Auto insurance has been most costly and least affordable in Ontario, British Columbia, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, according to a recent study by the Fraser Institute.
"Auto insurance premiums have been consistently most affordable in Alberta, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick, where auto insurance is delivered in a regulated, competitive, private-sector insurance market," the Fraser Institute says in its ‘key conclusions.'
The report listed the province's average annual premiums in 2009 and calculated the average premium as a percentage of personal income per person.
Ranked in order of lowest to highest average annual premiums (with the percentage of personal income appearing in brackets), the stats are:
• Quebec: $642 (1.9% of personal income)
• P.E.I.: $695 (2.3%)
• New Brunswick: $729 (2.2%)
• Nova Scotia: $736 (2.3%)
• Newfoundland: $749 (2.3%)
• Alberta: $1,004 (2.2%)
• Manitoba: $1,027 (3.1%)
• Saskatchewan: $1,049 (2.9%)
• B.C.: $1,113 (3.2%)
• Ontario: $1,281 (3.5%)
Ontario was the province with the least affordable auto insurance in large part because "regulatory severity and insurance fraud have led to higher claim costs per passenger vehicle," the report says.
Quebec has consistently ranked best on insurance costs, and in 2009 had the lowest average auto insurance premium of all the provinces," the study says. "Two factors contribute to this performance: the limitation of the public monopoly to bodily injury claims coverage and less severe regulations than the other three provinces."