Good Evening everyone.

My mom was charged this past winter with improper/unsafe lane change after a minor accident this past winter. She met with the prosecutor yesterday and had the ticket reduced to a lesser fine which has no demerit points tied to it. She was informed by her insurance company that her premium has increased $800 because of the accident even though a claim was not made to repair her vehicle. Could someone please shed some light on how this is possible?

Insurance companies look at all HTA convictions, not just those with demerit points. I also believe they look at all reported accidents, regardless if a claim was made or not.

Demerit points is a Ministry of Transportation penalty system to help promote safer driving and to penalize those who are too reckless. They mean nothing to insurance companies. Insurance companies don't look at your points and they don't care about your points. Points stay on your record 2 years from the date of the offense, not the day you were convicted. Points are overrated. They are only a problem for novice drivers and people who shouldn't be on the road in the first place. Majority of drivers will never collect enough points for it to be meaningful, while those that do certainly deserve what's coming to them.

Insurance companies only want to see your convictions. From there, they place your convictions in a bracket (eg. minor, major, and see you later). Insurance companies base their pricing on risk. People who are charged with driving offenses are more likely to require some sort of payout during the time their insured. If someone has multiple charges for speeding between 1-15km, they are a bigger risk than a person with none, even though they carry zero demerit points. It's quite possible to be dropped by your insurance company for multiple convictions carrying zero points.

plus she is still at fault for the collision.

ops

Thanks for the information!

As per OPS Copper's post, what about 'no fault insurance'?

The term "no fault" is a bit misleading. It simply means that regardless of who is at fault in an accident, you deal with your own insurance company. Your company will pay for all your losses rather than requiring you go through the at fault drivers company. Also note that even if the police dont lay a charge, the insurance company will still typically assign fault to someone. They have their fault determination rules (http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/regs/e ... 0668_e.htm) which lists various accident scenarios and show how much fault to assign a driver.

Would something like a failure to provide proof of insurance warrant an insurance increase?

Yes. The Insurance Bureau of Canada has a FAQ here: http://www.ibc.ca/en/Car_Insurance/docu ... re_Eng.pdf

Page 12 lists many of the common offences that can impact your rates. Failing to provide proof of insurance is on the list of minor offences.

Now depending on your provider and policy, they may overlook a minor offence, but it has the potential to increase your rates.