Your Credit Score Can't Touch Your Car Insurance. It Can Touch Your Home Insurance.
Two policies, two different rulebooks, same person.
"Does my credit score affect my insurance?"
I get asked this more than almost anything else.
The answer is no, and also yes, and the difference depends on which policy you're asking about.
Auto: no
In Ontario, auto insurance rates are regulated. Insurers file their rating factors with FSRA and can only price on what's been approved.
Credit is not on that list. It cannot be used to set your car insurance premium, and an insurer cannot refuse you auto coverage over it.
What they can rate on:
Driving record and convictions
At-fault claims
Years licensed
Vehicle make, model and year
Where you park it
How far you drive
Home: yes, if you let them
Home insurance in Ontario is not rate-regulated the same way.
Most home insurers will ask permission to run a soft credit check, and a strong credit profile often earns a discount. A soft check does not affect your score.
You can decline. If you do, you're usually quoted without the discount rather than refused.
Why this trips people up
Because the two policies arrive from the same company, in the same envelope, often on the same day.
So when a home premium moves and a credit score moved in the same year, people connect them to the car too. They aren't connected.
The Rate Board - week of Oct 15
Co-operators -3.73% · in effect since Sep 11
Allstate -1.64% · in effect since Sep 15
Pembridge -1.45% · in effect since Sep 15
The Personal -5.3% · takes effect Nov 28
Certas (Desjardins) -2% · takes effect Nov 28
A cut only reaches you if your renewal falls on or after the effective date. One day earlier and you wait a year.
✓ Auto premium up? Look at convictions, claims, vehicle, postal code - not credit
✓ Home quote feels high? Ask whether a credit consent was declined
✓ Bundling still generally beats either policy standing alone
Two policies. Two rulebooks. Worth knowing which one you're arguing with.
Got a renewal that jumped and no idea why? Reply with the two numbers - old and new - and I'll tell you where to look first.