Auto Insurance | High premiums due to not having G1 G2 graduation to G in Ontario

[porphyrioskafsokalivitos]

So I never held G1 and G2 licenses in Ontario, as I was able to directly get G license by exchanging my full US driving license. I found it strange when I saw a few people in my postal code, who are immigrants and younger than me and much lesser driving history than me, get quotes 35% lower than me. Neither of us have an at fault collision, are in same postal code and similar cars.

On enquiring with a broker I was told that people who graduate from G1 G2 to G in general get better rates compared to who directly jump to G.

Also to point out, I provided my driving extracts and no claim certificate from US insurance companies as well to my insurance company so they do see my full driving experience.

Is there anything I can do to improve on this situation?

My Autoplus score is just 560, while that of others with lesser experience is 670+.

 

[dianna]

@porphyrioskafsokalivitos

On enquiring with a broker I was told that people who graduate from G1 G2 to G in general get better rates compared to who directly jump to G.

You're being fed bullshit because you're asking why the premium is so high. Try other brokers, and try quoting directly with direct insurers like Bel Air Direct, TD, etc.

There are so many factors that go into auto insurance rates - check here: https://www.fsrao.ca/consumers/auto...ates/what-determines-your-auto-insurance-rate Note that similar vehicles is irrelevant, rates can vary depending on the exact make/model/year/trim

 

[sovereignone]

@porphyrioskafsokalivitos Who is providing you with your Autoplus score? And furthermore, how are you privy to other peoples' scores? Because I can't find a single place on here, outside of the Alberta grid scores, which only goes as high as +16 and -15 (and would be irrelevant in Ontario), that would translate to a triple-digit score you're referencing:

https://iis.cgi.com/RapidWeb/Newsletters/DCHGReportInterpretation.pdf

I question a lot of the information you've provided and been provided. For one, you say similar vehicles but you can't compare yourself to someone else unless virtually everything about your risk profiles is the same. Second, most insurers don't count time at G1. It's permit, not a license. So if an agent or broker is referencing that as part of their explanation they're either in the minority who do count it or talking out their ass.

The only way to know if your premium is high is to shop around.

 

[porphyrioskafsokalivitos]

@sovereignone CGI launched an app like we have for credit scores. It gives you your Auto Insurance score. App is available on App Store.

The person who provided with that information did not know about this app. I help him setup. All information provided here is accurate based on their score and premiums they pay.

 

[sovereignone]

@porphyrioskafsokalivitos And what is the app called? Because I don't see anything about it on their website.

 

[porphyrioskafsokalivitos]

@sovereignone A simple google search brought it up for me.

https://apps.apple.com/ca/app/myautoplus/id6456947009

 

[sovereignone]

@porphyrioskafsokalivitos Looking at it I would say that it's pretty rudimentary. This is not a number that appears on any Autoplus report that I've seen, and even screenshots in the app store clarify that this is an estimate. Different insurers will assign different weighting/rating to different factors, and your Autoplus only looks at so many things and presents them in a vary black and white fashion. An individual insurer would look at this in addition to other factors and might see a particular items as a bigger risk to them.

 

[porphyrioskafsokalivitos]

@sovereignone Wouldn’t call it rudimentary given the premium matched the score range. Higher score had lower premiums and vice versa for 4 cases I have seen so far, with 2 of them even matching cars with only one year apart year of manufacture. I am sorry but 2 comments back you “questioned a lot of information I provided” and doubted if such score even existed. Every bit of information I provided was accurate. On the other side, not much substance to believe in anything you have said in your comments. You not knowing something exists doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist or is rudimentary. Moving on.

 

[bigchristiandaddy]

@sovereignone Yeah I’m not sure about this score provided. I’m an auto underwriter and have never seen a score provided by CGI. All I care about on your autoplus is your years insured and claims. A “score” is meaningless.

 

[jlottering]

@porphyrioskafsokalivitos I went straight to a G license as well - I pay a decent amount so I don’t know how accurate that information is.

I also worked in auto insurance and havent heard that before (unless things have changed in last 3-4 years). The only thing that I know is that driving lessons can possibly offer a discount in some scenarios. Also, there’s a lot of different factors that go into auto insurance premiums such as type of car, location etc. so it’s really hard to compare to other people.

 

[rich624]

@porphyrioskafsokalivitos When you go from G1 to G2 to G, it triggers a graduated licensing discount. Since you transferred it from a US license, you don't get it.

How long were you driving in USA? If you provided your driver's abstract, proof of no convictions, and letter of experience, depending on how long you've been claims free you may qualify for a better rate.

 

[sovereignone]

@porphyrioskafsokalivitos Laughing at OP's little hissy fit here, that I wasn't aware of an app that only launched in November and didn't immediately come up by searching "CGI Autoplus app" when the majority of links point to pages pertaining specifically to CGI's Autoplus report itself. They've seemingly gone and blocked me.

The point stands! There's plenty of other factors that go into premium beyond what an Autoplus report can gleam. I don't think the app is really worth hanging one's hat on. Rather they should be ensuring they're being accurately rated by their insurer and shop around if they feel they're not.

 

[lepows]

@sovereignone I worked for a big name insurance company before COVID so this may be a bit outdated, but should mostly be accurate.

Autoplus is the only major driving history aggregator in Canada. Most insurance companies, including my employer heavily used and relied on it. Most of the time when you accept insurance policy you agree to have your data shared to Autoplus. They have complete driving history of every driver in their database, including license dates and types, and your postal code. If they are providing a score now, you can bet it considers every possible criteria a typical insurance company rates you on. I haven’t used this app, but based on my experience, have no reason to doubt its validity. Certainly cannot dismiss it as rudimentary.

And secondly, as another poster noted, license graduation is a discount with most insurance companies. And OP seems to be right questioning this. To my knowledge, Autoplus likely doesn’t maintain US driving and insurance history and that may be the reason for their lower score.

 

[sovereignone]

@lepows I'm not saying that the Autoplus report is irrelevant. You don't need to explain the Autoplus report to me, I know how it works.

I'm saying that an app meant to appeal to consumers, that translates your Autoplus report into a score between 300-900 like a credit score, does not equate to how your insurer interprets your Autoplus report. You know as well as I do that that score doesn't appear anywhere on the report.

Do people still get denied for credit or saddled with higher interest rates despite having a "good" credit score? Absolutely. I'm simply stating that this app is not the be-all-end-all. You've pointed out one good reason with it likely not factoring in US driving history.

I'm also saying that a prospective insurer would look at other factors beyond the Autoplus in determining your rate, and may also assign a higher or lower weighting to some of those factors. That's all.

Other people questioned the G1-G2-G explanation OP got, not just me, and so it seems OP has turned to other sources that validate their belief they should be getting a lower rate rather than calling up their insurer and making sure they're being rated accurately and that their US history is being fully taken into account OR shopping around.

 

[justanordinarychristian]

@porphyrioskafsokalivitos I did the same, exchanging my UK license for a full G license. I don’t know if I’m paying more than others - but I find many of the insurance companies just don’t seem to grasp that this a valid path.

On the phone, I usually get passed around as people try to enter different things into the system to get past not entering G1 and G2 dates.

Online, many of the sites won’t actually give you a quote. It’s super annoying