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View previous version (April 2023) here
See your Certificate of Automobile Insurance for which automobile(s) this change applies to.
PLEASE NOTE: If You agree to enroll in the Sonnet Shift Program, these Terms and Conditions constitute an endorsement that amends and forms part of the terms and conditions of Your auto insurance Policy with Sonnet. It is therefore important that You read and understand these Terms and Conditions, including any amendments to them.
The Sonnet Shift Program is a usage-based telematics program that is operated and administered by Sonnet through the Sonnet App. You will therefore be required to download, Activate (as defined below) and agree to all of the terms and conditions regarding usage of the Sonnet App on Your mobile phone and to all of these Terms and Conditions in the Sonnet App in order to participate in the Sonnet Shift Program. You may also be required to agree to amendments to the terms and conditions regarding usage of the Sonnet App or amendments to these Terms and Conditions in order to continue to participate in the Sonnet Shift Program.
All other terms and conditions of the Policy remain the same.
Unless defined elsewhere in these Terms and Conditions, the following terms have the following meanings:
“Activate”, “Activates”, or “Activated” means downloading the Sonnet App, agreeing to these Terms and Conditions within the Sonnet App, and granting the required mobile permission settings as instructed in the Sonnet App;
“Certificate of Automobile Insurance” means the certificate of automobile insurance provided to You by Sonnet as part of Your Policy documents;
"Collected Data" means any and all data and information either entered by You or collected by the Sonnet App related to the Program, including any Trip Data and Personal Information that is inputted, collected or used by the Program;
“Data Collection Period” has the meaning set out in section 2.3;
“Deactivate” or “Deactivated” means removing the required mobile permission settings in the Sonnet App;
“Driving Result” has the meaning set out in section 2.5.3;
“Driving Score” has the meaning set out in section 2.4;
“Enrolled Driver” means any person who has enrolled and remains enrolled in the Sonnet Shift Program;
“Enrolled Vehicle” means a private passenger vehicle insured under a Sonnet automobile insurance Policy that is enrolled in the Program;
“Enrollment Discount” is the one-time enrollment discount referred to in section 2.5.1;
“Primary Named Insured” means the individual or entity listed first on the Certificate of Automobile Insurance as the primary named insured in a Policy;
“Personal Information” means all information about an identifiable individual. It includes, but is not limited to, an individual’s name, address, mobile phone number, email address, and the Trip Data;
“Policy” means an automobile insurance policy issued by Sonnet. It includes the Certificate of Automobile Insurance Page(s), any endorsements and changes to the Policy, and the Terms and Conditions;
“Policy Term Effective Date” is the effective date of Your Policy stated on the Certificate of Automobile Insurance;
“Premium” means the premium that is payable on a Policy;
“Principal Driver” means the person declared by the Primary Named Insured as the person who drives an Enrolled Vehicle the most and is listed as the Principal Driver on Your Certificate of Automobile Insurance;
“Privacy Terms” has the meaning set out in section 3 of these Terms and Conditions;
"Program" means the Sonnet Shift Program;
“Secondary Driver” means any driver in the household not rated as a Principal Driver or Young Driver and is listed as a Secondary Driver on Your Certificate of Automobile Insurance;
"Sonnet", "We" and "Us" refers to Sonnet Insurance Company;
“Sonnet App” means the Sonnet mobile application;
“Shift Adjustment” refers to the use of Your Collected Data to create a personalized Premium based on Your driving behaviour and distance driven, as set out in section 2.5.2;
“Shift Privacy Terms” means the privacy terms set out in section 3 of these Terms and Conditions;
“Terms and Conditions” means these terms and conditions;
“Term” means the term of Your Policy;
"Trip" means any trip recorded by the Sonnet App resulting from the operation of any automobile by an Enrolled Driver;
“Trip Data” means all of the driving data collected during Trips and includes the information referred to in section 3.4;
"You" and "Your" refer to the Primary Named Insured in the Policy and/or Enrolled Driver;
“Young Driver” means a driver under the age of 25 that is not rated as a Principal Driver or Secondary Driver, is not married to the Principal Driver, and is listed as an Inexperienced Secondary Driver on Your Certificate of Automobile Insurance;
The Sonnet Shift Program is designed to offer you personalized premiums based on your driving habits such as how much you drive, how well you drive, where you drive, and when you drive. These driving habits are assessed every three months from your Term effective date as part of your Shift Adjustment, putting you in control of your Premium. Your Premium may increase, decrease, or remain unchanged on a quarterly basis when you participate in the Program.
You must Activate the Sonnet App within 30 calendar days, from the effective date of Your enrollment in the Program. Your participation in the Program will be terminated automatically if You fail to Activate the Sonnet App within this timeframe. If the Primary Named Insured is an Enrolled Driver, the failure of a Primary Named Insured to Activate the Sonnet App within 30 calendar days from the effective date of their enrollment will further result in a surcharge to the Premium of the Primary Named Insured when the Primary Named Insured is moved to a traditional auto insurance Policy. The amount and duration of this surcharge will be determined in accordance with Sonnet’s filings, as filed and/or approved by the regulators.
When you enroll in the Program for the first time, you will be entitled to benefit from a one-time Enrollment Discount. This is a discount provided by Sonnet to all Sonnet Shift Enrolled Drivers to welcome you to the Program. The Enrollment Discount may be in place for a maximum of two Data Collections Periods, as long as you meet the criteria set out in section 2.5.1.
On your Shift Adjustment, your Enrollment Discount may be replaced by your Driving Result. The Driving Result is a discount or surcharge based on Collected Data for the following driving events including, but not limited to, smooth driving, speed, mobile use while driving, driver fatigue, time of day during which Trips are made, and road risk. The kilometers attributed to You and each driver assigned to the Enrolled Vehicle will also be a factor in personalizing your Premium and will be evaluated on each Shift Adjustment. Additionally, We may reward you for driving less when you renew your Policy with Sonnet. You may qualify to receive a Mileage Discount provided that you meet the Mileage Discount criteria as described in section 2.5.5.
To find out the Program’s possible effects on your Premium, read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on our website at sonnet.ca.
You are not required to participate in the Program in order to purchase a Policy with Sonnet. You are also not required to enroll every vehicle listed on your Policy in the Program. As such, some of your vehicles may be Enrolled Vehicles and others may not be. However, for a vehicle to be enrolled and remain enrolled in the Program, certain listed drivers on the vehicle must agree to be enrolled and remain enrolled. The drivers assigned to Enrolled Vehicles must also meet the eligibility criteria as described in section 2.1.
You may unenroll from the Program at any time. However, if the Principal Driver or a Young Driver of an Enrolled Vehicle is unenrolled or is removed from the Program, then the Enrolled Vehicle and all other Enrolled Drivers assigned to that vehicle will also be unenrolled from the Program. For more information on how to unenroll drivers and vehicles, read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) on our website at sonnet.ca. It is important to note that if you unenroll or are removed from the Program after you have 20 trips and 300 kilometers attributed to you in a Data Collection Period, we may continue to use your Collected Data in the calculation of your Premium once the unenrollment or removal is processed. These conditions are described in section 2.6 and section 4.1.
By accepting the Terms and Conditions in the Sonnet App, you will be deemed to have read and to be bound by these Terms and Conditions at all times while you are enrolled in the Program.
Changes to the Shift Terms and Conditions may be made either at renewal or during the Term of your Policy. The Primary Named Insured is deemed to have accepted any revisions to the Shift Terms and Conditions as of the date of renewal of the Policy if the Primary Named Insured chose to renew their Policy with Sonnet. In the event that we make changes to the Shift Terms and Conditions during the Term of your Policy, You may be required to accept these changes in the Sonnet App in order to continue using the Sonnet App and to remain enrolled in the Program (if you are enrolled). If You do not accept the changes to the Shift Terms and Conditions when requested, your continued use of the Sonnet App and your enrollment in the Program may be terminated by us. If you do not agree with any changes to the Shift Terms and Conditions you must unenroll from the Program.
To enroll a vehicle in the Program and for a vehicle to remain eligible:
To enroll and remain enrolled in the Program, all Enrolled Drivers must:
A Term is divided into four data collection periods (each a “Data Collection Period”). The first Data Collection Period starts on the Policy Term Effective Date. Each Data Collection Period is three months long, and the Data Collection Periods run consecutively, so there are no points during the Term that are not part of a Data Collection Period. The fourth and final Data Collection Period ends on the final day of the Term.
The collection of Trip Data does not begin until You download and Activate the Sonnet App and complete all steps necessary to enroll in the Program.
If the start date of Your Trip Data collection is not the same date as the start of a Data Collection Period, there is no effect on the start and end dates of Data Collection Period. For example, if a Data Collection Period were to start on January 1 in any given year and end on March 31 of that year, and You didn’t complete all the steps necessary to enroll in the Program until February 1 of that year, Trip Data would be collected from February 1 until March 31. The Data Collection Period would continue to be from January 1 to March 31, and the next Data Collection Period would start on April 1. A Shift Adjustment would be made on April 1 at the start of the next Data Collection Period.
The Trip Data collected during each Trip will be used to determine Your Driving Scores. The Driving Scores will be presented in the Sonnet App as scores out of 100 (“Driving Score”).
Driver Scores will be based on an Enrolled Driver’s driving behaviour including, but not limited to, smooth driving, speed, mobile phone use while driving, driver fatigue, time of day during which Trips are made, and road risk. These driving events and factors as well as kilometres driven will be continuously collected while You remain in the Program.
Your overall Driving Score is created by averaging all of Your individual Driving Scores from Trips in the last 90 days. The overall Driving Score is adjusted after each Trip, whether or not the automobile You are driving is insured under the Policy. The Sonnet App requires You to indicate whether You are the driver or a passenger for each Trip. If you fail to do so, the Sonnet App may automatically assign you as a driver or passenger. Only Trips where You are the driver will be counted towards the Driving Score.
If You are not automatically assigned and You are a passenger for a Trip but do not select Your status as a passenger in the Sonnet App within 72 hours of the end of the Trip, You will be automatically attributed as the Driver for that Trip.
The following will NOT count towards the overall Driving Score:
The purpose of the overall Driving Score is to determine the Driving Result that You could potentially receive.
There are three elements of the Program that may affect Your Premium while You are enrolled. They are:
When You enroll in the Program for the first time, You will be entitled to benefit from a one-time Enrollment Discount. This is a discount provided by Sonnet to Enrolled Drivers to welcome You to the Program.
Sonnet uses the Enrollment Discount in place of Driving Result until there is enough Trip Data to produce a Driving Result for an Enrolled Driver, or for a maximum of two Data Collection Periods.
The Enrollment Discount will be removed and replaced with a Driving Result at the end of Your first Data Collection Period if You have a minimum of 20 Trips and 300 kilometers attributed to You. If You do not have a minimum of 20 trips and 300 kilometers attributed to You by the end of the first Data Collection Period, You will maintain Your Sonnet Shift Enrollment Discount for one more Data Collection Period at which point it will be removed.
If You have been or are currently enrolled in the Program and We have a Driving Score for you, we will use Your Driving Score that was applied on the last Shift Adjustment or collected at the time of your unenrollment from the Program, to provide You with a Driving Result in lieu of an Enrollment Discount.
Shift Adjustments are determined from the Trip Data that is collected during each Data Collection Period. They are applied as a rating factor to the Premium, on the first day of the following Data Collection Period.
Shift Adjustments are comprised of two components:
The Primary Named Insured will receive an updated Certificate of Automobile Insurance including an Automobile Billing Statement indicating any adjustment in Premium every time a Shift Adjustment is made.
Please note, that for each Data Collection Period, the Shift Adjustment may result in Your Premium decreasing, increasing, or remaining unchanged.
Your adjusted Premium may increase if:
Your adjusted Premium may decrease if:
Your adjusted Premium may remain unchanged if:
The monthly payment schedule will be adjusted accordingly to reflect the increased or decreased payments.
The Driving Result is a percentage discount or surcharge applied to Your Premium based on Your overall Driving Score for that Data Collection Period. For more information on how discounts apply to Your Premium, read our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) via our website at sonnet.ca.
To be eligible to receive a Driving Result on Your Shift Adjustment, You must have a minimum of 20 trips and 300 km attributed to You during a Data Collection Period.
Once We apply a Driving Result to Your Premium on a Shift Adjustment, We will continue to apply the same Driving Result on future Shift Adjustments unless You have 20 trips and 300 km attributed to You in a new Data Collection Period and Your Driving Score has changed.
To help You understand how Your driving habits will affect Your Driving Result on Your next Shift Adjustment, We provide You with Your projected Driving Result in the Sonnet App. This is a projection only and may not be representative of the actual Driving Result applied on Your Shift Adjustment.
Throughout the Term, We track the kilometers attributed to each Enrolled Driver that is assigned to the Enrolled Vehicle. We use these kilometres to calculate a percentage of use (or “Mileage Contribution”) for each Enrolled Driver.
Secondary Drivers not enrolled in the Sonnet Shift Program are assigned a combined default mileage contribution. The total Mileage Contribution for all drivers on the vehicle equals 100%.
The Mileage Contribution will be re-assessed on each quarterly Shift Adjustment, renewal, as well as any policy change to add or remove a driver from an Enrolled Vehicle.
The Mileage discount is based on the annualized mileage driven by You during the Policy Term, taking into account Trips where You are designated as a driver in the Sonnet App. To qualify for the Mileage Discount on Your next renewal Term and to remain eligible for the discount:
We will use real-time mileage data collected from the Sonnet App, at the time We generate Your renewal offer, to determine Your Mileage Discount eligibility. If eligible, the Mileage Discount will be applied to the Premium payable for the subsequent Term.
If any Secondary Driver assigned to the Enrolled Vehicle un-enrolls from the Program but remains assigned to the Enrolled Vehicle, the Mileage Discount will be automatically removed from all drivers assigned to the vehicle effective the date of the Secondary Driver(s) unenrollment.
Your Shift Adjustment is one of many considerations used to determine the overall Premium.
At each renewal, Your Premium may be higher or lower based on factors other than a change in Your Shift Adjustments. These factors, include, but are not limited to rating criteria, such as accidents and traffic tickets.
Collected Data may continue to be used as a pricing factor on auto insurance policies by Sonnet and affiliated companies of Sonnet if an Enrolled Driver’s enrollment in the Program ceases. Collected Data may be used as a pricing factor pursuant to the pricing rules of Sonnet and its affiliates that are filed and approved by the regulator.
Protecting Your privacy and the confidentiality of Your Personal Information is of utmost importance to Us. As a result, We have implemented a number of measures to safeguard Your Personal Information.
The Shift Privacy Terms together with Sonnet’s Privacy Policy (collectively, the "Privacy Terms"), as amended from time to time, will apply at all times while an Enrolled Driver is enrolled in the Program. Sonnet’s Privacy Policy is available at https://www.sonnet.ca/privacy.
By accepting and/or consenting to these Privacy Terms and any subsequent changes communicated to You by Us, You are deemed to have read and agreed to the Privacy Terms and to have consented to the collection, use and disclosure of Your Collected Data as described in the Privacy Terms.
The Sonnet App collects, uses, and discloses Your information in accordance with the Sonnet Privacy Policy. In addition to the information collected or provided to Us and governed by the Sonnet Privacy Policy, the Sonnet App collects Personal Information that You provide Us through the Sonnet App. This can include, but is not limited, to information relating to changes to Your Policy (such as adding or removing drivers or vehicles), changes to Your contact or billing information, and information relating to claims.
If You are enrolled in the Program, We will collect, use, and disclose Collected Data for the following purposes:
Please note that Collected Data may be accessed from, processed and stored in a foreign jurisdiction by Sonnet’s service providers. Your Collected Data may therefore be accessed by the courts, law enforcement and the national security authorities of a foreign jurisdiction when it is processed and stored abroad.
The Collected Data will not be used:
The Sonnet App will start collecting and processing Trip Data when Your mobile device’s internal sensors indicate to the Sonnet App that a Trip has started. In order for Your mobile device’s sensors to operate, Your mobile device must be turned on at all times.
The Sonnet App may display Trips even if the Enrolled Driver was a passenger during that Trip (including, for example, while riding in public transit vehicles). It is up to the Enrolled Driver to ensure that the Trip records are updated and reflect whether or not the Enrolled Driver was the driver or a passenger for any given Trip.
The Sonnet App will not collect Collected Data before Your mobile device’s internal sensors indicate that a Trip has started. The Sonnet App will stop collecting Collected Data when Your mobile device’s internal sensors indicate that a Trip has ended. Collected Data identifying either movement or Trips of less than 800 meters will not be recorded.
The Sonnet App will collect Trip Data with respect to each Trip that may include, but is not limited to, the following:
i.global positioning system (GPS) time and location data;
ii. accelerometer data, gyroscope data, location services on/off data, screen on/off data, magnetometer data, and other smartphone or instrumentation data; and,
iii. phone call start and end time.
The Sonnet App will also collect:
i. mobile device ID;
ii. Your mobile device’s battery level and charging status; and,
iii. technical information about Your mobile device’s hardware or software such as Your mobile device’s make and model, operating system version, software version, and other technical information relating to Your mobile device.
Once you have downloaded and Activated the Sonnet App, the Sonnet App will start accessing a limited amount of Trip Data. The Trip Data accessed prior to the effective date of Your enrollment will not be used to calculate Your Driving Score. This Trip Data is being collected by the Sonnet App for the limited purpose of enabling the Sonnet App to seamlessly start tracking driving behaviour on the effective date of Your enrollment in the Program.
Sonnet may provide access to or disclose the Collected Data to other insurance companies that are affiliated with Sonnet. This access or disclosure is to allow Sonnet’s affiliates to use the Collected Data for the purposes detailed above as well as, but not limited to, pricing purposes if You purchase or have an auto insurance policy with an affiliated company.
If your participation in the Program is terminated or comes to an end for any reason (whether by You, by Us, or otherwise) or if the Program is terminated, the Sonnet App will stop collecting Your Collected Data If the Sonnet App is opened after the effective date of your termination or unenrollment and you have an internet connection on Your mobile device. The Sonnet Shift Tab will be removed from the Sonnet App and collection of Collected Data will stop without any further action required from you.
If the Sonnet App is closed or you do not have an internet connection, You must open the Sonnet App after the effective date of Your termination or unenrollment in the Program once you have an internet connection, in order for the collection of Collected Data to stop. If you do not open the Sonnet App after the effective date of Your termination or unenrollment in the Program, the collection of Collected Data will continue, but the Collected Data will not be used to rate Your Policy.
If you are not a Primary Named Insured, You must uninstall the Sonnet App from Your mobile device and this will end the collection of Collected Data.
Following Your termination or unenrollment from the Program, Your Policy may remain in force provided you continue to be eligible for a Policy with Sonnet. However:
• You will no longer be eligible to receive an Enrollment Discount, Shift Adjustment, or a Mileage Discount;
• Your Premium will be adjusted accordingly as of the date of your termination or unenrollment from the Program (not the date of Your deactivation of the Sonnet App);
• We will unenroll the Enrolled Vehicles and all Enrolled Driver(s) attributed to an Enrolled Vehicle from the Program if You are the Principal Driver or Young Driver of the Enrolled Vehicle; and
• We may use the Collected Data obtained prior to the effective date of Your termination or unenrollment along with other rating criteria to personalize Your Premium with Sonnet and any Definity Affiliates, once your removal from the Sonnet Shift Program is processed.
If you decide, or we permit you, to re-enroll in the Program, your last Driving Score used to derive your Driving Result will be applied to your Premium upon re-enrollment in place of an Enrollment Discount.
You may end your participation in the Program at any time subject to the terms described in Section 4.1, above. Please see the FAQ section on the sonnet.ca website on how to end your participation.
If You opt out of the Program before you have 20 trips and 300 kilometers attributed to you in a Data Collection Period:
• You will no longer be eligible to receive an Enrollment Discount, Shift Adjustment, or a Mileage Discount;
• We will not use any Collected Data obtained before Your unenrollment date to personalize Your Premium.
If You opt out of the program after you have 20 trips and 300 kilometers attributed to you in a Data Collection Period:
• You will no longer be eligible to receive an Enrollment Discount, Shift Adjustment, or a Mileage Discount;
• We may use the Collected Data obtained prior to the effective date of Your unenrollment along with other rating criteria to personalize Your Premium with Sonnet and any Definity Affiliates, once your removal from the Sonnet Shift Program is processed.
We reserve the right at our sole discretion to terminate your enrollment in the Program at any time.
Circumstances under which We may terminate your enrollment in the Program include, but are not limited to:
• where You do not comply with any part of these Terms and Conditions;
• where You no longer meet the Eligibility for the Program criteria as outlined in section 2.1;
• where You no longer meet the Requirements of an Enrolled Driver as outlined in section 2.2;
• at the time of enrollment, if You do not Activate the Sonnet App within 30 calendar days of the effective date of your enrollment in the Program;
• if You fail to accept revised Terms and Conditions within the prescribed amount of time set by Us;
• We determine that the Sonnet App has been disabled, Deactivated, or deleted from Your mobile device;
• We are not able to capture an accurate assessment of Your driving behaviour, or the Collected Data is not reflective of Your actual driving behaviour;
• You reside or if the Enrolled Vehicle is used in certain regions where cellular coverage is non-existent or insufficient; or
• there has been a material change in Your risk characteristics.
Before We terminate your participation in the Program, We will notify You to explain that We will unenroll You from the Program unless the situation giving rise to our decision to terminate Your participation in the Program is remedied to our satisfaction. If We terminate Your enrollment in the Program before You have 20 trips and 300 kilometers attributed to You in a Data Collection Period:
• We will remove Your Program Enrolment Discount or Driving Result, and Your Mileage Discount;
• We will not use any Collected Data obtained before Your unenrollment date to personalize Your Premium.
If We terminate Your enrollment in the Program after You have 20 trips and 300 kilometers attributed to You in a Data Collection Period:
• You will no longer be eligible to receive an Enrollment Discount, Shift Adjustment, or a Mileage Discount;
• We may use the Collected Data obtained prior to the effective date of Your unenrollment along with other rating criteria to personalize Your Premium with Sonnet and any insurance companies that are affiliated with Sonnet once Your removal from the Program is processed.
If We terminate Your enrollment in the Program, or an Enrolled Vehicle is unenrolled by Us from the Program, Your re-enrolment in the Program will be at Sonnet’s discretion.
If a Principal Driver or a Young Driver on a particular Enrolled Vehicle unenrolls or is terminated from the Program, this endorsement will be removed automatically from that Enrolled Vehicle as of the date that the Principal Driver or the Young Driver unenrolls or is terminated from the Program.
The unenrollment or termination of any Secondary Driver from the Program will not result in the automatic unenrollment or termination of an Enrolled Vehicle from the Program.
If you are the Primary Named Insured and an Enrolled Driver and We terminate your enrollment in the Program due to Your failure to Activate the Sonnet App within 30 calendar days from the effective date of enrollment, a surcharge will be applied to your Premium when you transition to a traditional auto insurance Policy. This surcharge will remain in effect for the Primary Named Insured driver until either the Primary Named Insured driver re-enrolls in the Program and Activates the Sonnet App, or for a period of time determined in accordance with Sonnet’s filings as filed and/or approved by the regulators, whichever comes first.
If an Enrolled Driver is enrolled in the Program under more than one policy or vehicle at the same time, they may unenroll from the Program on one policy or vehicle without affecting their enrollment in the Program under other policies or vehicles.
We maintain the right to suspend or terminate the Program at any time. In addition, the Program may be amended or modified from time to time provided that no such action shall retroactively affect You.