Auto insurance in 2021

Responsible for the Statistical Agency, the Groupement des assureurs automobiles (GAA) is mandated to collect, validate and publish statistics on automobile insurance in Québec and must ensure its data are accurate and meets the requirements of the law. It has been designated for this role by the Autorité des marchés financiers.

Each quarter, the GAA collects data from all insurers in the Québec market and produces various statistical reports, many of which are available on its website.

The 2021 data has just been released, organized in a new visual way.

Key points in 2021

Cost of auto insurance: the average premium reached $775 in 2021, which is less of an increase than in the past few years.
Insuring a motorcycle was no more expensive in 2021, with an average premium of $241.

Note: Québec still has the lowest average premium to insure a vehicle, compared to other Canadian provinces.

Age and gender: Two factors that differentiate drivers

Insuring a vehicle is more expensive for men until the age of 30.
The gap between the premium paid by men and the premium paid by women narrows with age.
Regardless of the gender of the driver, the frequency of claims decreases with age until age 65. While 8.37% of men and 7.06% of women aged 16 to 24 had an accident in 2021, this percentage drops to 2.58% and 2.84% respectively for men and women aged 45-64.

The past predicts the future

Policyholders who had three accidents for which they were “at fault” in the years 2018-2020 had a claim frequency of 21.87% in 2021. Conversely, those with no at-fault accident during this period had a claim frequency of 8.72%.
This data demonstrates that a motorist’s past experience remains a predictor of the likelihood of another accident in the future.
The premium paid by policyholders with a record of more accidents is higher than that of policyholders who have had fewer or no accidents. A policyholder who had three accidents paid an average of $1,515 in 2021, while one who did not paid $728.

Auto theft: More claims in 2021

While auto theft decreased from 2011 to 2016, it increased significantly from 2016 to 2021. There was a notable 50% increase in auto theft claims between 2020 and 2021.
The vehicles with the highest theft frequency are newer models and sport utility vehicles (SUVs).

Replacing or repairing a vehicle is getting more expensive

The average cost of repairing a vehicle following an accident has been rising steadily over the past decade. This cost was $3,882 in 2011, compared to $5,918 in 2021.
The average cost of a claim for the theft of an entire vehicle has more than doubled in 10 years, from $13,600 in 2011 to $29,644 in 2021.