Speeding Ticket and Insurance
 

I received a ticket in May 2010 in BC but chose to dispute it. I was issued a court date but needed to have it adjourned as I was not in the province to attend. However, I now switched to an Ontario license, and have since forfeited my BC license.

1. Since I was not actually convicted of the ticket yet, when I am asked by an insurance company to state whether or not I have had tickets previously should I say yes?

2. Since my BC license does not exist any more, do I even need to pay the ticket at all? Can I be convicted on a license that I don't hold? How do point deductions work? In the event that I am convicted of this how does it affect my insurance out of province?

If you chose to not appear for your trial you have been "deemed convicted" as you abandoned the dispute. The conviction is on your BC driving history and the fine is outstanding. If you have any other outstanding fines you could now be prohibited. Should you come back to BC you will be refused and MVB/ICBC transactions until the fines are paid off and they could also charge you interest on the outstanding $$ owed.

If the insurance company checks your record they will find the conviction and may cancel/increase your private coverage. You have been convicted because you did not overturn the VT in court so you should answer that way. All those Ontario MVB and private insurance questions are best answered by the appropriate parties there. Not sure if BC convictions are recognized by Ontario MVB but I know the insurance companies do. If you end up in a crash situation they may cancel your coverage because you did not disclose the VT. Better to find out before you need it.

Thanks for your answer.

Followup: If I was convicted already, shouldn't the ticket have shown up in my driver's abstract from ICBC? Doesn't this mean that I have been granted adjournment to a later dispute date?