I have an insurance question for those of you from Ontario. Last year I had a second accident and decided to let my insurance lapse because it was getting too expensive. My broker told me that if I didn't fax them repair receipts from the accident that I would be cancelled, but I called my insurance company (Pafco) directly and spoke with the woman who was handling the claim and was told specifically that I couldn't be cancelled for not repairing my vehicle (it was cosmetic damage only)
However after about a month I got a notice from my company that I would be cancelled and called my broker right away. He told me not to worry about it because I would be starting from a 0 star rating anyway and the cancellation wouldn't affect my rates, and since I was going let it lapse anyway I just took the pro-rated check and forgot about it.
One year later and my driving record has cleared up a little with some convictions coming off and I was checking some online quotes. I had expected to pay about $4000.00 a year for insurance, but the quotes were much lower then I expected $1500 to $1900 depending on the vehicle. However if I check off, "was canceled" the online quotes can't offer me a price. My question is, does the cancellation make a big difference to your rate, and does it matter what the cancellation was for? Refusing to repair cosmetic damage seems a very petty way to cancel my coverage.
