The best insurance companies for Ontario drivers with clean records in 2023

In 2023, CAA Insurance is the best insurance company for drivers with clean records in Ontario. We ranked insurers based on quotes we ran for seven drivers with at least 10 years of auto insurance experience, with no tickets or at-fault accidents. CAA had the best average premiums, and the lowest rate for four of the seven drivers. Wawanesa, Portage La Prairie and Aviva had the lowest premium for the other three.

Auto insurance premiums are calculated based on a number of factors that are unique to you, including your age, gender, where you live and the type of vehicle you drive. But insurers don’t all use the same formulas, so if you ask for quotes from 30 companies, they’ll all have different prices.

The question most Ontarians want answered is, who has the best rates for me? Well, if you’re a driver with at least 10 years of perfectly clean driving experience, there’s a good chance it’s CAA Insurance. But if you’re like Abigail, one of the drivers in the study, you’d pay 16% less with Wawanesa. Mitch Insurance, as a licensed insurance brokerage, can get you quotes for both, and at least another dozen companies that could have your best rate.

These rankings are based solely on rates for drivers with at least 10 years of driving experience with no blemishes on their records. It’s important to note that price should never be the only factor you consider when choosing an insurer. For a broader comparison of Ontario auto insurance companies and how they perform in terms of service, claims, customer satisfaction, etc., take a look at our 2024 post on the best auto insurance companies in Ontario.

For the purposes of this ranking, we used our online auto insurance quoter to get competitive quotes for seven different Ontario drivers. All have clean records but represent different age groups, genders and geographical regions. They also drive different vehicles.

When choosing an insurance company, there are a number of factors that can impact your decision. Most, like service hours and claims experience, are the same regardless of your driving record. The rankings above are a reflection of the one factor that does vary by driving record: premiums.

To arrive at the premium quotes below, we created seven fictional driver profiles and entered their particulars into the quoter. The only thing they all have in common is that none of them has a ticket or at-fault accident on their record.

Meet our fictional drivers:

All the quotes below are based on full coverage, a $1,000 deductible, and a winter tire discount.

^[1] Outlander is expensive to insure. Driving a Dodge Ram, Mateo would pay $1,222 with CAA.

^[2] Q50 is expensive to insure. Driving a RAV4, Janusz would pay $1,139 with Commonwell.

CAA Insurance had the lowest average price by 9% over Aviva, but Abigail, Aubrey and Janusz would find their best rate elsewhere.

The important point to take away is that regardless of the averages, any individual driver could get their best rate from a number of different insurers, so it pays to use a licensed insurance broker like Mitch to compare rates from as many companies as possible. 

It’s broadly understood that insurance companies give you better prices the longer you’ve been driving with no tickets or claims. New drivers tend to see considerable savings year over year, while experienced drivers don’t save quite as much for adding another year of experience.

To illustrate, we took our most and least experienced drivers from the study, and, since they are fictional drivers anyway, saw what happened to the premiums they were quoted as we took away years of experience. As suspected, Abigail saw a lot of savings (56%) going from one year of experience to 10. Josette, on the other hand, only saw 29% savings going from 10 years’ experience to 50, and actually paid a little more by the time she hit 60 years’ experience.

29% savings from 10 years’ experience to 50.

56% savings from one year’s experience to 10.

Auto insurance companies in Ontario submit their financial results to the provincial regulator – the Financial Services Regulatory Authority of Ontario (FSRA) – quarterly, and use that data to apply for changes to their rates, if needed. In a given quarter, an insurer with lower rates could lose money and increase premiums. Likewise, a company with higher rates could make a big profit and decide to lower rates to try to win new customers. For this reason, the rankings here can and do change. Usually not radically in one quarter, but the list could certainly look very different in two years.

If you’re a really conscientious driver, and are proud of your long record of clean driving, no doubt there are a number of insurance companies that want your business. But the reality is that the insurer that gave you the lowest price last year won’t necessarily have your best rate this year. That’s just the ebb and flow of the insurance industry.

At Mitch, we want you to get your best rate every time, which is why we recommend working with a licensed insurance broker, like us! When you become a member of the Mitch family, no matter how a given insurance company’s premiums go this year or next, your best rate is always right here. Call and talk to one of our awesome brokers. You’ll be glad you did.