Driver's License and Insurance in Ontario

[swestenzweig]

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!

 

[paradox27]

Great advice. I am from NY and just landed and exchanged my DL today. One thing to add is that prior to landing I called up TD and was able to get auto insurance for under $1100 / yr from them ($0 comprehensive deductible, $500 collision , $2M liability). They accepted my US license and letter form my insurance company, with the condition that I complete the vehicle import and provide a copy of the Ontario registration within 20 days and my Ontrario DL within 60 days.

TD was definitely the most competitive for rates for me. Some quoted me $1500+!

Edit: The lady at DriveTest had never seen the new NY Dirvers Abstracts yet and they weren't sure if it was official at first. Long story short I got my G license but had a bit of a scare.

 

[keesio]

swestenzweig, paradox27 - I have a NY driver's license and looking to exchange it for an Ontario one. Which NYS DMV record is best for the exchange? Is the driving abstract enough or do you need the lifetime driving record? Also did they care the date when you became a resident of Ontario?

 

[paradox27]

swestenzweig, paradox27 - I have a NY driver's license and looking to exchange it for an Ontario one. Which NYS DMV record is best for the exchange? Is the driving abstract enough or do you need the lifetime driving record? Also did they care the date when you became a resident of Ontario?

You NEED the lifetime record ($10 mail in to the DMV to get.) The reason why you need this one is that is the only document which shows your original license date. The DriveTest staff said without it they would have to give me a G1 or G2 as they would not be able to credit my driving experience.

My advice would be to order two copies - open one to verify and bring the other one unopened. While they only require an original, the DriveTest staff said that the record I brought was in a different format than they were used to seeing and that the NY DMV must have changed it recently. It helped that I had it sealed in the original envelope so they had more confirmation it was authentic. Ended up walking out with my full G license.

They did not care when I became a resident of Ontario.

 

[keesio]

Thanks for the info and suggestion!!

 

[utena]

thanks for sharing~

 

[OntarioBound]

Good list, swestenzweig!

Sorry to hear you had a hard time getting a good (cheap) auto insurance for your car.

For myself, I went with Allstate. I was with Allstate until 1997 to 2007 in the US, so that helped, I think. They asked me who my agent was in California and I believe they contacted her and pull the records. I provided them with my insurance info from 2007 to 2015 from another company also. (I have made no insurance claims in the last 20 years and I'm sure that helped..) My auto-insurance rate with Allstate in Canada would be higher than the US by $98, if USD and CAD were equal ($1/$1). All my money is currently USD only, and since USD is doing so much better than CAD, my Canadian insurance rate is actually $194 cheaper for me, . In addition, I agreed to install Allstate Drivewise (which records my driving habits) which could lower my rate further for next year (Installing this device will never increase your future rate.)

I had to do all this with my NY driver's license. I still don't have an Ontario driver's license. I am getting the "certified" driver record from California since I have had my NY driver's license for less than 2 years. Getting the certified driving record from CA is taking a long time. Allstate said all I have to do is to give them my new Ontario DL within 60 days. (I did have to register my car in Ontario though - The agent at Service Ontario didn't know she could register a card belonging to someone without an Ontario DL so she had to call the hot line and have her walk through the steps...)

After reading your post, I am realizing how lucky I am that Allstate was available both in Canada and in the US and I happened to be with them in the States.

 

[FSW_Applicant]

Thank you for sharing. I landed recently and have an NJ license. I still need to get my insurance, registration and insurance from Ontario. Could you please share the name of the Allstate office / agent with me? I had Geico in the US but they do not have services here.

 

[OntarioBound]

Thank you for sharing. I landed recently and have an NJ license. I still need to get my insurance, registration and insurance from Ontario. Could you please share the name of the Allstate office / agent with me? I had Geico in the US but they do not have services here.

I am not sure if my agent would be the best bet since she is local to me (Kitchener). What I did was google "Allstate Kitchener" and called the local number that came up. I had someone else initially, but she left the company and I ended up with my new agent, Sarah. I will PM the info just in case you landed here also.