What does a ticket do to your insurance? The ticket itself does nothing. The ticket is formal notice of a charge against you that you have contravened one of the rules of the road, more than likely the Highway Traffic Act. What will have an impact your risk profile to an insurance company is whether or not you are convicted of the offence you’ve been charged with. The charge carries two main options – plead not guilty, or plead guilty to the offence.
If one pursues the ‘not guilty’ option and is successful, the charges will have no impact on how they are classified by their insurer. On the other hand if they either plead guilty or are found to be guilty, then the charge will be registered as a conviction on their driving record. Insurers use the number of convictions one has as a means of assessing their risk. Section 6 of The Ontario Application for Automobile Insurance asks the applicant to, “Give details of all convictions of the applicant and any listed driver arising from the operation of any automobile in the last 3 years.” It is clear – all convictions registered against an applicant will have an impact for a period of 3 years. The 3 year period commences on the date of conviction, not from the date of the offence.
Convictions are grouped into 3 categories: Minor, Major and Serious/Criminal. Minor offences are those such as, Failure to Yield, Failure to Carry Insurance Card or Speeding no more than 49km/hr over the posted limit. Major offences are ones for which a summons is immediately issued, and the individual must answer for themselves in court, G1/M1 offences are typical of this class. Serious/Criminal offences are just that, serious and possibly criminal. This class includes Impaired Driving, Failure to Remain at the scene of an accident or Failure to Stop for a Police Officer.
Many insurers do not charge more for a single conviction, though the conviction might result in the loss of a ‘conviction free’ discount, the net result of which would be an increase in what the individual pays. If the individual accumulates over 3 minor convictions most insurers will cancel their coverage on renewal. Most standard insurers will also decline to insure anyone with a Major or Serious conviction on their record. For those individuals with multiple convictions or with Major or Serious convictions purchasing insurance will be an expensive endeavour, there are very few insurers willing to take such risks on. To learn more about how a specific conviction may impact your rates, call your agent or broker and ask. The conversation doesn’t impact your rates, but your driving record does – and you’re in full control of that.
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