Will Distracted Driving Increase Your Insurance Premiums?

A distracted driving conviction can significantly impact your car insurance. In addition to fines and demerit points, you may need to get high-risk auto insurance. Getting a distracted driving ticket can also lead to:

• Increased premiums: You will see an increase in your car insurance in Ontario
costs for the next few years.
• Loss of discounts: This causes you to lose your current safe driving or conviction-free discounts you have.
• Cancellation: This causes your insurer to refuse to renew your policy.
• Difficulty getting a policy: Getting future insurance may make getting coverage difficult when it’s time for your auto insurance renewal. Insurers, as you may not qualify for regular insurance anymore, put you into a high-risk driver category.

If caught driving while distracted, you will face fines and have demerit points on your driving record. Starting in 2019, you will also face a licence suspension.

Example of how distracted driving could increase your insurance

On a Tuesday afternoon in Toronto, Sarah, a 28-year-old graphic designer, was driving home from work. While navigating through the traffic, her phone started buzzing with notifications from her group chat. Tempted to check the messages, Sarah picked up her phone from the passenger seat, and for a moment, she took her eyes off the road.

Unbeknownst to Sarah, a police officer stationed at a nearby intersection noticed her actions. With a keen eye for distracted driving behaviours, the officer immediately pulled Sarah over. The officer approached her car and issued her a ticket for distracted driving under the Ontario Highway Traffic Act.

In the following weeks, Sarah received a renewal notice from her insurer. Due to her distracted driving charge, her Toronto car insurance premium increased from $120 to $200 a month.

Distracted driving tickets come with three demerit points. Under the new laws in Ontario, you could receive up to 6 demerit points for multiple convictions within 5 years. So, additional distracted driving tickets can have a compound impact on your driving.