Decisions can be made based on your preferences and just how safe you really are. If you have winter tires, your premiums drop. But what about tire damage?
When does car insurance cover tire damage?
The first thing to know is that the mandatory minimum car insurance in Ontario won’t cover tires at all — one of the many, many reasons to think about adding collision and comprehensive coverage to your policy.
But if you have collision and comprehensive coverage, your insurance company will typically cover tire damage if:
- Your tires are slashed or stolen
- You damage your tires driving over a pothole in the road
- Your tires are damaged in a collision with another vehicle or a stationary object
Tire coverage is one of the more compelling reasons to add on to your mandatory car insurance coverage with collision and comprehensive coverage — and especially so given the meteoric rise in car theft across Ontario.
But remember...
Even if your car insurance policy covers tires, it might not be the best idea to run damaged or stolen tires through insurance because of the deductible, which is how much you pay before insurance kicks in. If replacing the tires isn’t that much more above your deductible, the rise in your rate after a claim might not be worth the coverage.
