather events getting worse every year, the last thing you need to worry about, on top of all the other damage to your property, is having to pay out-of-pocket to fix your car after a fire, windstorm or flooding. Also, it’s bad enough to come out to your car one day and find it vandalized or not there at all, having to pay for the damage or a replacement is injury added to injury.
- What does comprehensive coverage not cover?
Comprehensive car insurance doesn’t cover driving-related damage or attendant care benefits. Those are covered by other policies.