Ontario Insurance, let the fun begin!

I don't understand this at all, my friend insured (through The Personal) his honda acty 2 wheel drive van in October. He had to endure the standard take a bunch of pictures, get an appraisal etc etc.. he also had to sign a document promising he wouldn't participate in ANY commercial undertakings with the van.

He was with Brooklyn insurance for approximately 20 years, they told him they would insure the vehicle but he couldn't use it to even drive back and forth to work... they wanted over $1800.00 to provide limited coverage. The personal covers him for a measly 600 bucks a year with no restrictions other than no commercial operation of the vehicle.

Good luck fellas.. I hope you manage to find a suitable carrier.


z

 

Yup, they said no more. This is horrible.

 

As a previous auto dealer, I can certainly get a dealer's license again and get a dealer plate, but that really doesnt help the situation for anyone else.

 

all I want for christmas....

.....is insurance. I just got off the phone with Dejardin again. The agent asked if I had sent the latest set of info to the senior agent. Yes(again). Oh, they haven't replied to me yet (again). So she says she will contact them and get back to me. She phoned back to say that she could only get through to their voicemail, and that she would let me know when they call her back...........Maybe New Years?op:

 

I feel your pain. I got my truck around this time of year last year almost to the day.

didn't get insurance for 40 days.

I feel your pain man.

 

I can't believe it. Desjardin finally came through, although I will not be renewed for next year. I have basic liability insurance starting tomorrow. It has only taken since June 12th to re-insure my trucks. Don't bother trying to call them however, as I only got in because I started the process so long ago. I suppose I'll try driving out west next Dec/Jan to a province where these trucks are still welcome. ARRRRGH!

 

Well congratulations!

That is so nice of them.

I just my insurance today as well. Registered as a "commercial" vehicle.

I wonder what is needed to start an insurance company?

 

did they state a reason for not renewing your policy next year? Is this something everyone with Desjardin should be concerned about?

 

according to the agents I talked with, Desjardin will no longer be renewing coverage on RHD. Start checking if you are with them now.

 

you should call them again and make sure. I literally just got off the phone with a rep and she said that all vehicles policies are reviewed each year and the fact that I had an appraisal and they new it was RHD means I should have no issues getting renewed in 2013. I asked her if the fact that it's a minitruck and not a 1000hp street racer plays a role in their renewal criteria and she said yes.

I'm also a member on the GTRCanada forum cause i want to stay up to date with everything RHD and there's a thread there discussing the same thing.

it may be different if you're a high risk driver and have many driving offences, but as of now there is no policy in place to drop all RHD vehicles in 2013, it's just simply not the case.

do your own DD as well. The RHD community is tight and we'll benefit from keeping communication open.

 

Scratch dejardins off the list. I insured my Atrai with them back in Mar 2011. Got my Sambar in Sept 2011 but was not able to insure it until Nov due to dejardins giving me the wrong information. When it was all straightened out they said they would cover the Sambar only because I was already insured for the Atrai BUT as of Mar 2012 they are dropping me because they are NO LONGER covering RHD

Thank god I forgot to switch my house insurance over to them!!!!

I think it's about time we go on the politicians asses and tell them that if it's legal to bring these vehicles into Canada, then the insurance companies HAVE to cover them at decent rates.

 

that's messed up man. I'll see if they drop me as of Mar 2012. They'll get an ear full if they do especially considering aforementioned phone conversation on the matter. I have every reason to believe I'll have this Sambar insured with them until it dies.

 

I would certainly start trying to get this information from various reps in writing or at least inform them that you are taking notes while speaking to them on the phone. There is a case of obligation if the company rep tells you or leads you to believe that their company will insure RHD vehicles. Of course, this obligation might not be worth poop. Is anyone following this on the IVOAC forum? Another very tight and militant group of RHD enthusiasts. You can always come to Manitoba for a holiday and get insurance!

Good luck guys! Ralph in Winnipeg

 

I feel confident I'll be insured past March 2012. At the very least the yearly renewal policy they mailed me before the end of the year states I'll be insured until next year in 2013. If they backslide on that come March 2012 then I have written proof they agreed to otherwise.

 

i gotta call them to say I have recently put snow tires on, you get a 5% discount if you have them.

I'll ask again. See what they say.

 

I have tried almost every company. Brokers and agents all are saying pretty much only Facility Insuranace is the only carrier. About $1900 for my Sambar. Spoke to Desjardin and are not covering RHD as of november. I did talk to someone high up in Co-operators and trying to shoe them how many of us are have this problem and that they have a niche market. Because they insure these vehicles out west, but not in Ont. If any Co-op people call and bug your agent to call the head office maybe their is something to be said about strength in numbers. If any one has other info about insurance in Ont. that would be helpfull. Please help. I am about to sell this truck for cheap otherwise.

 

I feel for you. I have heard that you can still get commercial insurance if you have some sort of small business. As well, have you tried Silver wheels, or Haggardy? They are collector car insurance only, and are restrictive, but at least they are cheap, and you'll be able to drive the thing. I now have only 10 months left before mine expires

 

I did call Silver wheels, cheap but restrictive. I was hoping to turn this into a little mud buggy and they did not like that. I am waiting for that aww haw moment hoping there is insurance on the horizion.

 

after Dejardins telling me they were dropping me when my renewal comes up, they send me my renewal. All I can do is shake my head and thank them for having me waste my time calling around to other insurance companies.

 

I've called Desjardine 3 times since this threaded and other like it sprang up. Each time they've told me I'm fine, that I should have no issues getting renewed each year from here on out. If I crash, or rack up a number of moving violations, they may drop me, but that's no different than any other insurance company with a "normal" car.

 

Just dropping my 2 cents here. In quebec we can still insure the rhd because the compani has an obligation to insure you if no one else will but they will charge a premium rendering it non useful. They only way out of the loop in Qc is coverting to lhd cost less then premium. Their is a way to do the conversion right I am sure of it.

 

Mini4x4.ca has LHD trucks in stock in Quebec.

And yes, others will insure in Ontario the same way.. Facility Risk for $4000/yr. I did finally insure mine as a commercial vehicle for the business, but that sure does not help the vast majority of people.

 

Id have to call mini.ca about the lhd because I don't want the chopped up Philippine minis.

For Ontario if you convert to LHD do you have the insurance monkey of your back? Id be willing to do it if it would mean I can keep driving my things.

 

I gotta say, if the insurance companies would insure a RHD converted to LHD then they're nuts. Not that I think it's necessarily unsafe, but come on, that's major surgery on a vehicle just to move the steering wheel 3' to the left. Insane. Make sure it's done properly. Last thing we need is a converted RHD crashing and killing a bunch of people because the steering rack, or something else, failed.

bad press is not good for us.

 

For flying out loud.

I am having troubles with this forum since the change. I had a whole long thing written out, then go to post and it disappears. I have had this happen several times.

Anyhow, i agree with jessf. A factory RHD is better than converted LHD any day.

 

Mini4x4.ca LHD trucks are PH units, I am sure.

 

Thanks for comfirming they are PH units Minibrutes. I must say I pretty sure their is a way to convert it and be 100% safe it's only on the choice of parts and the execution of the build. I come from a family of car enthusiasts and I can say that anything you plan right is doable and safe.

 

A show of hands please: who thinks the insurance companies will be happy to insure you just because you have converted your rhd to lhd? All the insurance companies are concerned with is if your vehicle is on their list of vehicles that they are willing to cover. "I'm sorry Mr.Gotrek I can't find your Diahatsu Atari on our list". "It's a japanese import"? "That's a right hand drive correct"?" "I'm sorry, we don't cover rhd". I heard that enough times. Now are you going to spend $1000- $2000 changed to lhd just in the hopes that companies unwilling to cover the vehicle before will now do so and under a few thousand dollars a year?

 

My understanding when dealing with Dejardins (which never materialized) and others was that the vehicles would have to be 'unmodified'. I know this can mean a great deal of things especially when being compared to the drifter cars being brought over but I'm sure LHD conversion would be taboo.

 

They just dont want to insure them at least in QC they blamed the safety and then plain bluntly banned them in ON they seem to be just teasing and dancing around the ban.