COMPARE THE CHEAPEST CAR INSURANCE QUOTES IN ALBERTA

When it comes to Alberta auto insurance, it is a mandatory requirement for all drivers who travel on Alberta’s roads to have auto insurance coverage that is adequate enough to protect on your own vehicle and a potential motor collision, property damage or another person.

Often regarded as one of the more picturesque provinces in Canada, Alberta offers a diverse range of landscapes making for wonderfully scenic drives. You can travel across beautiful prairies, lush forests or arduous mountains and not forgetting some of Alberta’s larger cities, which are also worth a visit. The province is the fourth most populous within Canada, with a little over 4 million inhabitants, as you’d expect the majority of these reside within the larger metropolitan areas such as the capital, Edmonton and Calgary.

Insurance is a right: It is illegal for any auto insurance companies to refuse basic coverage to any driver. Regardless of your driving record, area you live in or the car you drive they must provide you with insurance options for basic coverage. The only reason that is acceptable to deny coverage is if you have a history of not paying your premiums.

Premiums are determined by grid levels: Unlike provinces such as Ontario where the prices are determined solely by the company, Alberta uses a grid system that sets caps for how much people can pay for insurance based on multiple factors within their driving history. This way people know what the most will be that they are required to pay. You can see where you may fit using the Alberta grid system calculator. According to the Automobile Insurance Rate Board (AIRB) only about 6% of Alberta residents pay the grid rate while the remaining 94% pay less than the grid rate.

Alberta doesn’t have a no fault auto insurance system: This simply means that insurance companies in Alberta will cover your damages based on who is at fault for the accident. So in a situation where you get into an accident and you are not at fault. Typically your insurance company will cover a portion of your damages and the rest will need to be paid by the insurance company of the person who is at fault.

While Alberta uses a grid system to determine the maximum that people will pay for car insurance most people will pay much less than that. Generally if you live in Alberta you can expect to pay around $1,179 annually, which puts you in the third most expensive province within Canada. Admittedly, this isn’t as high as you might expect but it’s still a sizable purchase decision. Ultimately your average premium will come down to the geographic location and given the size of Alberta this may vary considerably.

For example, if you live in the city it’s fair to assume your average car insurance should be fairly aligned to the average or slightly higher. However if you live and spend most of your driving in the wilderness of Alberta the average costs should be lower thanks to a number of beneficial factors. The most obvious one is a smaller amount of cars on the roads, giving you cheaper car insurance.

For the most part, the most expensive car insurance rates anywhere occur in densely populated areas and this coincides with the Edmonton to Calgary corridor being one of the most urbanized areas in Canada, not just Alberta.

If you are looking for more information about auto insurance in Alberta’s cities, check out our detailed pages about Calgary and Edmonton.

Alberta has relatively cheap auto insurance rates when compared to other provinces thanks to their grid system. But there are still several things you can do as a driver to get cheap car insurance quotes:

1) Find the cheapest auto insurance company

One of the simplest ways to reduce your car insurance cost in Alberta is to use an insurance quoting service. Companies like My Choice make this easy by showing you all of the auto insurance companies that fit your needs so that you can see what is the most affordable coverage plan for you. You can compare all potential insurers, find the cheapest auto insurance company that meets your needs and see the average cost of auto insurance in Alberta in one place. Making it easy to compare insurance options to find the best deal.

2) Bundle up your insurance packages

Adding other types of insurance such as house or condo insurance to your car insurance plan will typically lower your rates and give you the cheapest insurance possible.

3) Drive safely

Your driving record impacts the rate you get as a driver. In Alberta, a traffic ticket will stay on your record for 3 years. If you can go without a convocation for 3 years you will see a decrease in your car insurance costs. Also, The more times you file a claim due to an accident, the more likely your insurance rate increases. If you are in an accident, keep in mind that after three years you can get that accident removed from your driving record just like a traffic ticket.

4) Choose the right type of vehicle

Cars with high crash-test scores, low theft ratings and less powerful engines tend to have cheaper insurance rates. So keep this in mind when deciding on the type of car that you are
going to buy.

5) Hybrid vehicle discount

Having an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle that has a gasoline and electric motor you can get a good discount.

6) Install Winter Tires

In a province like Alberta where heavy snow and ice can make the roads much more dangerous, having safety features like winter tires can reduce your auto insurance premium.

7) Autonomous emergency braking discount
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This applies for any vehicle that was equipped by the manufacturer to detect and automatically apply braking when getting too close to vehicles.

6) Install anti-theft devices

Compared to other provinces Alberta ranks high in car thefts and that increased risk will have an effect on the cost of your car insurance. By installing an anti-theft device you can prove to your insurer that you are a lower risk and pay less in car insurance.

7) Take a driver’s education course

If you want cheap auto insurance quotes, one of the best things you can do, especially as a young driver, is to take a driving course. As an inexperienced driver your lack of experience is seen as a high risk for auto insurance providers. By taking a formal driver’s course you can reduce your car insurance by making yourself less of a risk in the eye’s of insurers.

8) Have a good credit score

Your insurance premiums will be affected by your credit score. Auto insurance companies want to be sure that they will be paid on time and they will often look at your credit score to see how likely you are to pay your bills on time. If you have a good credit score you will be seen as low risk and you will be more likely to get cheap car insurance quotes.

9) Professional Occupation Discount

If you have certain eligible occupations and you have a university degree, you may receive a discount for insuring that vehicle.

There are two main optional car insurance coverages you can receive in Alberta:

– Collision Coverage
– Comprehensive Coverage

Collision Coverage: This type of coverage protects you in the event that you need repairs or a full replacement following an accident that you are involved in. This includes more than just other vehicles and covers accidents with objects like animals, trees, single-vehicle rollovers and hit and runs.

Comprehensive Coverage: This type of coverage protects you against many other things that may damage your car outside of a collision. Some examples include:

– Hail
– Fire
– Vandalism and theft
– Falling Objects

In Alberta prices can vary greatly depending on the city that you are living in. The cheapest cities in Alberta are Lacombe, Devon and Vegreville.