We can complain all we want about high gasoline prices, but there's little we can do. Yet most of us spend hundreds if not thousands on auto insurance each year and there's a lot we can do to lower our auto insurance costs.

By shopping around, many Ontario motorists could save more on auto insurance each year than they spend on gasoline. It's hard to believe, but it's true.

I'm as guilty as anyone in failing to shop around for auto insurance. I'm put off by the many variables in trying to compare rates charged by the vast array of competing companies.

Yet there is a wonderful tool available to everyone to help us get a better deal on auto insurance. It is a computerized service offered by the Ontario government that lists insurance rates charged by companies to insure drivers of varying ages, driving habits and accident records.

All you have to do is look for the driver's profile that most closely matches your own and you can get a good idea of how much you should be paying annually for auto insurance. In every case, the guide identifies the insurance company, and states how much it charges.

The Ontario government has offered this service for years, but it's become more sophisticated and readily accessible in the Internet age.

I recently went looking for it and was pleasantly surprised to discover it still existed. I had thought it might have been killed off by government cutbacks or industry opposition. If there's one thing uncompetitive businesses hate, it's published price comparisons.

The rate comparison is provided by the Financial Services Commission of Ontario, a provincial agency. It calls its regularly-updated guide an "educational auto rate tutorial" – preferring not to come right out and say it's intended to help consumers get a better deal from insurance companies.

The comparisons show it's possible to save thousands of dollars a year in auto insurance, by shopping around. And these savings are not just available to drivers of above-average risk, who naturally pay much higher premiums than more careful drivers.

Even mature drivers, with lots of experience behind the wheel and no accidents or traffic convictions, can save huge sums by switching insurance companies. Some insurance companies seem to be taking these people's business for granted.

The guide profiles four categories of driver:

n A person aged 70, with no accidents or convictions in the past 10 years, who has been driving for 50 years, and who drives less than 10,000 kilometres a year, just for pleasure.

n A man aged 19, who has been driving for three years, is owner and chief operator of the vehicle, in which he commutes less than five kilometres each way, and does less than 12,000 kilometres a year.

n A woman aged 23, who has been driving for six years, with an at-fault accident in the past year and one minor conviction in the last three years, who drives to work eight kilometres each way and does less than 16,000 kilometres a year.

n A husband and wife who each have a car. Heās 40, a driver for 24 years, with no accidents or traffic convictions in the last six years, who drives 10 kilometres each way to work and does less than 16,000 kilometres a year. Sheās 39, a driver for 20 years, with no accidents or convictions in the last six years, who drives 20 kilometres each way to work and does less than 20,000 kilometres a year.

There are other variables, including the amount of insurance and type of vehicle, too many to go into here. You have to check the Internet site yourself.

The differences in premiums, from one company to another, are staggering. That 70-year-old safe driver could pay as little as $626 a year – or as much as $2,412. (All rates quoted here are for the Ottawa area.)

The male teenager, with no accidents but little driving experience, could pay as much as $11,513 – or as little as $3,577. We won't show up the company that gave that prohibitively high quote. Presumably it did not want that young man's business.

The 23-year-old woman with the spotty driving record could pay as much as $8,248 – or as little as $1,400. The married couple could pay as much as $6,518 – or as little as $1,763.

To view the auto insurance price comparison guide, go to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario web site page www2.fsco.gov.on.ca/AutoInsuranceRateGuide/oairgsplash.air .

By Michael Prentice

Special to the OBJ