COVID-19 Auto Insurance Relief: Economical Insurance Introduces 5% Rate Reduction

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to force Canadians to stay home, Economical Insurance has announced it will be giving its auto insurance policyholders a temporary break on their premiums. The decrease in rates will amount to an overall average of 5%.

The auto insurance discount will be available to both new and existing clients. New clients have until June 30, 2021 to sign up for a policy that includes the lesser rate, while the discount will be available on renewing policies until August 31, 2021.

The discount will last for the duration of the policy’s term after which the premium price will revert to Economical’s previously approved auto insurance rates. These are rates that would have been approved by the province’s regulator, the Financial Services Regulator Authority of Ontario.

In addition to the 5% rate reduction, Economical Insurance says it will continue to offer the following options to customers in Ontario on a case-by-case basis:

• Adjustments to policies for customers who would like to temporarily reduce or suspend driving coverage 
• Payment deferrals and waiving the company’s first non-sufficient funds (NSF) fee for missed payments due to the pandemic 

Economical Insurance COVID-19 relief to date

In the early days of the pandemic, in April and May of 2020, Economical Insurance announced a handful of measures aimed at helping its personal lines policyholders who may be facing financial difficulty. The measures at the time included:

• Flexible payment options, including payment deferrals and waived NSF fees
• Payment plan adjustments to update the method or frequency of payments
• Reduction of auto insurance premiums by limiting coverage or reducing the number of annual kilometres driven — their enhanced annual kilometres discount was expected to save customers on average up to 15% off their premium until June 30, 2020
• Added savings of up to 75% for customers who took their car off the road completely