"This is the first program of its kind," says Sonntag, and "no other insurance company helps finance a customer to help them get their vehicle back on the road. As the public auto insurer, SGI's mandate is to provide the best customer service possible, at the lowest rates possible."
Insurance rates in Ontario have been coming down for some months, says Mark Yakabuski of the Insurance Bureau of Canada, and they should keep dropping. "It's a very competitive business," he says, "and consumers needs to know prices will change and vary over time."
Yakabuski says that the positive side to the current insurance rates in Ontario is that it has forced people to "reconsider their attitude to risk management." This means that they should be more careful when they're out driving, for one thing, and they should also be willing to consider the need to pay for their own repairs instead of making an insurance claim.
"People have to remember that the insurance system is not a maintenance contract," says Yakabuski.
As for insurance premiums varying, Romanov suggests that people should consider changing companies every time something significant happens to them, like being in a crash, or getting married, or whatever.
"Many people after getting in to an accident are afraid to switch insurance companies because they feel that no one will want them," says Romanov, but "that is exactly the wrong thing to do."