Moving from Ontario to BC Insurance question? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Moving from Ontario to BC Insurance question?

pesto

Member
Hi there,

I have sort of predicament that I was hoping to receive some advice on.

I'm moving to Victoria BC on June 1st, but I was hoping to ride in Ontario in April/May before I moved because this is my first year riding, and I would prefer to ride/learn on roads I am familiar with.

Is my only option to get insurance in Ontario for the entire year, and then cancel and get new insurance in BC? I imagine the cancelation penalty would be pretty hefty after only 2 months of use. Perhaps I could get BC insurance and plates while i'm still in Ontario for the 1-2 months?

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or a line of thinking I have not thought about. I do know I will have to pay ~$1000 to ship the bike from Toronto to Vancouver which is okay. Obviously I would not have boughten the bike if I had known I would be moving. (I bought my bike for a great price in November as I have storage).

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.
 
April/may might be enough to pass the minimum retained premium. What bike? Have you taken a riding course? You have your M2? Talk to a broker and they can probably give you real advice and numbers for your situation.

I can't see the BC insurance working here as you will have ontario plates, ontario license, bike in ontario and you are applying for BC insurance.
 
April/may might be enough to pass the minimum retained premium. What bike? Have you taken a riding course? You have your M2? Talk to a broker and they can probably give you real advice and numbers for your situation.

I can't see the BC insurance working here as you will have ontario plates, ontario license, bike in ontario and you are applying for BC insurance.

I will look into minimum retained premium, thank you.

- 2015 Triumph Scrambler
- I have taken a riding course
- I have my M2


Thank you - Speaking with a broker is my next step
 
Hi there,

I have sort of predicament that I was hoping to receive some advice on.

I'm moving to Victoria BC on June 1st, but I was hoping to ride in Ontario in April/May before I moved because this is my first year riding, and I would prefer to ride/learn on roads I am familiar with.

Is my only option to get insurance in Ontario for the entire year, and then cancel and get new insurance in BC? I imagine the cancelation penalty would be pretty hefty after only 2 months of use. Perhaps I could get BC insurance and plates while i'm still in Ontario for the 1-2 months?

I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions or a line of thinking I have not thought about. I do know I will have to pay ~$1000 to ship the bike from Toronto to Vancouver which is okay. Obviously I would not have boughten the bike if I had known I would be moving. (I bought my bike for a great price in November as I have storage).

Any thoughts or suggestions would be appreciated.


Prepare yourself for a bit of a shock...
BC has mandatory provincial ins. (ICBC)... 'Rates are notoriously expensive.

I'm not sure about bike, but cars... Wow.
Granted she's young, but my 23 year old daughter was paying just about $2100/year for decent coverage here in Ontario for a '16 Honda Crv.
Shipped her car to BC back in January... Her ins. under ICBC.... $4547

I'd call ahead and inquire about how much it's going to cost you to insure in BC before making arrangements to ship the bike.
Given you budget... You may want to reconsider.

If you're rich... F-it. Enjoy life on the coast..!!
 
Prepare yourself for a bit of a shock...
BC has mandatory provincial ins. (ICBC)... 'Rates are notoriously expensive.

I'm not sure about bike, but cars... Wow.
Granted she's young, but my 23 year old daughter was paying just about $2100/year for decent coverage here in Ontario for a '16 Honda Crv.
Shipped her car to BC back in January... Her ins. under ICBC.... $4547

I'd call ahead and inquire about how much it's going to cost you to insure in BC before making arrangements to ship the bike.
Given you budget... You may want to reconsider.

If you're rich... F-it. Enjoy life on the coast..!!

Damn, I thought Onterrible was the worst. I know ICBC was circling the drain with ridiculous losses to new idiot drivers and politicians looting the reserves. I knew they were ratcheting up the rates, but I didn't know they had blown by. @Priller you have recent BC experience correct?
 
I can't see the BC insurance working here as you will have ontario plates, ontario license, bike in ontario and you are applying for BC insurance.


'Been through this recently with a car...

Insured the car in Ontario... Shipped it to Vancouver. You have 30 days to register with ICBC, insure/plate and surrender the Ont. registration.
You can not get ICBC with your vehicle registered elsewhere.

Also had to get the car inspected B4 it could be registered in BC... IIRC motorcycles do not require an inspection.
 
Prepare yourself for a bit of a shock...
BC has mandatory provincial ins. (ICBC)... 'Rates are notoriously expensive.

I'm not sure about bike, but cars... Wow.
Granted she's young, but my 23 year old daughter was paying just about $2100/year for decent coverage here in Ontario for a '16 Honda Crv.
Shipped her car to BC back in January... Her ins. under ICBC.... $4547

I'd call ahead and inquire about how much it's going to cost you to insure in BC before making arrangements to ship the bike.
Given you budget... You may want to reconsider.

If you're rich... F-it. Enjoy life on the coast..!!

Thanks for the info.

I am prepared to pay more than what I would pay in Ontario (even though our rates are also high) but dang over DOUBLE is crazy.

I'm going to call and get a rough estimate. I plan on getting the most basic/minimum coverage from ICBC then the rest through a third party as has been recommended.
 
Damn, I thought Onterrible was the worst. I know ICBC was circling the drain with ridiculous losses to new idiot drivers and politicians looting the reserves. I knew they were ratcheting up the rates, but I didn't know they had blown by. @Priller you have recent BC experience correct?


ICBC is a monopoly... There's no competition.
The rates are the rates.

People I know in BC will often carry private supplementary insurance in addition to their ICBC policy, especially if they have a higher end vehicle.
Reason being the coverage/service through ICBC is insufficient for someone insuring a high value car.
 
Having very recently gone through this exact process, here are the steps:

1) Get your Ontario insurance as normal
2) When you move June 1st, you have 60 days to change your Ontario license to a BC license. During this time your Ontario license *and* insurance is still valid.
3) After you get your BC license, you surrender your Ontario license and you immediately have to get BC insurance.

*IMPORTANT* make sure you obtain a copy of your full Ontario drivers license abstract at some point in time before you leave. The most common driving abstract is the 3-year history - don't get that one. Get the complete history abstract that shows the exact date you first got licensed. The longer your provable history, the cheaper your ICBC insurance rate will be. By quite a lot too! Show this Ontario drivers abstract when you apply for your BC driver's license.

You can order it online here: Get longer-term driving records or letters and documents | Ontario.ca

Doesn't have to be certified.


4) Before you can get BC insurance, you need to have your vehicle safety inspected at an ICBC-certified shop
5) After you get the safety, you go to ICBC Autoplan broker and get your insurance
6) Cancel your Ontario insurance. I don't think there's any penalty for cancellation, unless the premiums are pro-rated and you somehow owe them money.

As someone mentioned above, vehicle insurance is handled by the province, so there's no shopping around. You just go to any Autoplan Broker (ICBC doesn't issue insurance via their offices so they do all their policy admin through private brokers) and they give you the quote. And then you pay up.

The biggest difference between ON and BC vehicle insurance is that the mandatory ICBC insurance is liability only. You can stop right at this point if you are always going to pay out of pocket if you or someone else prangs your car or bike. However, most people also get the optional comprehensive insurance on top of the ICBC liability.

Where it gets confusing is that ICBC *also* offers optional comprehensive insurance on top of the mandatory liability. However, it is super-expensive, especially so for motorcycles.

There are a couple of private companies in BC that offer comprehensive insurance. The one that all motorcyclists seem to use is Beacon. Any broker will be able to sell you Beacon comprehensive insurance for your motorcycle. It is roughly 1/3 the price of ICBC comprehensive. I was quoted by ICBC for $1100/year for my EXC500. I'm paying $400/year through Beacon.

Hope this helps. Any questions, don't hesitate to reply here or PM.
 
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4) Before you can get BC insurance, you need to have your vehicle safety inspected at an ICBC-certified shop


Bikes are exempt though...

Lifted from the ICBC import page

Vehicles exempted from the B.C. pre-registration safety inspection​



Recently 2019(?) ICBC decided to ding "new" BC drivers with an added surcharge.... Not "new" drivers, but "new to" BC drivers.
When you turn in your Ont. DL for a BC DL.... there's an extra bit of premium you get to pay because even though you could have been driving elsewhere for 30 years... They consider you "new" to BC.
Any reason to squeeze a few more dollars outta ya...

In any case... I'm envious of Pesto.
I was in Vancouver in January... Lots of bikes out and about. I imagine the same if not better on the Island.
I've got one kid who's decided to stay out there after Uni.... I hope to make the move after I retire.
 
One minor up side with ICBC is that albeit spendy... It's one stop shopping.

The Autoplan broker does everything. Vehicle registration, plates and insurance.
It was kinda weird... 'Nice fancy insurance-esque office. Do all the paperwork, go outside to verify the VIN, back inside for some more paperwork/forms... Then from under the desk comes a cardboard box of matched pairs of fresh new BC license plates... Leaf through and choose the ones you want... Out of a drawer comes a selection of screwdrivers for loan. (if you didn't bring your own)
Go outside, swap your plates and away you go.
 
@Priller you have recent BC experience correct?
Can't add anything for the OP to what @Lightcycle said, as our experience recently was the reverse, and ICBC is much more flexible with coverage lengths than Ontario. (you can even get coverage by the day, but it's about $35)

The only thing we experienced was things were a bit more expensive here for slightly less coverage. This includes my wife's 2017 CR-V and my Tuono, both of us in our 40's with clean records. I think both provinces punish new arrivals, it would seem. I read that ICBC was lowering rates because they'd implemented no-fault, but I have no idea how that worked in practice.

What I found frustrating here vs BC was the total lack of transparency around why your rate is what it is. There, you have a rate class with x% discount for however many years of claims-free driving. It's super clear, and if you ask for an explanation, the broker should be able to explain your rate based on your record combined with your vehicle and address. As mentioned above, stacking years without claims can add up to huge savings. Here, everyone gives a different answer, different brokers quote different rates with the same insurer, any questions are hand waved with vague statements about increasing claims costs or other deflections. I'm certain I got punished because of gaps in my coverage due to only getting six months at a time in BC, but nobody will give me a straight answer quite how much that would be. To be honest, I'm not sure the broker knows, because they seem to plug the info into a program and it spits out a rate without any info about how it got there.

I also had third-party coverage with a company whose name I can't remember (not Beacon, but similar - bought through Westland), and again, it was much simpler. They offered declared value coverage, where you tell them what it's worth and they adjust the cost accordingly. If you write the bike off or it gets stolen, that's what they give you (plus $1000 for gear if it's a crash). There's no debating after the fact what the bike is worth or some adjuster finding a shonker on Kijiji for cheap and setting that as basis for payout. Mine also covered track days, which nobody here will touch with a 10 foot pole...

I'm not saying one system is better than the other, as every example can have a counter example. But each definitely has pros and cons.
 
Having very recently gone through this exact process, here are the steps:

1) Get your Ontario insurance as normal
2) When you move June 1st, you have 60 days to change your Ontario license to a BC license. During this time your Ontario license *and* insurance is still valid.
3) After you get your BC license, you surrender your Ontario license and you immediately have to get BC insurance.

*IMPORTANT* make sure you obtain a copy of your full Ontario drivers license abstract at some point in time before you leave. The most common driving abstract is the 3-year history - don't get that one. Get the complete history abstract that shows the exact date you first got licensed. The longer your provable history, the cheaper your ICBC insurance rate will be. By quite a lot too! Show this Ontario drivers abstract when you apply for your BC driver's license.

You can order it online here: Get longer-term driving records or letters and documents | Ontario.ca

Doesn't have to be certified.


4) Before you can get BC insurance, you need to have your vehicle safety inspected at an ICBC-certified shop
5) After you get the safety, you go to ICBC Autoplan broker and get your insurance
6) Cancel your Ontario insurance. I don't think there's any penalty for cancellation, unless the premiums are pro-rated and you somehow owe them money.

As someone mentioned above, vehicle insurance is handled by the province, so there's no shopping around. You just go to any Autoplan Broker (ICBC doesn't issue insurance via their offices so they do all their policy admin through private brokers) and they give you the quote. And then you pay up.

The biggest difference between ON and BC vehicle insurance is that the mandatory ICBC insurance is liability only. You can stop right at this point if you are always going to pay out of pocket if you or someone else prangs your car or bike. However, most people also get the optional comprehensive insurance on top of the ICBC liability.

Where it gets confusing is that ICBC *also* offers optional comprehensive insurance on top of the mandatory liability. However, it is super-expensive, especially so for motorcycles.

There are a couple of private companies in BC that offer comprehensive insurance. The one that all motorcyclists seem to use is Beacon. Any broker will be able to sell you Beacon comprehensive insurance for your motorcycle. It is roughly 1/3 the price of ICBC comprehensive. I was quoted by ICBC for $1100/year for my EXC500. I'm paying $400/year through Beacon.

Hope this helps. Any questions, don't hesitate to reply here or PM.
Hey Lightcycle, first off thank you so much for the detailed explanation. It's really helpful to me. Especially the bit about bringing a copy of my full Ontario drivers license abstract. I would've had no idea.

It seems this could actually be less stressful than I had originally anticipated (knock on wood). I was worried about a heavy penalty for cancelling insurance only after a few months. I'll speak to a broker for more details, but thank you for the note that this should be okay.

I will likely follow this exact process, including third party insurance for comprehensive (in addition to do ICBC liability of course).

Thanks again for the info. I really appreciate it.
 
One minor up side with ICBC is that albeit spendy... It's one stop shopping.

The Autoplan broker does everything. Vehicle registration, plates and insurance.
It was kinda weird... 'Nice fancy insurance-esque office. Do all the paperwork, go outside to verify the VIN, back inside for some more paperwork/forms... Then from under the desk comes a cardboard box of matched pairs of fresh new BC license plates... Leaf through and choose the ones you want... Out of a drawer comes a selection of screwdrivers for loan. (if you didn't bring your own)
Go outside, swap your plates and away you go.

Noted about not needing certification for motorcycle. Thanks.

'New to BC driver' HA. Sadly this doesn't even upset me as I expect no less from the govt.

The broker experience itself does sound good though. A one stop shop and it's done is great.
 
Hi,

I just registered to give my experience. I moved to BC last year August when I had my GM2 in Ontario and ICBC told me that they don't have anything equivalent to M2 in BC. They don't exchange for learner license. They didn't give me any motorcycle license and told me I had to start over. So if you have M2, you probably end up getting no motorcycle license in BC, which is BS. I heard stories of people getting full car license with G2 in Ontario but I didn't get lucky.

Anyway, I moved back to Ontario now as there is no need to go to work and I don't want to rent. I probably will move eventually this year but I want to start riding in Ontario first. I wonder is it possible just to use the ontario plate and insurance until they expire and apply at ICBC later?
 
Anyway, I moved back to Ontario now as there is no need to go to work and I don't want to rent. I probably will move eventually this year but I want to start riding in Ontario first. I wonder is it possible just to use the ontario plate and insurance until they expire and apply at ICBC later?
That information is available. Upon relocating, technically you have xx days to get your paperwork updated (maybe 60?). Riding on Ontario plates and insurance for a long time while living in BC probably isn't worth the risk (tickets and potential insurance denial/fraud charges).
 
That information is available. Upon relocating, technically you have xx days to get your paperwork updated (maybe 60?). Riding on Ontario plates and insurance for a long time while living in BC probably isn't worth the risk (tickets and potential insurance denial/fraud charges).
Thanks for the reply. I read that and there is also one case that you don't need to apply for new plate and license if you are visiting/touring BC under 6 months. Maybe this is a way to avoid hefty Ontario insurance cancellation and get the BC plates after?
 
Thanks for the reply. I read that and there is also one case that you don't need to apply for new plate and license if you are visiting/touring BC under 6 months. Maybe this is a way to avoid hefty Ontario insurance cancellation and get the BC plates after?
Ontario cancellation is normally not bad. Insurance has a minimum retained premium which I thought was <25% for most companies. If you have a few summer months here, you've already used up more than that. No plate cancellation fee, either hand them in and get a portion of your sticker back or keep them and get nothing back but you owe nothing extra.
 

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