Ontario drivers could save very little yet be highly financially exposed in the event of a serious accident if they opt out of a full slate of newly optional benefits under the province’s auto insurance reform, warns MyChoice Financial, a Toronto-based insurtech company. 

Its recently released report, entitled Not Worth It, says declining all of the new optional benefits, which took effect July 1, 2026, will only save the standard driver, defined as a 35-year old married person with a clean driving record and continuous insurance coverage, about $106 a year, against an average annual premium of $2,132. 

“It doesn't seem that beneficial to drop these optional accident benefits, just considering how much coverage you can potentially lose,” Vitalii Starov, vice-president of product growth with MyChoice told Insurance Journal. 

MyChoice, which operates MyChoice.ca, where Canadians can compare free, real-time auto, home, and life insurance quotes from top-rated providers, analyzed more than one thousand auto insurance quotes generated after July 1, 2026 on several popular vehicles, including the Honda Accord, Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, Mazda CX-5, Ford Escape, and Chevrolet Equinox.

Valuable income replacement 

The costliest optional benefit was for income replacement, which MyChoice reported cost an average annual premium of $47, followed by housekeeping and home maintenance premiums, at $36 annually, caregiver benefit premiums at $10 annually, and non-earner benefit premiums at $8 annually.

MyChoice also found several optional benefit premiums that cost drivers only about an extra $1 annually. 

These include premiums for:

  • lost educational expenses;
  • ​reimbursement for the expenses of visitors, to help cover reasonable expenses incurred by eligible relatives or household members when they visit an injured insured person during their treatment or recovery;
  • damage to certain personal items, such as clothing or medical devices incurred in an accident;
  • a death benefit; 
  • a funeral benefit. 

Even a non-catastrophic injury could render a potential victim unable to work for a period of time and by opting out of benefits they would lose the protection – the report identifies up to $400 a week for income replacement - that could have compensated them over a period they were unable to earn money, Starov stresses. 

Not Worth It expresses concern about potential legal consequences if the victim of a serious auto accident opts out of certain optional benefits and becomes ineligible to receive them. The concern arises over a potential dispute about what the broker or insurer told them, including whether questions were asked about their circumstances, as well as whether a decision to remove coverage under a particular option was properly documented. 

“We haven't seen it yet, but it's something that we're going to pay closer attention to in the next little while,” says Starov, who adds that the broker’s main responsibilities are to educate consumers about the recent auto insurance reforms and to be upfront about the choices available when a policyholder renews. 

Checklist of questions 

MyChoice recommends that policyholders be prepared with a list of the following questions before deciding which options to accept or decline: 

  • What would replace my income if I could not work for several months? 
  • Does my workplace disability plan cover injuries from a car accident? 
  • Who would handle childcare, caregiving, cleaning or home maintenance if I were injured? 
  • Could my household manage unexpected expenses using savings? 
  • Do I have enough life insurance and funeral coverage? 
  • Could I afford to lose prepaid tuition or replace damaged glasses, hearing aids or medical devices? 
  • Are all regular drivers properly listed on my policy? 

“It's important to do an analysis of what could potentially happen. You have to look at the worst-case scenario and see what you're in for financially, and then go from there,” says Starov. 

Policyholders need to examine any other insurance coverages they may have, including life insurance, and/or a workplace disability plan with their current employer that can potentially substitute some of the coverages within the optional accident benefits, Starov stresses.

“That’s [important] to pay attention to because there might be some overlap,” he elaborates. 

 

 

MyChoice follow up survey

MyChoice Financial, which operates the website MyChoice.ca, where Canadians can compare free, real-time auto, home, and life insurance quotes from top-rated providers, conducted a follow-up study to determine which newly optional benefits under Ontario’s auto insurance reform were kept or dropped by the province’s insured drivers. 

“We found that 32.6 per cent of drivers in our dataset opted out of all action optional accident benefits,” says Vitalii Starov, vice-president of product growth with MyChoice. 

The premium options that drivers were most likely to drop were additional catastrophic medical and rehabilitation benefits (which are in addition to some benefits already optional before July 1), at 95 per cent; caregiver benefits, at 90 per cent; and housekeeping and home maintenance expenses, 89 per cent. 

In contrast, the individual premium options that drivers were most likely to keep were death benefits and funeral benefits, both at about 64 per cent; damage to personal items, 54 per cent; income replacement at 52 per cent; and the expenses for visitors, and non-earner benefits, about 50 per cent each.