Checking Into Auto Insurance with TD Meloche Monnex for a New Teenaged Driver

Several of our nieces, nephews and other relatives are approaching that magic age—16—at which they can begin learning to drive legally in Ontario. Hearing the moans and groans of neighbouring parents about car insurance for young drivers, I decided to call TD Meloche Monnex and ask what rates they would charge for a new teenaged driver and when.

What’s the First Level of Driver’s Licence in Ontario?

Ontario uses a graduated licensing program. A new driver learning for the first time usually starts by writing a test on signs and road rules. If they pass with a high enough score they are granted a G1 license. With a G1, a student driver can learn to drive with a licensed, insured driver sitting beside them in the front passenger seat. There are a whole string of other conditions about what times of day they can drive, what roads they can drive on, what amount of alcohol they can have in their blood stream while driving (0!) and so on. Check the MTO website for the current rules and restrictions. They change.

Every driver should, of course, be insured. So I called Monnex to find out what their insurance rules are for new drivers who are the children of insured drivers.

What Does TD Meloche Monnex Charge for the Teenage Child with a G1 of an Insured Driver?

We have our car insurance with TD Meloche Monnex. They’ve been reasonable to deal with and they have a group discount rate for Professional Engineers in Ontario. (PEO members)

So I posed them the theoretical question of: If my child is 16 and passes the written test to get their G1, what do I have to do to insure my child?

I was surprised to learn I just have to phone Monnex and add the child’s name to our policy. There is no annual fee for us to have a child student driver added to our policy! No wonder some parents are not in a rush for their child to take their G2 road test.

What’s the Second Level of Driver’s Licence in Ontario?

After learning to drive, and after practicing for one year, a student driver can take the road test to upgrade their license to the second level. If they pass the test they will be granted a G2.

The student can take the G2 test a bit earlier if they take a Driver’s Education course approved by the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.

I found it interesting that the government is actually listing driver’s education companies to avoid. They provide a list of “Unlicensed driving schools to avoid.”

What Does TD Meloche Monnex Charge for the Teenage Child with a G2 of an Insured Driver ?

We have our insurance with Monnex. We would want to add our child to our policy when they earn their G2.

Monnex wasn’t keen to quote me a rate yet, since this is years in advance. They did say the rate will depend on many factors. It could be around $1200/year for a driver in the GTA.

I mentioned that the driver would be one of three people in a household with only two licensed vehicles. In that case, the agent said the insurance will be more likely to be in the range of $400-800 per year.

Does TD Meloche Monnex Offer an Insurance Discount for G2 Drivers With Driver’s Education and for How Long?

I asked if our child took driver’s ed from, say, Young Drivers of Canada, would it affect the premium.

The agent said generally having drivers’ education from an approved school would reduce the insurance cost by about 5% a year.

The discount would apply for three years after the driver gets their G2 license.

What’s the Third Level of Driver’s Licence in Ontario?

Most drivers will take an “exit test” a year after getting their G2 license in Ontario. This is another more complicated road test. If they pass it, they are granted a full G class driver’s licence. That’s the usual licence us “old folks” have had for years.

What Happens to Our Child’s Car Insurance Rate Once They Get Their G1 License?

That was so far out in the future that the agent wouldn’t quote me a rate. I’ll have to write about that if and when any of our children grow up enough to get their licence so it will be a few years! If your own child has already reached this stage, please leave a comment with any info about insurance costs. I’m sure other readers will appreciate it!

For now, we have nothing to worry about. Our children aren’t old enough to be a menace on the highways, yet. When they are, however, it looks like we’ll have to add a few more thousand to our annual budget.

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Checking for the Best Car Rental Rate for a Canadian Vacation

Recently, I’ve been helping a friend try to book a family vacation in Alberta. The hotels were booked first because there is very little available in the Canadian Rockies on short notice. Then the flights were booked a few months ago. Now it’s time to book a rental car. The prices are all over the place, though, so we started experimenting to see what we could find.

Renting a Car From an Airport Location May Cost a Lot More

We’d heard that if you rent a car directly from an airport location after you land you may be paying much more than someone who rents from a city location. For a one or two day rental that may not matter because taking a cab to a hotel may eat up any price difference. But for a multi-week rental, the difference may be large.

For example

Avis.ca offers a two week rental of a Full Size car from YYC at $1310.47.

The same rental picked up from their 115 9th Ave SE location, but dropped off at YYC is $762.51.

You could also save another $71.40 by pre-paying. That’s risky though if your plans change or there is some problem with them not having the car you paid for available at the time you need it.

So the premium for picking up your car at the airport location is over $500!

Renting a Car Through Costco Travel Can Save Hundreds of Dollars

If you are a Costco member, you can book cars online using the Costco Travel part of the website.

If you are not yet a member, you can still check the rates. If it’s going to save you a lot of money, it may be worth joining Costco to get their rate.

  1. Go to Costco.ca
  2. In the blue horizontal links list near the top of the page, hover over Travel and then select Rental Cars.
  3. Enter your Pick-up and Drop-off Locations.
  4. Select your pickup and drop-off dates and times.
  5. Click the “I am least 25 years of age” check box.
  6. Click the Search button.

(If you are under 25 in Canada and trying to rent a car you will likely have to pay a significantly higher rate. Not all companies will rent to younger drivers at all.)

Sticking with my Avis example, the Costco rate for pickup at the YYC airport for a Full Size car is $892.

That’s much better, more than $400 better, than the $1310.47 quoted on the Avis website.

The Costco rate for pickup at the 115 9th Ave SE location, is $653.

You can see that it may be worth joining Costco for $55 a year to get these rates.

Renting a Car Through CAA May Save Some Money

CAA members also get some discounts on car rentals. They are also eligible for discounts on some items like children’s car seats and GPS units. The discounts vary depending on various factors.

A Full Size rental from AVIS from YYC would cost $1051.

Apparently, though, I can’t rent from AVIS through CAA at an alternate location in Calgary.

I can rent a Full Size from Thrifty in downtown Calgary, though, for $541.27 That’s lower than the above two examples, but it’s also not from the same company.

The CAA car savings are significant if you are picking up the car downtown but are not that great if you want the car at the airport.

Renting a Car with a Corporate Discount Code May Save Money and Improve Convenience

Fortunately for my friend, she works for a large corporation which has negotiated a company discount with two car rental companies.

Using her corporate discount rate, she could…

Rent a Full Size car from AVIS at YYC for $496.28.

Wow.

There are some perq’s to working for a major corp!

Out of curiosity, I also checked what it would cost to pick the car up at the downtown Calgary location.

It would be $762.51.

It costs more to pickup from downtown than from the airport!

We went ahead and booked her car using her corporate rate for the airport. I hope if we get to travel next year we can get a good rate too, but I suspect we’ll be using Costco.

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