Jonregan1

Hi,

My apologies if his has already been answered/asked. I reviewed the insurance routine for Victoria BC, and it appears that this is provided through he state but neglects to advise any rough ideas of price?
2000 per year i could probably stomach but 900ish a month packs a wallop! We would probably look at something like an BMW X5. I suppose this would pull a premium as parts maybe expensive due to shipping and availability? Both my wife and I are in our mid to late 20's. Does the insurance work the same as the uk I.e on mileage and named drivers and so forth?

Sorry for the multiple questions, I am in the process of gathering as much info as possible as I ha never considered Canada previously more let towards Australia. However following a call abouts job in canada, victoria looks a gorgeous place just wish I could visit before taking a plunge! But with the salary above the national household average for me alone is this an opportunity I cannot afford to miss?! I have such a short time to make
Life changing decisions!! My word!!!

Thanks in advance gus and gals!

christmasoompa

Hi Jon,

I've moved your question in to a thread of it's own, as I'm not sure you'll get many responses tacking it on the end of an old thread about insurance in Ontario.

Hopefully this way you'll get the info you need.

jericho

There are no States in Canada- they're called Provinces. Auto insurance is provided a Provincial plan in BC, so there is no competition as such. Therefore, they can charge what they want.

You are unlikely to be able to use any UK no claims history, so you're basically starting from scratch. I cant see it being $900 a month, but maybe more like $300-400. If you're using the vehicle for work, that'll increase your premium also.
The make/model of the car isnt as important here as it is in the UK with regards to calculating a premium.

However, dont be fooled about the salary offer being above the national average. BC is not a cheap place to live. Most people who live there will tell you you need to be earning close to (or more than) 6 figures to have any kind of comfortable lifestyle. I was earning $80k ish in Alberta (where the taxes are much lower than BC) and I was pretty much living paycheque to paycheque. Granted, I have a wife and two small kids, but we dont live extravagantly and certainly wasnt driving around in luxury SUV's.

My advice would be to research it properly before making such a big decision. The cost of car insurance should be the least of your worries.

jericho

I forgot to add, but unless you're bringing over a large chunk of cash with you, you can forget about getting financed for things like BMW's etc.

Credit is very difficult to come by for newcomers. Like with the insurance, your credit rating starts from scratch and it takes time to build it up.

R I C H

UK no claims history is perfectly well accepted in BC, as long as you provide proof of it in the required format (see the Wikki for an example). I've had full no claims status from day one here, and my yearly premium on a variety of vehicles has never been more than $1100, with low deductible and $3m liability coverage. I paid $1080 last year for a 2010 Mercedes ML.

WRT the cost of living in BC, house purchase costs are certainly higher than other parts of Canada, but the daily cost of living in my experience is on par with the UK. As to needing $100k+ salary to live here comfortably, I think that's an exaggeration.

JonboyE

You have to buy compulsory minimum insurance from the government in the form of the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC).

The biggest influence of the premium is your insurance record, then your location, what you use the vehicle for, and type of vehicle. Driving record is far more significant that type of vehicle. A BMW will likely be only a few dollars a month more than a regular cheap car.

The basic insurance in my area costs around $1,500 a year. ICBC will give you 5% discount per year, up to eight years (40%), if you can prove you have made no at fault claims on your UK policy during that time. As RICH says, the proof must be exactly in the format ICBC requires.

If you make an at-fault claim on your ICBC policy you will loose part of your discount next year. If you don't have enough discount or have multiple at-fault accidents you will have to pay surcharges next year. If you are at fault for a minor claim ICBC will give you the option to pay the cost of the claim to them and some people chose to do this in order to avoid surcharges or protect their discounts.

It pays to drive carefully.

Basic insurance is very expensive for what it is - essentially limited third party liability. The limit is $200,000 and while this is adequate in most circumstances for vehicle damage it is wholly insufficient to cover medical expenses if another party is injured. The vast majority of people purchase additional liability insurance as well as collision, fire and theft cover.

ICBC also sell this additional insurance but the good news is that there are several other providers. Three I can think of off the top of my head are Canadian Direct, BCAA and Coast Capital. These providers do tend to cherry pick their customers. If you have a safe driving record they can be substantially cheaper than ICBC.

Comprehensive insurance in the Metro Vancouver area is going to cost north of $2,500 a year with no discounts. With full discount and third party additional insurance you can get it down to closer to $1,200 a year.

el_richo

For kids in their mid 20's, i would imagine it'll be easily higher than average.

Alan2005

Can you insure your no-claims discount with a third party? i.e. if you have an accident, they pay the difference for a few years. This seems like an obvious insurance product to me - but I've not looked into this to find out.

JonboyE

As far as ICBC is concerned age does not make a difference. A teenager with a new license starts at the 0% rate and pays the same as a 50 year old immigrant with 30 years of accident free driving, but who can't prove it.

AFAIK there is no insurance like this.

britguypei

try WaWanesa in Winnipeg..?? theywill also accept your no claims from the UK

JonboyE

Not in BC.

Jonregan1

Thank you all for your comprehensive answers, This seems to echo what I have found however the information about the standard of living is very interesting thanks "Jericho" We would pull in just under 6 figures before any overtime with this company so it should be fairly comfortable but I don't want to be caught unawares!

JonboyE

$100k is a very good income. Whether or not it is enough (and it is waaay more than we need to live a very satisfying life) is how much you will spend on a place to live.

Real estate is expensive here. Victoria is cheaper than Vancouver but it is still up there. If you plan to rent I think you will be fine. If you plan to buy and go straight for a single family home in a nice area and you don't have a huge deposit you are probably limited to places up to $400,000. You can buy a single family home for that, but they are few and far between anywhere central. However, you can get a good condo for town house for a lot less.

Mr fixyou

Slightly off topic but do the much cheaper fuel prices of set the higher cost of car insurance??

R I C H

I don't find that's necessarily the case as my mileage is higher here. There are plenty of choices regarding compact vehicles to run, which offer low fuel consumption, but if you choose an SUV or truck, the 20mpg or so that they return soon chews through gas money, so it's easy to be on a par with UK running costs. Factor in manufacture specified maintenance intervals every 8,000kms, and running a vehicle here can get pricey.