I was driving a borrowed van on the 401 southbound toward Toronto. Was stopped because officer thought he saw me using a device. I wasn't, it was a coffee. After providing ownership and the insurance slip, the officer noted the slip had expired. It wasn't my van, I had my own proof of insurance but was told it wasn't useful for the borrowed van. I was issued a $60 (or $50?) fine and could fight it in Brockville but I chose to go and pay it in Ottawa where I live. The owner was insured and just hadn't replaced the paper in the van that he rarely drives, I was insured as mentioned. I thought it was all water under the bridge, he even gave me $60 to cover the fine! A super great guy.

Fast forward to today while speaking to my insurance agent, my rates are being raised because of it by almost $200 per year. I have no other records or tickets on there at all. My insurance agent told me I could try to speak to the MTO about it to have it removed but I don't have a clue where I can start.

Somehow seems so unreasonable a punishment for something that ultimately wasn't for my car or reflective of my insurance.

An thoughts?

Appreciated and hello!

Failure to provide proof of insurance will indeed raise your rates if your provider chooses to do so. It falls into the minor bracket, meaning it's treated no different than your average speeding ticket or most tickets your average driver will encounter while driving.

The key thing point here is your failure to do so "upon the demand of a police officer."

You were not charged with not having insurance. You were charged for not providing evidence of insurance when asked, regardless of whether you were insured or not.

As the driver, you are responsible regardless of who owns the vehicle. In the end, it would be irrelevant if the driver is insured, if the owner was insured, if it was the old slip, etc. They don't relate to the charge. They demanded and unfortunately you could not provide.

Sometimes you can schedule an early resolution meeting, show the current insurance slip, and they might let it slide. They are certainly under no obligation to do so. In the end, it's not proof against the charge.

You have already plead guilty to the charge on your own, so there isn't much you can do about it at this point apart from waiting it out.

Thanks, I really appreciate your input. I am going to shop insurance providers to see if I can find one that isn't going to ding me.

Cheers!!!

Sean