OHTA.ca

Hi,

I tried to call my insurance provider anonymously to ask some questions about stunt driving. The lady chuckled a bit and proceeded to tell me that there's no set amount. I asked if it depended on prior driving history, and that's when she told me she could not answer any of my questions.

Let's say the court finds me guilty of stunt driving. I get fined $2,000 and pay it in full, and receive 6 demerit points.

So what happens after that? I think my wife and I pay $1,100 or so for our car insurance. Our policy renews every September 1st.

1) Will my rates go up right away or only on the renewal date?

2) Is there a chance that the insurance company won't even find out about it?

3) If they don't find out about it for a few years, can they go back and retroactively charge me for what the rate should have been had they known about the conviction?

4) If the rate goes up to something I can't afford, can I just remove myself from the policy, so only my wife would be on it, with me as an occasional driver? Or would insurance companies refuse that kind of thing?

Jail: Doubt that will happen. Fine: I can pay it. Demerits: whatever. But the long lasting implications of insurance? I hope it doesn't 'drive' me crazy.

Thanks

1) Rates generally go up as of your renewal date. However, keep in mind that you are under an obligation to report to your insurer all "significant change" in your status as a driver or owner, as well as any change (not just significant change!) that might affect their willingness to insure you at the current rates. Check out section 1.4.1 of your insurance policy! Clearly, if you are suspended, you'll have to report that. Regardless, your insurer will just deny coverage if you are ever in an accident by just relying upon your breach (failure to notify). In other words, you can't win with insurers!

2) There's ALWAYS a chance they won't find out about it, but that's highly unlikely. Regardless, even if they don't find out about it at the time of your 'coverage', your perceived insurance protection will likely be worthless since they'll just deny coverage if something ever happens. Good luck then trying to sue them for coverage!.

3) They can't go back and seek additional payment for premiums. You never agreed to automatically renew your policy, so there is no contract in that regard. Rather, they just cancel your policy outright. They can always TRY to request more money for the arrears, but no court would give it to them----after all, they simply should have done their due diligence and would have not suffered any real damages; just pure economic losses (which courts seldomly recognize as valid damages in tort law).

4) Putting yourself on as an occasional driver will do very little towards reducing your premiums. Its about risk----you'd still be behind the wheel of a vehicle they are insuring. Impaired drivers think they can do this as a 'loop-hole'. They can't. In fact, most insurers will deny coverage to other drivers of the vehicle (i.e. your wife) unless she provides them a declaration that she will NOT allow you to drive the car at all and if she does, the insurance contract is void.

5) You're right; jail is generally unlikely unless its a subsequent offence, you have a horrible driving record and/or someone was hurt. Instead, you should generally expect a fine in the range of $2000 to $3000, 6 demerit points, plus at least a 30 day suspension.

Good luck with your case.

You shouldn't open several threads for the same topic, please read this: http://www.ontariohighwaytrafficact.com/topic2871.html

2) Running a driver's abstract at every renewal costs the insurance company money; if they've run your abstract for the past couple of years and haven't gotten anything... then it's less likely they'll spend more money running it in the future. They're losing money on you, and they'd rather run it on an insurance policy where a 16yr old is the occasional driver on his grandfather's 1000cc superbike.

4) I believe you have to sign an excluded driver's endorsement: https://www.fsco.gov.on.ca/en/auto/auto ... 3_05-1.pdf

Primary, Secondary & Occasional Drivers are simply semantics; your insurance company will rate the policy such that the highest risk driver is driving all the cars all the time.