- Mar 24, 2014
- 3
- Category........
- Visa Office......
- Ottawa
- Job Offer........
- Pre-Assessed..
- App. Filed.......
- 13-03-2015
- AOR Received.
- 22-04-2015
- Med's Request
- Upfront
- Med's Done....
- 06-01-2015
- Interview........
- Waived
- LANDED..........
- 23-07-2015
Immigrating from New York state, I was very surprised at both the rates and the difficulty in securing car insurance in Ontario (I am outside of Hamilton). Even approaching a Canadian counterpart to my US insurance provider (State Farm Insurance), I was not able to get competitive rates. I eventually did find insurance, but there was a lot I learned along the way which could have saved me the additional time and aggravation.
Here's my advice to anyone looking to get insurance for the first time in Ontario:
- Bring driving history for (at least) the last 10 years.
You'll want something that details the dates you had a license, the type of license you had, and any convictions/penalties incurred while licensed. Make sure it's on official letterhead from the issuing agency for authenticity.
- Bring insurance history for the last 10 years.
Make sure it shows the vehicle(s) covered, the type of coverage, and any claims you (or anyone else) made against your insurance during this time. Again, get this on official letterhead from the issuing agency.
- Review your insurance history for any anomalies.
I had an errant claim issued against my insurance a few years ago. Although the claim was never paid out by my insurance company, the simple fact that it was on my record was enough to deny me insurance from a few agencies (as I did have one other at-fault claim). I was able to get a letter from my insurance company clarifying that this claim was errant, which was allowed me to get insurance through another provider.
- Get your Ontario driver's license before you try to get insurance.
All places will require the license number to be able to write a policy, but most will require it before they will issue you a quote.
- Bring your driving history with you to the DriveTest centre when you apply for your driver's license.
Although you only need to prove 2 years driving history to get your "G" license, insurance providers will pull up your Ontario driver's abstract when assigning rates. If you just provide 2 years history, your abstract will only show you've been driving 2 years. Many insurance companies will go by this alone in assessing your driving experience, so try to get as much of your driving history added as you can when you apply for your license. The difference in rates between a driver with 2 years experience and 10 is significant! Be forewarned that DriveTest will only accept "official" records from the issuing agency (screenshots, etc will not suffice).
- Expect to have to do some work to get the best rates.
I've found the bigger name insurance companies are very conservative and will charge excessively to assume any risk, so new drivers to the province will likely have better luck elsewhere. Thankfully, there are a number of good brokers in the province (CAA, Pearson Dunn, etc) who can work with lots of insurers to find one that will suit your profile. You may get turned down, you'll likely run into high rates, and you may be asked to provide additional documentation, but don't get discouraged. Be persistent.
Hope this helps!
Here's my advice to anyone looking to get insurance for the first time in Ontario:
- Bring driving history for (at least) the last 10 years.
You'll want something that details the dates you had a license, the type of license you had, and any convictions/penalties incurred while licensed. Make sure it's on official letterhead from the issuing agency for authenticity.
- Bring insurance history for the last 10 years.
Make sure it shows the vehicle(s) covered, the type of coverage, and any claims you (or anyone else) made against your insurance during this time. Again, get this on official letterhead from the issuing agency.
- Review your insurance history for any anomalies.
I had an errant claim issued against my insurance a few years ago. Although the claim was never paid out by my insurance company, the simple fact that it was on my record was enough to deny me insurance from a few agencies (as I did have one other at-fault claim). I was able to get a letter from my insurance company clarifying that this claim was errant, which was allowed me to get insurance through another provider.
- Get your Ontario driver's license before you try to get insurance.
All places will require the license number to be able to write a policy, but most will require it before they will issue you a quote.
- Bring your driving history with you to the DriveTest centre when you apply for your driver's license.
Although you only need to prove 2 years driving history to get your "G" license, insurance providers will pull up your Ontario driver's abstract when assigning rates. If you just provide 2 years history, your abstract will only show you've been driving 2 years. Many insurance companies will go by this alone in assessing your driving experience, so try to get as much of your driving history added as you can when you apply for your license. The difference in rates between a driver with 2 years experience and 10 is significant! Be forewarned that DriveTest will only accept "official" records from the issuing agency (screenshots, etc will not suffice).
- Expect to have to do some work to get the best rates.
I've found the bigger name insurance companies are very conservative and will charge excessively to assume any risk, so new drivers to the province will likely have better luck elsewhere. Thankfully, there are a number of good brokers in the province (CAA, Pearson Dunn, etc) who can work with lots of insurers to find one that will suit your profile. You may get turned down, you'll likely run into high rates, and you may be asked to provide additional documentation, but don't get discouraged. Be persistent.
Hope this helps!
