Auto insurers telling drivers to install anti-theft measures or pay higher premium
As automotive thefts continue to run rampant across Canada, auto insurers are forcing drivers to choose between installing costly anti-theft measures or paying higher premiums.
It's the exact scenario North Algona Wilberforce resident Kimberley Ashick was faced with after purchasing a new 2022 Dodge Ram 1500.
- Sign up now for daily CTV News Ottawa newsletters
- The information you need to know, sent directly to you: Download the CTV News App
"I got a letter about putting an immobilizer in it, and if I didn't, my insurance was going up another $1,500 on top of what I'm paying," she told CTV News.
"And I went, oh my God, are you kidding me?"
On her previous vehicle, a 2015 Toyota RAV-4, Ashick says her yearly insurance premium with CAA Insurance was about $540.
After installing the immobilizer in her new RAM pickup truck, her insurance is now over $1,100 yearly. She says the anti-theft device cost her nearly $700 itself.
In a statement to CTV News, CAA Insurance said, "Everyone has a role in combatting auto theft, including policyholders who have vehicles highly sought out by thieves. […] policyholders with vehicles identified as having a high theft risk are now subject to a High Theft Risk Premium Surcharge."
Ashick said living in rural eastern Ontario didn't appear to make a difference.
"I live in rural Renfrew County. I don't think the thefts are really happening around here. It's the bigger cities like Ottawa, Toronto," Ashick said. "I tried to explain to them, that we're out so far I don't think it's happening in this area. And I was between a rock and a hard place. They gave pretty much gave me no choice."
In 2023, the Insurance Bureau of Canada said insurers paid out more than $1.5-billion in claims to replace stolen vehicles, a record high.
It's a reality that has Ashick now worried to take her new vehicle into larger cities.
"Even going to a concert in Ottawa, I was really nervous to leave my vehicle there. I know people's Dodges have got stolen from there while they're in the concert. I'm very nervous to take it to the city," she said.
"Had I known beforehand, I probably wouldn't have bought the Dodge."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Smith tells Trudeau Alberta will opt out of federal dental plan
Alberta is opting out of the federal dental plan, the premier told the Canadian government late Tuesday afternoon.
One of Canada's most popular vehicles recalled over transmission issue; 95,000 impacted
One of the country's most popular vehicles is being recalled in Canada due to a transmission issue that may impact tens of thousands of drivers.
WikiLeaks' Assange pleads guilty in deal with U.S. that secures his freedom, ends legal fight
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has pleaded guilty to obtaining and publishing U.S. military secrets in a deal with Justice Department prosecutors that secures his liberty and concludes a drawn-out legal saga that raised divisive questions about press freedom and national security.
'We need to regroup,' says Liberal minister and Ontario campaign co-chair in light of byelection loss
A member of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's cabinet and the party's Ontario co-chair for the next campaign says the Liberals 'need to regroup' after a shocking overnight byelection loss to Pierre Poilievre's Conservatives.
Pre-med students can't take MCAT in Quebec because of Bill 96
Areeba Ahmed says she's always dreamed of becoming a surgeon but her road to the operating room has become a complicated one ever since Quebec's French language law came into effect.
Protesters try to topple Queen Victoria statue near pro-Palestinian encampment in Montreal
Montreal police were called to intervene after protesters attempted to tear down the Queen Victoria statue at Victoria Square.
Cup Noodles serves up notoriously poisonous pufferfish
Pufferfish is regarded as a luxury in Japan and a meal featuring the potentially poisonous delicacy can easily cost up to 20,000 yen (US$125) at high-end restaurants.
'Truly a great British Columbian': Former B.C. premier John Horgan has cancer again
Former B.C. premier and current Canadian ambassador to Germany John Horgan has been diagnosed with cancer for a third time.
New experience in Halifax gets people up close and personal to the ocean's most feared predator
Atlantic Shark Expeditions launched a new shark cage experience which gives brave attendees a chance to get up close and personal with the oceans most feared predator.