It’s not fun to return to your car and see a parking ticket waiting for you on your windshield. And depending on the type of ticket you’re being slapped with, you could be looking at hefty fines. But more importantly, will a parking ticket impact your car insurance rates?
The good news is that, while parking tickets are annoying and potentially expensive, they typically won’t increase your insurance premiums. Let’s dig into parking tickets a little deeper in terms of how they relate to your car insurance policy.
Key Points
- Parking tickets can be expensive, depending on the exact offence, but they don’t affect your insurance rates.
- However, unpaid parking tickets may indirectly affect your insurance rate if the debt is sold to a collection agency and your insurer checks your credit.
- Unpaid parking tickets can also affect your ability to renew your driver’s license or your plate stickers when they expire.
Types Of Parking Tickets
There are several types of parking tickets that parking enforcement officers can charge you with, including the following:
- Parking in a no-parking zone
- Parking in a disabled/accessible spot without a valid permit
- Parking in a no-stopping zone
- Parking in front of a fire hydrant
- Leaving your car parked in a spot after the meter/time expired
Do Parking Tickets Affect Your Insurance?
Thankfully, parking tickets do not affect your auto insurance policy rate. While you’ll have to dish out a few dollars to pay for your ticket, you won’t have to pay any more for your policy because of them. Your rates won’t go up regardless of how many parking tickets you accumulate, as they are not classified the same way as a traffic ticket is.
That said, an unpaid parking ticket may indirectly affect your insurance rate.
How Unpaid Parking Tickets May Affect Your Insurance
A parking ticket may indirectly affect your insurance if they’re left unpaid. Unfortunately, if you fail to pay your parking tickets for an extended period of time, you may be pursued by a collections agency for repayment. This will be noted on your credit report, which will have a negative effect on your credit score.
Since many insurance companies in Canada check your credit score as part of their assessment, any unpaid parking tickets dragging down your credit score can affect the insurance premium your insurer offers you.
| Are All Unpaid Parking Tickets Reported To The Credit Bureaus? If the city is unable to collect your unpaid tickets, they may sell the debt to a collections agency, which will take over the efforts to get you to pay up. Debts that are in collections will be noted on your credit report and can therefore negatively affect your credit score. Recent Case A recent CTV article highlighted how a driver’s credit score was unexpectedly impacted by unpaid tickets from her past, despite her consistent bill payments. Due to notices of offence being sent to an old address, the driver was unaware of these issues. |
Other Ways Your Unpaid Parking Tickets Can Affect You
Even if you don’t pay your parking tickets on time, your insurance rates won’t be affected. However, failure to make timely payments could cost you in different ways.
Late Fees
Depending on where you live, you’ll have a certain grace period within which to pay your parking ticket before you’re charged a late fee. In Toronto, for instance, you have 15 days to pay your parking ticket. If you don’t pay by then, you’ll be given 30 days from the ticket date to ask to have the payment due date extended.
Inability To Renew Your License
Further, unpaid fines that are not dealt with in a timely manner can have an impact on your ability to renew your driver’s license when it expires. While your driver’s license won’t be revoked, you could have trouble renewing it when it expires. The same may apply when renewing your plate stickers.
What Type Of Traffic Tickets Can Affect My Car Insurance?
While parking tickets don’t affect your car insurance rates, traffic tickets can. More specifically, tickets that involve “moving” violations affect premiums. These can include the following:
- Speeding tickets
- Distracted driving
- Careless driving
- Failure to stop at a stop sign
- Drunk driving
- Stunt driving
Any one of these traffic tickets can result in higher insurance premiums because insurance providers look at traffic tickets to determine your insurance premium rate.
That said, your insurance might not be negatively impacted if you have a clean driving record. Just one ticket shouldn’t affect your insurance policy, unless it’s a more serious infraction, such as drunk driving or stunt driving.
What To Do If You Get A Parking Ticket?
On the back of the parking ticket are instructions on how to proceed. You’ll be given the option to pay the ticket or to dispute it. In either case, you’ll be provided with separate instructions on what to do, as well as the deadline to pay or file a dispute with the court.
If you choose to pay for the ticket, you may be able to do so in one of the following ways:
- Online
- By phone
- In-person
- By mail
If you decide to contest the ticket, you’ll need to make arrangements to go to court. This takes time and money. This course of action may be worth it if the ticket is very expensive and if demerit points are involved.
Keep in mind that parking tickets could affect your ability to renew your driver’s license plate if you don’t deal with the ticket in a timely manner. If you do not pay by the due date, you may be denied the opportunity to renew your license plate.
| Note: If you can’t afford to pay for your ticket, check out if you qualify for the Fine Option program. |
Parking Ticket Payment Laws By Province
Each province and the cities within them may have their own rules about late ticket payments and incentives to pay early. Let’s take a closer look at the different laws between provinces in Canada.
Ontario
If you live in Ontario, you have 15 days for the date of ticket issuance to either pay the ticket out of court, make submissions about your penalty (such as the amount you have to pay or when it’s due), or go to court to fight the ticket.
Quebec
In Quebec, you have 30 days from the date the ticket was issued to pay the fine. Before paying, you’ll need to complete the plea section on the statement. If you want to have the deadline extended, you’ll need to get in touch with the court directly.
British Columbia (Vancouver)
You have 35 days from the date the ticket was issued to pay your parking ticket in Vancouver. If you pay your ticket within 14 days of receiving it, you can get a 40% discount.
After 35 days, you’ll be charged with a late payment penalty, and if you wait at least 60 days before paying, your ticket will be sent to collections, which could negatively impact your credit rating.
Alberta (Calgary)
In Calgary, you have 30 days to pay your ticket before late payment fees are applied. If you pay within 10 days after receiving your ticket, you can save as much as 20%. There are also discounts for tickets paid after 10 days but before 30 days.
Nova Scotia
In Nova Scotia, the ticket issued will detail the amount of time that you will have to make full payment before late payment charges take effect. You will have the option to make a partial payment for parking tickets if you don’t want to pay all at once. If the ticket isn’t convicted by a court in full yet, you’ll need to pay a summary offence ticket.
If the ticket is paid by the due date specified on the ticket, you won’t need to go to court.
PEI (Charlottetown)
If you get a parking ticket in Charlottetown and pay within seven days of ticket issuance, you can get $10 knocked off the total. Similarly, if you pay it within 20 days of ticket issuance, your ticket amount can be reduced by $35. If you don’t pay your ticket by the due date, a summons will be issued and you may be subject to a penalty plus service fees, towing fees, and court costs.
Manitoba (Winnipeg)
Tickets issued in Winnipeg for parking infractions can range from $70 to as much as $300. The due date for payment will be specified on the ticket. If you pay within 14 days after the ticket has been issued, you may have an early payment option available with a lower fee.
Final Thoughts
Having to pay for a parking ticket is frustrating, but the good news is that your car insurance premium won’t be impacted by them. As long as you pay the ticket on time or dispute it according to the instructions on the back of your ticket, you won’t have to worry about the ticket anymore when all is said and done.
Parking Ticket FAQs
Can parking tickets affect my credit?
Can my license be suspended for unpaid parking tickets?
How long can parking tickets affect me? Is there a statute of limitations?
Do parking tickets go on driving records?
Can parking tickets affect my demerit points?
Can I dispute a parking ticket?
