Do Parking Tickets Affect Insurance in Ontario?

Nobody likes to walk back to their vehicle to find a parking ticket stuck to the windshield. However, it is an inconvenience that many of us have had to face. If you have received one of these pesky tickets and have had to pay the price for your mistake, you may be wondering, do parking tickets affect insurance? Fortunately, they are treated differently than speeding infractions. 

Do Parking Tickets Affect Insurance Rates?

The short answer is no, typically parking tickets do not affect your auto insurance. Moving violations, like speeding or careless driving, go on your driving record. Whereas, parking tickets do not. 

When crafting a quote for your car insurance, your insurance broker will check your driving history, but will have no way of seeing how many parking tickets you have incurred. Not only that, parking tickets don’t typically mean that you’re more likely to get into an accident or file a claim, which is one of the factors brokers look at when crafting your quote. 

Another common question is whether demerit points are deducted when you receive a parking ticket. Similar to the question of whether parking tickets affect insurance, demerit points are not affected by parking tickets because they are not a part of your driving abstract. 

What Are The Different Types of Parking Tickets?

There are a number of different parking tickets that you can receive and they all carry a financial burden. These include parking:

• At an expired metre
• In a ‘no parking’ zone
• In a ‘no stopping’ zone
• In an accessible parking spot without a permit
• Too close to or blocking a fire hydrant or lane

What To Do If You Get a Parking Ticket

If you receive a parking ticket, we advise you to pay it off right away. In Ontario, you typically have 15 days to pay your parking ticket. Failure to act will result in a parking violation being sent to the Ministry of Transportation.

You will also have the option to apply for an extension or to dispute the ticket. If you choose to dispute the parking ticket, you must do so before the 15 day deadline. 

Will My Insurance Be Affected If I Don’t Pay a Parking Ticket?

If you don’t pay a parking ticket by the deadline then you will begin to incur interest fees. If it goes unpaid for too long, you may be prevented from renewing the sticker on your license plate or your driver’s license which will not impact your insurance rates but could impact your ability to drive. 

If you are outside of Ontario and your parking tickets are sent to a collection agency, this could negatively impact your credit score, which in turn may affect the price of your insurance. If you are inside of Ontario, insurers can only look at your credit score when calculating home insurance NOT auto insurance. 

What Tickets Affect My Insurance Rate?

Although parking tickets do not impact your insurance, there are some tickets that will. Some of the most common tickets which may affect your insurance include:

• Speeding tickets
• Failure to stop at a stop sign
• Careless driving
• Intoxicated or drunk driving 
• Distracted driving

These violations are added to your driving record and come with their own consequences. Not only do these tickets affect your insurance, but they can also result in a fine or more serious consequences, such as jail time. 

Will My Insurance Be Affected By A Single Ticket?

If you have an otherwise clean driving abstract, your insurance premium may not be impacted by a single speeding violation. However, more serious infractions and multiple tickets may raise the alarm and make an impact on your insurance rates.

In either situation, The Ostic Group will always go out of our way to find you an affordable auto insurance plan which meets your unique needs. We don’t believe in one-size-fits-all coverage and we offer a range of personal and commercial auto insurance options.If you are in the market for auto insurance or if you would like Ostic to review your current policy to ensure that you are getting the most value with your current provider, then get in touch with our helpful team today.