car hire / insurance costs..
 

Hi all,

Hubby is coming over to Toronto in Jan/Feb for a month to trial out a job he's been offered, and along with cheap accomodation for the period, he'll also need a reasonable costing hire vehicle - any recommendations??

All being well with the trial, we'll be moving over next Summer and will purchase a family vehicle and a truck of some sort, I recall seeing hideously expensive costings for Insurance, is it still the same, can you give me some idea of costs?? We've both got full NCB here, but realise it'll probably count for didly squat in Ontario!!

:D

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

just got back from working in ontario for 3 months. i have been offered a further 12 months over there, for the same employer...so we are off in jan 2005 for good.....

i have recently bought a car over there, so we can save on car hire costs. my advice if you intend to purchase a car is;

1 exchange your UK licence for a canadian one. this is easy if you live or intend to live in one of the provinces that allow UK licence exchanges. as i am going to ontario this was very easy to do, just pop down to the local drive test centre( see local yellow pages) with your passport and credit card,take a eye test and $75 payment gets you a canadian licence.
you recieve a paper copy until your main one comes through the post to a address of your choice.

2: when buying a used car these are the costs to add onto the cost of the car. new plates- new plates have to be placed on all newly bought cars. tax to be added onto the car cost.....dealers fee usually $250-300. roadtax $75 per year (always opt for the 2 year deal) because your car does not need a mot but does need a emmision test certificate, therefore if you get a 2 year tag, you only need to get 1 test done to cover 2 years!!!

3; GET READY FOR A SHOCK

4: when applying for your first insurance....your UK history will not recognised by most companys, you will be seen as a new driver. therefore premiums are high........NCD in canada is in the form of stars, one for every year accident free, up to a total of 10 stars. i found a company who looks at past experience, who gave me 3 stars, but i will have to wait until year 4 to advance up the star chart.

5: overall cost of insurance is very high, so get your canadian history started ASAP!!!!!!!

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

Hi,

Since we arrived here in September we've hired a mini-van (people carrier) on three occasions. The first company proved to be a complete rip-off but then we used Enterprise Car Rental in Montreal and here in Cornwall and I found the rates to be decent and the customer service very good.

We are now in the process of purchasing a Dodge Caravan (big family I'm afraid) and we first contacted the company that has insured our house. They quoted $7000. Ouch! Since then we've found a much more reasonable figure of $1500. I'm getting a $200 discount because of proving my good UK driving history.

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

Thanks for that, just goes to show you need to shop around ! So, do tell, which company quoted the more reasonable price??

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

for car hire i found this good site that offer competitve prices on rentals

http://www.carrentalexpress.com/

HaMa

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

different experience here in sask , we brought copy of no claims bonus
and they allowed it in full
our car insurance and road plates for a durango 5.6 engine are $900
per year for any driver and includes windscreen £250 x/s

we have found the house insurance expensive with much higher x/s and less cover than uk

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

Saskatchewan is government insurance. It's a very different kettle of fish.

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

Another tip.

If you're renting, many Canadian-issued Platinum credit/charge cards (e.g. Amex) include LDW cover, which can save you approx $15 (+PST+GST) a day on the rental bill.

We just got quotes for insurance and were shocked to get a quote for $2500 for a $4000 ford escort estate, despite 18 years clean license and no claims... I understand that some insurance companies will consider UK NCB but you'll only find out by ringing them and being persistant... if they are part of a UK group then you stand more chance of them considering your experience favourably...

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

btw this was Ontario. From the posting above, Sask looks like a good place to insure a car!

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

Check if there is a car co-op in toronto. There is a fantastic one in Vancovuer and it is very well run (but price wise - it would not be feasible for commuting...) the one in Vancouver pays the insurance for you!! :D

Clare

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

D0 you mind me asking whatt your home insurance is? I have just been given a quote for a new property we have had built. It is more than we pay here, but has really extensive cover with things we do not have here ( and probably will never need)
I have no idea if what they quote me is average or they are trying to bump up quote.if we were residents the insurance was actually very cheap, but we will be using i as a holiday home for a while.

I appreciate that in our case we will not be living there all the time at present so the premium will be higher, but just want some starting guides from people, as to what thye consider expensive.

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

========================================

bearing in mind in sask its all government owned so seems to differ
ours it a century home with field stone basement, basement, 2 floors and attic office , 2000 sq feet we had a choice go for rebuild value of an equivalent modern home or the rebuild value of this old home , we went for the more expensive option , its all on sum assured not like the policies popular in Uk now wher you say how many bedrooms etc and they work it out for you we have insured the property but not the outbuildings , dare not even ask for a quote on the barn , its an old dutch style one with beams so huge you cant touch your hands when you hug them , we have been told you cant get timber that big anymore as all the really old trees have been felled , in UK it would beturned into 4 houses!
building and contents the annual premium is $1200 plus $400 for quad bikes and the tractor $54
the quads are expensive because of the liability insurance
ther seems to be deductibles , s/x on everything , $250 plus they wont cover jewlery unless you have a valuation and let be homnest most individual gold bracelets are worth $250 so within the x/s and the valuations were expensive so unless you lost them all at once you cant claim

we were shocked to find subsidence is not covered , they couldnt comprehend it might be!
we paid about 400 pounds in uk for similar cover with lower x/s so seems expensive
but the car ins is much cheaper and is any driver , so long as they are not the main driver so our 15 year old learner driver is driving $56k worth of brand new car for no extra cost , friends of ours in Uk are paying $300 a month for their 17 yr olds insurance on a 1.2 micra

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

===========================

FORGOT! also being rural we had to buy insurance for fire engine call out , apparently it $2000 for every 30 mins they attend and if they send several engines it adds up quick
so we paid an extra $30 a year for that
i know we pay much lower taxes here , about 1/3 of the city so its not an issue

Re: car hire / insurance costs..
 

Thank you this has helped a lot.
I think we have got a bargain. Our house is same size as yours and a brand new build in semi rural area. We have also had to include earthquake cover :scared:
It is an all risks policy and includes eveything. It is almost like my commercial business policy. I was very impressed, even the plants are insured!
We got it for $795 with all contents and personal items, Complete rebuild costs, also bikes, tapes and Cd's from cars, coins and stamps, fur and precious stones!!!!!!

All outbuilding ( even though we haven't got any yet) Liability insurance and medical.( I only get this with my commercial insurance)
I have now had 3 other quotes all similar prices. When we become permanent residents we will get it a bit cheaper thorugh our bank, but they would not insure it as it is our second home at present.


Thanks again