10 Money Matters That Will Not Affect Your Ontario Auto Insurance Premium

• Ontario Regulation 664 details a variety of things about you that an auto insurer is not permitted to use when quoting you a price for coverage.
• From your income to your degree of indebtedness, we've listed 10 money matters that don't matter when it comes to your Ontario auto insurance rate.

Believe it or not, there are restrictions on what an insurer can use to determine your auto insurance rate.

There’s a lot that goes into the Ontario auto insurance rate you pay. Your driving record, insurance history, and the age and experience of any additional drivers on the policy will affect your premium. The type and number of vehicles to be insured and how many kilometres are driven annually also matters, as does where you live.

But do you know what doesn’t matter to your premium? Whether or not you rent or own the home you live in, and this is just one of many personal money matters about you an insurer cannot use when quoting you a price for your Ontario car insurance coverage.

Says who, you might ask? All this is according to Ontario Regulation 664, which makes up a part of the province’s Insurance Act.

Financial factors that can’t be used in deciding your Ontario auto insurance rate

When setting your auto premium, some of the details insurers are not permitted to use about you, or anyone listed on the policy, include:

1. Income or employment history
2. Your occupation or profession, however, there are exceptions to this rule. For example, these details can be used if the policy is for a commercial vehicle, public vehicle, or a vehicle for business, trade, or professional purposes.
3. Possessing, or not possessing, a credit card.
4. Credit history
5. Credit rating
6. A current or past bankruptcy
7. Residence history (e.g. evictions, how often you move etc.)
8. Homeownership
9. Gross or net worth
10. Indebtedness

There was a time before the pandemic when the province considered allowing insurers to access a person’s credit score for pricing purposes. If this were to move forward, many of the money matters listed above would come into play. However, there’s been little to no public movement on this front, and the practice continues to be banned.