Did you just receive a letter in the mail that says your insurance policy is being cancelled for underwriting reasons?
What the heck?
WHY?!?!
That’s probably shocking, isn’t it? Why would an insurance company cancel your insurance policy? Do they not want you as a customer? And what exactly does “underwriting reasons” mean?
What are “underwriting reasons”?
In Ontario, a car insurance company is required to file their underwriting rules with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario (FSCO). Part of these underwriting rules are reasons to decline to insure or decline to renew a policy. For example, one of their decline reasons might say, “driver has 3 or more minor convictions in 3 years.” Another one might say, “driver has 2 or more at-fault accidents in 6 years.” Now, if any driver falls into one of these decline rules, the insurance company will not insure them on a new policy or, if already a customer, will not renew their policy.
These declination rules are not subjective. They’re straight forward and clear. The insurance company cannot give leniency to any one person because then everybody will expect to get the same leniency. They follow the rules to the tee.
Home insurance companies also have underwriting rules that they follow. Usually they don’t insure people that have, say, 2 or more claims in a certain period, usually 5 years or 6 years.
Does the insurance company not want me as a customer?
Of course, getting a cancellation letter is shocking. But remember, nobody decided to cancel you personally. These decisions are not subjective; they’re based strictly on the underwriting rules files with the Financial Services Commission of Ontario. So if you received a cancellation letter from your insurance company, it’s not that they don’t want you to be their customer, but you just happened to fall into one of their declination rules.
What do you do now?
If you’ve been cancelled by you car or home insurance company, call us at 1-888-467-5499. We can insure people that other insurance companies will not, including people with multiple tickets, serious convictions, and multiple claims.
