Toronto Ontario DCPD Deductible?

[debbs3692]

I was shopping around for insurance for my second car and found that the "DCPD" option with 0 deductible makes up for 1/3 of the insurance's price. Adding a deductible wipes out at least half of that cost.

After doing some research I found that it essentially means that your own insurance will take care of all the business for you when you get into an accident. My questions are:

- When would having a deductible on DCPD make sense?

- Does having a deductible mean that I will still need to pay X amount of whatever deductible I put even if I'm 100% not at fault?

- If question 2 is true, would it be possible to go directly through the other driver's insurance company to save on the deductible?

 

[bigchristiandaddy]

@debbs3692 - Adding a DCPD deductible isn't usually worth it but will vary by vehicle and/or insurer (it sometimes makes sense on commercial policies)- Yes, DCPD coverage only comes into place when your involved in a not at fault collision, the at fault party is identified and the at fault party has insurance. If you have a $1,000 DCPD deductible, if a third party hits you, you will be paying the first $1,000 of damage. You cannot pursue the third party for the money back.-No. Under DCPD schemes that are in place in Ontario and Alberta (among other provinces), you cannot pursue the third party's insurance for any money. Under the direct compensation system, the third party is not liable for the damage to your vehicle. Even your insurance company can't subrogate against the third party insurer.

It might seem like a good idea to add a DCPD deductible to save money but if you have say a $1,000 DCPD deductible and get rear-ended three times (through different accidents), you're going to be paying $3,000 for the year. Usually the saving is negligible. Even if you only have a not at fault accident once every 10 years, it's probably going to wipe out the saving (at least based on the premium savings I have seen). As a commercial underwriter, I see less than 1% of policies with a DCPD deductible and for personal lines, it's much less.