Insuring Performance & Sports Vehicles: Sports Car Insurance

If you own an exotic, luxury, or “sports vehicle,” you likely understand the value of that vehicle and want to preserve it. For many people, their sports cars are their babies. They treat them with pristine care – perhaps more care and attention than their regular vehicles – and take every measure to protect them, from storing them in secure garages to installing complex anti-theft systems.

Performance and sports vehicles need auto insurance. This is a standard for any vehicle being driven in the province of Ontario, as it’s illegal to drive without insurance and doing so could result in fines of up to $25,000 on a first conviction and up to $50,000 on a subsequent conviction.

Key Variables to Note When Insuring a “Luxury Vehicle”

Insuring a luxury vehicle or a sports car isn’t technically all that different from insuring any regular vehicle, but there are some key differences to be noted based on the way that luxury vehicles are made or used. For one, many luxury vehicle owners do not drive their luxury vehicle as their “primary vehicle.” They might take their luxury vehicle out once a week, seasonally, or a couple times a year.

In addition, buyers of luxury vehicles strive for personalization. In a survey conducted from potential luxury-vehicle buyers, roughly 84% of respondents said that they want to personalize their vehicle somehow. While certain modifications and personalization won’t be too difficult to insure, luxury features and greatly modifying the vehicle beyond the manufacturer’s original design may call for unique insurance requirements and altered coverage limits.

Not all luxury vehicles are brand-new, either. Older, “classic” vehicles of high value may be considered luxury vehicles, but have unique insurance implications due to their age. To insure these vehicles, individuals may need to consider specialized classic car insurance.

Sports Car Insurance Variations

What exactly makes sports cars unique to insure? When we think of luxury vehicles – i.e., your Audi, Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Porsche, and BMW, we often think of the price. These vehicles can easily run two to three times more than that of the standard vehicle.

Moreover, these vehicles are highly sought after by thieves due to their luxurious appearance, price, and more. They might be stolen to take apart for their expensive parts, or to resell to unsuspecting customers. Vehicles with a higher theft likelihood are often more expensive to insure.

As well, sports vehicles can often reach much higher speeds than your standard vehicle – some up to 300 km/h, which makes them a far larger risk for potentially attaining a speeding ticket. Speeding tickets can accumulate and impact your insurance, but also speeding itself puts your vehicle at higher risk of being involved in a serious collision.

Higher Limits

Vehicles with higher value may require higher limits. Moreover, drivers of exotic or sports vehicles may opt to increase their limits beyond the mandatory requirement in Ontario to protect their investment. Sports car owners may also increase their coverage in other territories, such as coverage for repairs due to the high cost of repairs for these vehicles, coverage for choosing special body shops that can do repairs on modified or luxury vehicles, and increased loss of use coverage to replace your luxury vehicle with a vehicle of equal “status.”

Limited Use

Exotic cars and sports cars are often secondary vehicles for many, and therefore aren’t used for daily commutes or regular joyrides. They may only be driven on weekends, holidays, or special occasions – and if this is the case, you should take advantage of the opportunity to qualify for lower monthly premiums by acquiring a limited use policy. Since you’re only using your vehicle occasionally, the odds of being involved in a motor collision are significantly lower, which can result in lower monthly premiums.

Higher Premiums

As you might expect, sports car insurance tends to be much higher than average vehicle insurance. This can be attributed to numerous factors: one, that these vehicles are often two to three or more times more expensive than your standard vehicle, and two, that these vehicles are considered more appealing to thieves than your standard vehicle.

Luxury or sports vehicle owners may also consider added coverage to protect their car’s special value, such as the addition of the OPCF 19A,  which guarantees the appraised value of the vehicle at the time of the application . Additions like this can help keep your investment safe, but they will also add to the cost of your premiums.

Sports Car Insurance with Excalibur Insurance

While, yes, sports car insurance is almost guaranteed to be much more expensive than your standard coverage, working with an auto insurance brokerage like Excalibur Insurance will help you to save on your coverage. We will give you all the top tips relevant to sports car owners on how to save money, plus help you find competitive quotes from some of Canada’s best carriers.

Excalibur Insurance Group has more than 120 years of combined experience and is happy to provide sports car insurance for your beloved toys – however you use them. Give us a call today or get a free auto insurance car for your sports car today.