OHTA.ca

Just reivew all the topics in the website, realize that you guys are really helpful!

Thanks for your attention at the begining!

So here is my case. I am from BC and currently stay in Ontario for school, my veichel is registered in BC as well as my insurance and veichel plates. But since I arrived, I changed my driver license to Ontario's, but not the insurace, either the plates because I didn't know it is a law here.

This Jan, I stopped by an officer, when he checked my insurance, then told me my insurance is not valid, because my license had been transfer from BC to Ontario more than one month. He said he is going to charge me for no insurance, no plates and fail to surrdenr vaild iusurance. But he didn't take off my plate at the time which he said is a grace to me. I came to Ontario for school since last September.

Should I plead guilty to the Crown? The other question is, is it possible to obtain insurance at this time? No brokers want to offer me insurance because these haven't be convicted.

Any help is greatly appreciated!!!

I would not just plead guilty to those offences. Consider representation or working out some type of plea deal with the Crown. Operating a motor vehicle with no insurance is a serious offence and carries a serious monetary penalty.

Thanks Stanton! But it seems hopeless to win the case doesn't it? it seems plead guilty will reduce the fine!

Without knowing all the details, I wouldn't want to hazard a guess as to whether you should go to trial or not. You may want to consider at least having a consultation with a paralegal to review the case.

Just be aware that the fine for operating a motor vehicle with no insurance is $5,000. I would not just walk in and plead guilty hoping for the best. At least have a first attendance meeting with the Crown and explain the situation. See if they can offer you any kind of deal, like a joint submission for a greatly reduced fine on the insurance charge if you agree to plead guilty. Also be prepared to explain to the JP your financial situation. If you're a student, you're going to want any possible reduction in fines and an extended time to pay them.

As for the other two charges, depending on what section you were actually charged under, the fine for driving with no plates is comparatively quite minor. The other charge for failing to surrender the insurance card sounds like it should be withdrawn by the Crown, since that's just a double whammy if you've also been charged with no insurance.

There is no basis in law for saying that insurance of another province is automatically no longer valid if you've been out of that province for more than a month. Your insurance company may have canceled the insurance for that reason or there may be something in the insurance policy about that, but the officer would have had to verify that with the insurance company. I believe he's incorrect if he's just basing his assessment on his understanding of the Compulsory Automobile Insurance Act.

If you had valid out-of-province insurance, you had valid insurance. Check with ICBC to see if your policy is/was valid, then see if they can send you a letter indicating that you did, in fact, have valid insurance on the date of offence. Present that to the Prosecutor and they should drop the charge. Otherwise, if they don't, ask them to cite a law or reference which indicates that somehow that insurance was no longer valid after one month in Ontario. Not changing your plates over will probably stick. But I don't think there's anything in the Insurance Act or CAIA that says your insurance was not valid.