northlondoner

Hi,

I'm from the UK.

In my first year of driving I was rubbish and had to claim on the insurance which resulted in my insurance premium hitting the roof and I stupidly decided to drive without insurance (for which I have now learned my lesson and will not be doing again) due to these points I am therefore unable to afford insurance again.

However, I am moving to Canada in one year's time and was wondering whether (similarly to a credit rating), I will be able to start fresh and get affordable car insurance - or will this follow me even if I do move abroad?

Thanks

rivingtonpike

It may differ from province to province so will depend on where you're going. In BC if you don't make any claims for the equivalent of the UK's no claim discount, you will just be charged the full rate - which is a LOT!

At least, that is my understanding.

Aviator

Whatever you do answer all questions truthfully regarding insurance. You will be asked if you ever had accidents, not have you had accidents in Canada. If you don't tell the truth, you could find yourself uninsured in the event of an accident. This is not somewhere you want to be.

It is likely your UK driving history will come into it.

R I C H

Canada isn't a cheap country for car insurance. If you can't afford it in the UK, don't assume it's going to be affordable here.

JB0591

Please explain how???? There is no bilateral agreement between insurance companies to transfer data between countries! If the insurance company here does not take into account foreign insurance no claims period, then what has prior foreign history got to do with them. Beside how would they even know or find out.

To OP, unless you can get UK no claims recognized then you will start a fresh here and it will be expensive to start. If you are unsure about answering questions then make sure you get insurance here via a phone call not online. Then at least when they ask those questions you can clarify what they mean before choosing your answer.

Aviator

You don't think insurers share information when requested to do so or during loss investigations. It happens the world over.

http://www.verisk.com/underwriting/a...plus-auto.html
http://www.iso.com/Product-Finder/Pr...ct-Finder.html

http://insurance.excite.co.uk/insura...-database.html
http://www.verisk.com/underwriting/h...ry-report.html

At a few key strokes an insurer can find your full history.

They may never do so, however there is only one way to find out for sure. If you have no assets then little risk, if you own property, find yourself uninsured to and insurer subrogates, you stand to lost the lot. I guess it depends on ones risk tolerance.

Information is out there and insurers have the resources to find it especially in a large claim.

JB0591

For them to use any of those services they need to know about your UK details to identify you. If they recognize foreign no claims then fine as you have to hand over details, but if they dont ask for your UK details then how could they investigate you.

When i took out insurance here the companies i spoke with wouldn't recognize UK no claims. They didn't ask for any UK information and didn't want to know when offered.

dbd33

I think this is key, the companies don't generally ask about previous claims or convictions so you can just start from scratch. There's nothing improper in doing so. As mentioned above, this aint cheap but it's only the same as a Canadian who's just passed his or her test.

Dashie

In provinces with a licence exchange would it affect the new licence?

rivingtonpike

I just know that when I insured my car for the first time, no questions were asked about my driving history. I did have to prove my entitlement to the 40% discount, but that was a separate issue. If you aren't - or can't - claim a discount, as far as I know you just start from scratch and pay the full premium.

Geordie Lass

Some insurance companies do take no claims into account. Mine does and I had to send them a copy of the no claims discount.

Whether they followed up and checked who knows?

:

Aviator

ICBC took our no claims into account from the UK. Insurers may not ask about convictions, but usually ask about claims history. One should also read the full insurance document before signing it, they may not have asked, but a declaration may be in the insurance agreement.

rivingtonpike

Actually that's a good point! I didn't check every detail of the declaration (I had no claims or points so wasn't relevant) to see if there was a bit about previous claims, points, disqualifications etc.

Aviator

Many years ago, I nearly got caught out by a 10 year experience clause. The broker just asked if I had 10 years driving experience, reading the agreement they asked me to sign, the wording asked me to confirm I had 10 years North American driving experience. Had I not read it, my insurance would have been invalidated

Hayden4560

We recently (in the last few months) got car insurance in Alberta. Most companies had no interest in our previous history but as new residents (my husband is actually a returning Canadian), insurance was quite expensive and we were told it would take about 3 years for the premiums to come down significantly. AMA however, gave us a fairly hefty discount on receipt of a letter from our previous insurer. So I guess the bottom line is you can start afresh but it will cost you.