Does an accident on US driver license affect your insurance in Canada?

[elenama]

Here is the story. My husband immigrated to Toronto from the States on a family class late last year. He exchanged his US drivers license for a Canadian one, and now we are looking to lease a car within the next month or so.
Last year he had an accident at fault in Pennsylvania. That insurance policy was closed after that, no outstanding balances remaining.
Question is, do Canadian insurance companies have access to US records? Do we have to disclose it when we are obtaining an insurance here?
Thanks in advance

 

[links18]

It depends on what the insurance company asks you when issuing coverage. If you lie or omit material facts on your insurance application that is grounds for a future claim to be refused or even charges for insurance fraud. Do they have access to US records? Maybe. They usually ask you for a claims record from your prior insurer. I don't think you are obligated to provide one, but if you don't have evidence of prior coverage, your premium will probably be higher.

 

[SRafiq]

When I moved to Ontario from Manitoba a looooong time ago I was asked to provide last 6 years insurance claims history. Luckily in Manitoba there is only the single govt. insurer so that was easy. So I suspect you will. Otherwise Ontario insurance companies will insure you at probably a very high rate.

Are Ontario insurers still as crap as they have always been? They were proper sharks when I lived there but I got a good deal from CAA.

 

[NetMecca]

I agree with links18. Non disclosure if asked will be considered material non disclosure and could get your policy cancelled retroactively and claims denied, especially if you gain a discount on some other benefit from it. Privacy laws in Canada (and I suspect US as well) will prevent insurers from sharing information across borders, however if you want a no claim discount you will likely have to get a letter from your US insurer confirming your history.

Better to disclose if the question comes up.

 

[DEEPCUR]

I have researched on this question as I was in similar situation. You give them US insurance history only if you want additional discount on your policy using that insurance history. Else you start fresh and they won't know about US claims or history at all for sure. And many people who moved have confirmed that the discount you get with US insurance history is very little, and not any significant. So you could skip from showing US insurance at all.

However if you have had a ticket for the accident (different from claim) in your US license, and if you exchanged that license for Canadian license, I'm really not sure if it'd show up in Canadian driving history. It may probably depend upon when you got the ticket.

 

[elenama]

When I moved to Ontario from Manitoba a looooong time ago I was asked to provide last 6 years insurance claims history. Luckily in Manitoba there is only the single govt. insurer so that was easy. So I suspect you will. Otherwise Ontario insurance companies will insure you at probably a very high rate.

Are Ontario insurers still as crap as they have always been? They were proper sharks when I lived there but I got a good deal from CAA.

Yep, insurance companies are pretty crappy. We're still shopping for cars though, and haven't looked at the insurance in depth, but from prelim research it seems that reasonable prices do not exist. Also, it seems they don't like drivers from US because as soon as you tell the person that your drivers license is exchanged from USA they start going "weeeeeell..."

 

[elenama]

It depends on what the insurance company asks you when issuing coverage. If you lie or omit material facts on your insurance application that is grounds for a future claim to be refused or even charges for insurance fraud. Do they have access to US records? Maybe. They usually ask you for a claims record from your prior insurer. I don't think you are obligated to provide one, but if you don't have evidence of prior coverage, your premium will probably be higher.

I agree with links18. Non disclosure if asked will be considered material non disclosure and could get your policy cancelled retroactively and claims denied, especially if you gain a discount on some other benefit from it. Privacy laws in Canada (and I suspect US as well) will prevent insurers from sharing information across borders, however if you want a no claim discount you will likely have to get a letter from your US insurer confirming your history.
Better to disclose if the question comes up.

I have researched on this question as I was in similar situation. You give them US insurance history only if you want additional discount on your policy using that insurance history. Else you start fresh and they won't know about US claims or history at all for sure. And many people who moved have confirmed that the discount you get with US insurance history is very little, and not any significant. So you could skip from showing US insurance at all.
However if you have had a ticket for the accident (different from claim) in your US license, and if you exchanged that license for Canadian license, I'm really not sure if it'd show up in Canadian driving history. It may probably depend upon when you got the ticket.

Thanks guys. We figured that it's either going to be a reported accident or a new drivers insurance, just weren't sure which one is the smaller evil.

As for a ticket, I think he had to pay one but it wasn't serious enough for any points to be assigned. In either case, non-disclosure seems not worth it, better give them all the information and deal with whatever rate they give us.

I was so hoping to deceive the deceiver but better not play with insurance

 

[DEEPCUR]

Thanks guys. We figured that it's either going to be a reported accident or a new drivers insurance, just weren't sure which one is the smaller evil.

As for a ticket, I think he had to pay one but it wasn't serious enough for any points to be assigned. In either case, non-disclosure seems not worth it, better give them all the information and deal with whatever rate they give us.

I was so hoping to deceive the deceiver but better not play with insurance

But you should give that information only if you are asked to. You should not volunteer. While we take insurance in US, I don't remember signing any such disclosure of that sorts. They just run a report for insurance and driving history, and come up with the quote. It should be the same in Canada, and you must leave things that way. As you said, it would be so hard to gauge which would be lesser evil.. whether the cost of new driver insurance or whether long insurance history with claims. You probably may need to do some research and find it out. You could take opinion from agents who are experienced with multiple insurance providers too.

My point is when these people are so reluctant to give any meaningful discount for your clean driving / insurance history in US, why should you give them a chance to penalize you for the same thing.

 

[ladybug8888]

I have researched on this question as I was in similar situation. You give them US insurance history only if you want additional discount on your policy using that insurance history. Else you start fresh and they won't know about US claims or history at all for sure. And many people who moved have confirmed that the discount you get with US insurance history is very little, and not any significant. So you could skip from showing US insurance at all.

However if you have had a ticket for the accident (different from claim) in your US license, and if you exchanged that license for Canadian license, I'm really not sure if it'd show up in Canadian driving history. It may probably depend upon when you got the ticket.

Exactly the same situation happened to me. They ask for drivers history only if you want to Get discount. In Canada you start as a fresh new driver unless you want to pay less for the insurance.

 

[keesio]

In Canada you start as a fresh new driver unless you want to pay less for the insurance.

Well, if you start fresh again, then you'd have to take the written and road test again in your province.

 

[DEEPCUR]

Well, if you start fresh again, then you'd have to take the written and road test again in your province.

She meant that in the context of starting the Canadian insurance fresh without providing US driving history to the Canadian insurance company.

 

[simpsonjos]

Car insurance in Canada is very expensive. In spite of a clean driving record with 10 years of US driving history, I had to shell out over $300 per month when I used to pay just $100 in NJ and less in PA before I moved in here. If you plan to be in Toronto, they do have access to your PA records. Unless you show at least 3-4 years of driving history you won't get a "G" category license. You might end up with G1/G2 which will increase your insurance. If you had a clean insurance record before and had an accident only in the past year, it is better for you to admit it. Accidents can happen to anybody. (My wife still holds a G2 license, probably one of the reasons for the high-cost insurance I guess, even though she has a good driving record and listed as an occasional driver). The more driving records you can show case, the better for you. Hope this helps.

 

[DEEPCUR]

Car insurance in Canada is very expensive. In spite of a clean driving record with 10 years of US driving history, I had to shell out over $300 per month when I used to pay just $100 in NJ and less in PA before I moved in here. If you plan to be in Toronto, they do have access to your PA records. Unless you show at least 3-4 years of driving history you won't get a "G" category license. You might end up with G1/G2 which will increase your insurance. If you had a clean insurance record before and had an accident only in the past year, it is better for you to admit it. Accidents can happen to anybody. (My wife still holds a G2 license, probably one of the reasons for the high-cost insurance I guess, even though she has a good driving record and listed as an occasional driver). The more driving records you can show case, the better for you. Hope this helps.

But Ontario dmv clearly mentions two plus years of experience is sufficient to exchange for G license..

2+ years driving experience (with exchange)
You only need to take an eye test, when you apply. After you pass this test, you get a full licence.

https://www.ontario.ca/page/exchange-out-province-drivers-licence#section-1

How can they expect 3 or 4 years of driving history then ? I know having a ticket resets that clock from the time one got the ticket, but still not sure how they could seek for more than two years.

If they insist on such things, I'd stick to public transport initially and hold on to US license as long as I meet whatever criteria they lay. I'm tired of taking driving tests as well as coaching my spouse on it.

 

[APPNOV2014NY]

If they insist on such things, I'd stick to public transport initially and hold on to US license as long as I meet whatever criteria they lay. I'm tired of taking driving tests as well as coaching my spouse on it.

Do they allow license exchange after 6 months of residency?

 

[DEEPCUR]

Do they allow license exchange after 6 months of residency?

I hope they don't bother on how long one has resided. At least in US, I have exchanged the license several months after becoming resident in a state. As long as one doesn't get pulled over while driving, I'd presume that there wouldn't be any issues.