When 26-year-old Hameed Yousufzai got here to Canada from Afghanistan two years in the past, he rapidly realized he wanted a automotive to get across the metropolis of St. Catharines, Ont., the place he settled.
When he first purchased a automotive, he paid about $450 a month for automotive insurance coverage.
Yousufzai had been driving for seven years, however says no insurance coverage firm he checked with would take that historical past under consideration.
“This isn’t really truthful for us,” stated Yousufzai, who wants a automotive to get to his job at close by Niagara-on-the-Lake as a result of public transit is not dependable.
“I’m fairly conversant in driving, with no accidents or with no tickets in my complete life.”
Yousufzai is amongst many new immigrants who say they’re paying larger automotive insurance coverage prices as a result of their earlier driving expertise is not factored into their month-to-month charges.
He desires insurance coverage firms to alter their insurance policies, particularly as a result of the price of residing is already so excessive.
Yousufzai says he has to work to cowl his bills in Canada and assist his complete household in Afghanistan, whereas additionally paying the excessive value of automotive insurance coverage.
Downgrading insurance coverage to economize
The excessive value of auto insurance coverage for immigrants is not simply a problem in Ontario.
In Calgary, new immigrants are additionally struggling to pay excessive charges. On the Centre for Newcomers, which had about 50,000 individuals use their providers final yr, the difficulty nearly all the time comes up, in accordance with CEO Anila Umar.
“That is an injustice,” she stated. “You principally must determine, ‘Am I going to pay for this automotive as a way to get to work to make the cash? Or am I going to pay for meals?’ ”
Umar says Calgary isn’t nicely linked sufficient by public transit for individuals to depend on it to get to work. She notes it will possibly take a number of hours to get from one finish of the town to the opposite.
“We actually do want automobiles as a way to survive right here in Calgary,” she stated.
Yousufzai says he tried quite a lot of strategies to convey the $450 a month premium down, together with shopping for a a lot older automotive. When that did not work, he determined to downgrade his protection to what’s referred to as “one-way” insurance coverage — which value him near $200 a month. Within the case of a collision, one-way insurance coverage means the corporate would solely cowl damages for the opposite automotive, not his personal.
“It is a massive danger that I tackle my shoulders,” he stated.
He not too long ago bought a more moderen automotive as a result of restore prices have been including up. He is now paying $300 a month for full protection.
Assessing danger
Auto insurance coverage charges have grow to be a sizzling political concern in Ontario over time. Official statistics from the provincial regulator cited by the auditor basic present premiums have risen larger than inflation since 2022.
The earlier Liberal authorities of Kathleen Wynne promised in 2013 to cut back auto insurance coverage charges by 15 per cent inside two years, however that did not occur. In actual fact, rates had increased slightly by 2015.
For a lot of insurance coverage firms, there is not any strategy to calculate how seemingly somebody is to get right into a collision in the event that they have not pushed in Canada, in accordance with insurance coverage dealer Daniel Ivans, who works with aggregator web site Charges.ca.
He stated insurance coverage firms haven’t got a approach of assessing danger as a result of totally different nations might have totally different guidelines, rules and file conserving. In addition they have totally different climates, which suggests totally different driving situations.
“How a lot can the basics [of driving] assist anyone of their first Canadian winter on a February driving down an icy highway?” he stated.
In accordance with the Insurance coverage Bureau of Canada (IBC), recognition of driving expertise from exterior of Canada can differ between firms.
“Driving guidelines and rules in Canada can range fairly significantly from different nations,” stated Brett Weltman, the IBC’s supervisor of media relations.
Many provinces have what’s referred to as a reciprocal licence settlement, the place individuals from locations just like the U.Ok. or Japan can immediately change their licence for one from the province the place they now stay. Although not all firms issue that in when calculating insurance coverage charges, some might give partial credit score if somebody is ready to present a driving file.
For instance, Ontario firm Onlia Insurance coverage says it considers out-of-country licenced years and credits three “claim-free years” as a baseline if somebody is new to Ontario and has no prior automotive insurance coverage historical past in Canada.
Worldwide licensing not credited
Whereas provinces like Ontario, Nova Scotia and Alberta function underneath a non-public insurance coverage system, others like British Columbia, Manitoba and Saskatchewan have public insurance coverage.
All insurers within the numerous provinces have totally different formulation when calculating somebody’s charge.
For instance, in Saskatchewan, primary auto insurance coverage charges underneath the general public Saskatchewan Auto Fund are primarily based on the automobile, not the motive force. For individuals arriving from exterior of the nation, the insurer will solely take into account a reduction if the newcomer supplies documentation of their driving expertise, together with claims and site visitors violations. Nonetheless, that is not a assure.
“Most worldwide licensing and historical past aren’t credited by way of getting decrease or discounted insurance coverage premiums,” stated Ivans.
For Marcel van den Berg, a pharmacist who moved from Germany to Antigonish, Nova Scotia, three years in the past, the distinction in how a lot newcomers must pay is seemingly at odds with Canada’s pro-immigration coverage.
Van den Berg, who simply bought his insurance coverage renewed final week, says he was “flabbergasted” that he could not get a decrease charge than $700 a month for 2 automobiles, regardless of having a clear driving file for the final 30 years in Europe.
He says he feels that whereas many newcomers contribute to the neighborhood and society, they’re nonetheless generally handled as second-class residents.
“People who find themselves immigrants are handled not in the identical approach as Canadians.”
Entry to automobiles ‘vital’
Emily Kovacs, govt director of the Niagara Folks Arts Multicultural Centre in St. Catharines, desires insurance coverage firms to create extra inclusive insurance policies and think about driving historical past when figuring out premiums.
She says that, typically, having the ability to pay automotive insurance coverage turns into the figuring out issue of whether or not persons are in a position to thrive or in the event that they stay in poverty.
“Entry to a automotive and transportation is vital,” she stated. “It’s the equal to entry to housing.”
