“22 Yr. Old Son Charged With No Insurance; Help Please!”

This is my son's first offence.

He did not pay his insurance for 2 months. He was charged with no insurance.

What suggestions do you have for him to address his issue?

His court date is in April.

He works hard and is a good young man outside of making a very serious mistake with poor money management.

Any suggestions are welcomed?

Does he ask to get the $5,000 + reduced or seek legal help?

Worried momma bear.

There's no set fine for driving without insurance. There's a minimum and a maximum. Minimum I believe is something like $5,000 plus fees. Maximum is something like $25,000, suspension, and jail time.

For a first offense, it's more than likely he'd receive the bare minimum.

Not much you can do about this charge when you stop paying your insurance for months. You either had insurance or you didn't. I guess the goal would be to come out with the least amount of damage.

As Bend mentions, there's not much you can argue to escape conviction on a no insurance charge---you either had insurance or you didn't. If your son decides to fight the charge, the prosecution will likely call his insurance agent/broker to confirm that he indeed did not have any insurance and was mailed or called several times to tell him about the coverage lapse. That's a fairly routine way of prosecuting these charges to avoid people trying to say that they 'didn't know' their insurance had expired.

However, your son CAN ask the court to reduce the minimum fine of $5,000. That's quite commonly done. It's done pursuant to section 59(2) of the Provincial Offences Act. To qualify for a reduction in the minimum fine, he'll have to establish that:

* there are exceptional circumstances in his case and that the minimum fine would be unduly oppressive (or not in the interests of justice).

So, he should have a good explanation of why paying the $5K would be unduly oppressive (e.g. he's unemployed, has several children to take care of, is disabled and/or his job prospects are limited, etc.). However, if he's employed and been so for the past few months, is driving a costly vehicle and/or has no dependents, its almost certain that the minimum amount won't be reduced.

Thank you for the feedback.

What is the likelihood that hiring a company (former cops) will help him to reduce his fine?

I wouldn't want him to throw away more mo ey that he doesn't have.

There is case law that says minimum fines are not to be lowered...having said that, some Justices of the Peace will still lower it...it will be a *EDIT* shoot when you get into court as to which one you will get...so asking for relief under section 59(2) of the Provincial Offences Act may not work.

Sarah Paige wrote:This is my son's first offence.

He did not pay his insurance for 2 months. He was charged with no insurance.

What suggestions do you have for him to address his issue?

His court date is in April.

He works hard and is a good young man outside of making a very serious mistake with poor money management.

Any suggestions are welcomed?

Does he ask to get the $5,000 + reduced or seek legal help?

Worried momma bear.

Not sure where the court house is located however, some prosecutors will amend the charge to failing to produce insurance 3(1) CAIA, with a mid range fine.