Nanaimo drivers are paying some of the lowest insurance rates in Canada, according to a survey conducted for ICBC. (File Photo/NanaimoNewsNOW)

By NanaimoNewsNOW Staff

insurance costs

Nanaimo ranked among lowest in Canada for car insurance premiums

Jan 17, 2023 | 9:25 AM

NANAIMO — Local drivers are paying well below average for their annual car insurance.

An October 2022 study conducted for ICBC looked at average insurance premiums in 33 communities across the country, and found Nanaimo drivers pay some of the lowest costs to properly insure their vehicles.

With an average annual premium of $1,264, Nanaimo drivers ranked ahead of only The Pas, MB ($1,171), Thompson, MB ($1,181), Saskatoon, SK ($1,249) and Esterhazy, SK ($1,251).

Calgary and Edmonton, AB saw the highest premium’s in Canada, both over $3,150 per year. Alberta took four of the top five spots with Red Deer, Grande Prairie and Thunder Bay, ON rounding out the most expensive cities.

Data in the report, titled Canadian Private Passenger Vehicle Insurance Rate Comparisons made by EY for the ICBC, was collected for cities in nine provinces.

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“…mixing criteria such as gender, age, marital and employment status, numbers of years of license, history of claims and convictions, distance of commute, annual kilometers driven and the car type and model,” the report read.

The report found, unsurprisingly, more experienced drivers pay less.

In their survey of insurance rates, the authors found a 51-year-old Manitoba woman living in The Pas who pays $383 a year. She’s been a licensed driver for 35 years.

Meanwhile, an 18-year-old, stage two learner driver in St John’s, NFLD, paid an astonishing $6,828 to cover them on the road.

“It is no surprise to see that the number of years of license is a factor that has a lot of influence on car insurance premiums in Canada,” the report continued. “When a Canadian stage 2 learner driver is likely to pay on average $3,662 per year, 35 years licensed drivers will ‘only’ pay $768 for the same coverage.”

However, rates rise after 35 years of driving history as drivers themselves get older.

Data collected for the report was limited to people commuting less than 20 kilometres per day, driving 30,000 kilometres per year and with a clean driving record.

Of the top median car insurance prices in Canada, Vancouver ranked highest in B.C. and eighth nationally with $1,841.

It was the highest publicly operated insurance system, with the seven communities above it all linked to private insurance companies.

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