Is bundling home and auto worth it in Ontario?

Almost every Ontario carrier will discount both policies when your car and your home sit with the same insurer. The saving is real. What is less often explained is that a bundle is a package price, and a package price is only a good deal if it beats the two best individual prices.

How much the discount is actually worth

Carriers apply the multi-line discount to both policies rather than only the cheaper one, which is why the saving is larger than most people expect.

Illustrative figures for a clean-record driver and a detached home in Mississauga. Your own will differ by postal code, vehicle and claims history.¹

The discount is not the whole picture. A carrier that is strong on property is not always strong on auto. If one side of the bundle is priced poorly, the discount can be swallowed by the worse base rate.

When bundling is the wrong answer

Three situations where the two-carrier answer is usually cheaper:

• A recent at-fault claim or conviction on the auto side. Carriers that price this leniently are often not the carriers with competitive property rates.
• A high-value or unusual property — a rural well and septic, a wood stove, a heritage build. These get placed with specialists.
• A very new driver in the household. The auto premium moves so much that it dominates the arithmetic.

What bundling changes besides price

Both policies renew on the same date, which means one annual review instead of two, and one broker conversation instead of two. Claims involving both policies at once — a garage fire that takes the car with it — are handled by one adjuster rather than two who each argue the other should pay.

What bundling does not change is what either policy covers. Your liability limit is set separately, and the renewal where you bundle is the right moment to review it.