On The Roads Again

If you’re returning to your commute, don’t forget to tell your insurance broker.

There hasn’t been anything in recent years that has impacted the driving patterns of Canadians more than the pandemic. Office towers and their parking lots sat empty for months at a time while employees of all sorts were asked to work from home to reduce the spread. Leisure activities were also reduced or halted completely – leaving more cars parked at home.

“In Canada, an analysis of weekday traffic volume in Calgary, Alberta shows a 38%–56% decrease beginning March 16th when a local state of emergency was declared, compared to the beginning of March (City of Calgary, 2020).”

When government- mandated work from home orders where given, many insurers offered their clients that were driving less lowered rates to align with their lower risk. But now, as many provinces begin to lift work from home orders, event restrictions and other pandemic related reasons to stay at home, many drivers will be taking to the roads back at the levels they were driving back in 2019.

Before you return to your daily commute and weekly activities, let your insurance broker or auto insurance provider know your plans. Being proactive in discussing your expectations around driving and auto usage will ensure you have the proper coverage in place should an accident happen.

Another thing you’re going to want to consider is your own approach to driving. Making sure you don’t get into any accidents or get any driving infractions is one way to help minimize big jumps in your insurance rates. You may also want to prepare yourself for some changes in how people are driving around you – just look at this interesting statistic:

”In Alberta, Edmonton police have recorded a 200% increase in drivers speeding more than 50 km/h over the speed limit after the local state of emergency was declared on March 20th (Heidenreich, 2020).”

Whether you’re excited to get “back to normal” or dreading it, the more information you share about your driving situation moving forward with your insurance broker or insurance company, the better covered you will be.

Interested in reading more about “The impact of COVID-19 on road safety in Canada and the United State”? Here is a link to check out.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0001457521003559

If you have questions about your auto insurance, you can reach out to discuss your driving situation with one of our expert insurance brokers. We love to help people understand insurance and find the right coverage for them.