First time insurance in Canada help! 4+ years of experience abroad

[eriver]

Hi all,

I have just got a Suzuki Savage LS650P and have been trying to get a decent insurance quote on it. My case is, I am just now starting my licensing in Canada: I got my M1 this week, will be getting M2 next week and hopefully full M as soon as I can book the test.
I have 7 years of experience riding abroad. I had my documents translated and the MTO acknowledged this experience and bypassed me with all the waiting times for the licenses (I still have to take the tests though).

Since it's my first time getting insurance in Canada, I've been getting quotes around $1600, which is a bit too much considering it's a cruiser bike and what I hear from friends. I was wondering if there are any suggestions in regards to how I should go about it, or if there are insurance companies that would consider all this information and experience I have abroad. It's really frustrating to be treated like a beginner just because you're in a different country, even though MTO itself recognizes my experience.

Thank you!
E

[RickT]

Go to some of the on-line quotes (Primmum, TD, etc) and enter your info including your full riding/insurance experience. If you get a good quote, call them up and see if they will give it to you. If not, see if they are not giving you credit for being insured outside Canada.

If that's the case, might be worth checking with the Insurance Bureau to see what they are required to do.

Not sure where you are from, but in Canada, insurance rates are all over the map and vary by company, bike, age, experience.

Good luck

[El Zilcho]

It's really frustrating to be treated like a beginner just because you're in a different country, even though MTO itself recognizes my experience.

Can you get your claim history and proof of continuous insurance from your previous insurers? I had that from the States and it helped me, although I remember that most insurance companies here couldn't care less.

[Avi Singh]

Go to some of the on-line quotes (Primmum, TD, etc) and enter your info including your full riding/insurance experience. If you get a good quote, call them up and see if they will give it to you. If not, see if they are not giving you credit for being insured outside Canada.

If that's the case, might be worth checking with the Insurance Bureau to see what they are required to do.

Not sure where you are from, but in Canada, insurance rates are all over the map and vary by company, bike, age, experience.

Good luck

The application for insurance asks for your "Date first licensed in Canada or the US."

It's pretty clear, only North American experience is considered.

[RickT]

The application for insurance asks for your "Date first licensed in Canada or the US."

It's pretty clear, only North American experience is considered.

My point was for the OP to see what his rate would be if given full credit for insurance/riding time and if it has a big impact on his policy, to check with the insurance bureau to see what the insurance companies are required to do.

Just because that's how they ask the question, doesn't mean they aren't obligated to give some credit for experience/insurance outside of North America. It's not uncommon for people to move to Canada and I would hope they aren't all penalized for that.