The Car Insurance Mess in Toronto

I have been shopping around for car insurance this past month within the GTA (Greater Toronto Area) and let me tell you this- if you are are a single, female living in an city like Brampton, who has only recently relocated to Canada, you could be paying as high as 490 dollars a month on car insurance. By 490 Canadian dollars, I mean roughly 367 US dollars. Mind boggling eh?

Let me explain why this is so, as best as I have discovered through my research. Apparently, the insurance companies arrive at your risk profile through reviewing some personal information of yours. 

First, they consider your marital status. If you are married, then your risk exposure is less. If you are single, apparent only to these insurance companies, then you have a death wish. By their rationalization, your life isn’t as precious to you when you are by yourself, than when you have decided to live with another human being.

Secondly, they review your gender. This one is a complete joke in my opinion, because if you are female, then wow, your risk profile is way higher than if you are male. Can you imagine being punished for a classification that you have absolutely no control over? If you also consider the fact that there are folks who are intersex, or other folks who do not classify themselves by their gender, then this reason is so completely outdated, that it borders on insidious discrimination.

Then, they review other stuff like the type of license you have (a G1- the lowest in the ranking, a G2- the middle or a Full G- the highest); your current address, the type of car and model you are buying (including color, age, type of engine), and your driving history. With address, the companies review the amount of claims that have been raised in the area you reside, and if the numbers are higher than usual, then guess who bears the brunt of it? Yup- you guessed right- you! With the type of car you purchase, I can cut some slack except for a silly reason like color. So if I decide to buy a pre-owned car that is red versus silver, then I have to pay extra for the red colored car. Why? Is a car not a car, that drives like a car at the end of the day? As to your driving history, these ‘dear’ insurance companies will only honor driving history from ‘special’ places like the US, France, Switzerland and a friend also told me the Caribbean Islands. Again, if you are from that continent that begins and ends with an A (Africa if you haven’t caught on yet), your driving history doesn’t at all feature in bringing your insurance premium down. Maybe South Africa may be the exception on the continent, but I stand corrected.

So, as you can see…or read, if you have just recently moved here, your chances of finding affordable insurance is nil, zilch, nada, zero.

That’s why I tweeted this:

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There’s really no better time than now for a disruption, with many newcomers moving to Canada, and specifically to the GTA within Ontario. If anything, the car insurance companies are gonna get even more ballsy with their monthly premiums. Considering as well, that road users on this side of the world are far less reckless than what I’m used to, it therefore begs the question why…

Why do I have to bear the brunt of someone else’s irresponsibility? Why do I have to carry the poorly thought decision of someone else deciding to be dubious with false car accident claims to the insurance companies? Why do I be profiled unjustly by my gender, or marital status? Wouldn’t it make more sense to grant me insurance based off of something logical like my own personal record of safety with driving cars? Wouldn’t it even make perfect sense to create insurance based off of people’s interest of coverage? (full coverage versus liability coverage)? 

But no, we would rather focus on classifications that are so irrelevant and archaic, no one should even spend a millisecond reviewing such parameters.

It makes absolutely no sense! ???