Facing a car insurance denial is stressful, but it does not mean you cannot legally drive in Quebec. Under the Automobile Insurance Act, every vehicle owner must carry at least $50,000 in civil liability coverage. The Groupement des assureurs automobiles (GAA) guarantees that all Quebec drivers can obtain at least the minimum required coverage, regardless of their risk profile.
However, finding affordable coverage as a high-risk driver requires specialized knowledge. Standard insurers often decline high-risk applications or charge prohibitively high premiums. As an experienced Insurance broker in Montreal, Qubit Insurance works with non-standard markets and specialty insurers that help drivers other insurers have denied. This guide explains how to obtain coverage, what factors affect high-risk premiums, and how you can eventually return to the standard insurance market.
What Makes a Driver High-Risk in Quebec?
Transport Insurance companies rely on statistical data to assess which drivers are most likely to file claims. Based on this analysis, certain factors significantly increase a driver’s risk profile, often causing standard insurers to charge higher premiums or deny coverage completely.
1. Driving Record Issues
Multiple At-Fault Accidents: Having more than one at-fault accident in your claims history significantly increases your risk classification. Insurers record each accident in the Fichier central des sinistres automobiles (FCSA), Quebec’s central claims database, where it remains for six years.
Traffic Convictions: Traffic tickets add demerit points to your Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) driving record. Speeding, running red lights, and other violations signal risky driving behaviour to insurers. Multiple convictions within a short period raise serious concerns.
Excessive Demerit Points: In Quebec, exceeding your demerit point threshold results in licence suspension. The limit depends on your age and licence type.
2. Serious Driving Convictions
Impaired Driving (DUI): Driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs ranks among the most serious offences. A DUI conviction immediately places you in the high-risk category. The SAAQ often requires the installation of an alcohol ignition interlock device before reinstating your licence. From an insurer’s perspective, this indicates extremely elevated risk.
Dangerous or Careless Driving: Serious driving offences, including dangerous driving (a criminal conviction) and careless driving, carry severe insurance consequences. These convictions can remain on your record for years and dramatically increase premiums.
Licence Suspension or Revocation: When authorities suspend your licence for demerit points, unpaid fines, or a criminal conviction, the resulting gap in your driving history signals high risk. Insurers view this interruption as a major red flag, often requiring you to rebuild your history in the non-standard market.
3. Insurance History Issues
Non-Payment Cancellation: If you fail to pay premiums and your insurer cancels your policy, they record this event and share it with other carriers. A non-payment cancellation signals a higher risk that you may default on future policies, making new coverage harder to find.
Excessive Claims History: Filing multiple claims, even for not-at-fault incidents, affects your insurability. The FCSA tracks all claims involving you over the past six years, whether you were at fault or not.
Insurance Fraud: Any history of insurance fraud, including misrepresentation on applications or fraudulent claims, creates severe and long-lasting difficulty when trying to obtain coverage.
4. Other High-Risk Factors
New Drivers: Young or newly licensed drivers with limited driving history statistically face a higher likelihood of accidents. While insurers do not classify them in the same high-risk category as drivers with poor records, these drivers often struggle to find affordable coverage without expert help.
Gaps in Insurance Coverage: Extended periods without insurance coverage raise red flags for insurers. If you did not need insurance because you did not own a vehicle, providing clear documentation (such as proof of sale) helps explain the situation. However, unexplained gaps often signal potential issues to underwriters.
High-Risk Vehicles: Insurers frequently restrict coverage for certain vehicles, including high-performance sports cars, frequently stolen models, and expensive luxury vehicles. These cars often command high premiums or require strict anti-theft conditions (such as TAG tracking systems), regardless of the driver’s history.
How Quebec Tracks Your Driving and Claims History
Quebec maintains two separate databases that insurers use to assess your risk. Understanding these systems helps you know what information insurers see when evaluating your application.
1. Fichier central des sinistres automobiles (FCSA)
The Fichier central des sinistres automobiles (FCSA) is Quebec’s central automobile claims database. The Autorité des marchés financiers owns the database, and the Groupement des assureurs automobiles manages it. Every automobile insurer operating in Quebec must report claims information to the FCSA.
The FCSA records all automobile claims involving Quebec drivers for the past six years. For each claim, it lists the date of the incident, the vehicles involved, the custodian (driver) at the time, the type of coverage used, the percentage of liability assigned, and the total claim amount. Claims may appear even if you did not report the incident yourself, as long as another party involved filed a claim.
When you apply for insurance, insurers access your FCSA record to verify the claims history you disclosed and assess your risk. Any discrepancy between what you report and what appears in the database can affect your application. You can request your Claims History Statement for free through the GAA website to review your record and correct any errors before applying for insurance.
2. SAAQ Driving Record (Demerit Points)
The Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ) keeps a driving record for every Quebec licence holder and logs demerit points, traffic convictions, licence suspensions, and other driving-related events. Insurers review this record to understand your driving behaviour and assess risk.
For licence suspension purposes, demerit points stay on your record for two years from the date of conviction. Even after points disappear, serious offences such as excessive speeding can remain visible on your driving record for many years and continue to affect how insurers view your risk.
Quebec also maintains reciprocal agreements with Ontario, Maine, and New York State. This means authorities report offences you commit in those jurisdictions to the SAAQ and add them to your Quebec driving record as if they occurred locally.
You can access your driving record online through the SAAQ website using your SAAQclic account, or you can request it in person at an SAAQ service centre. Reviewing your record allows you to confirm your demerit points and convictions and address any errors before applying for insurance.
Quebec's Guaranteed Access to Auto Insurance
Unlike some other provinces, Quebec guarantees that every driver can obtain at least the minimum required auto insurance. The GAA administers mechanisms that ensure coverage is available even for the highest-risk drivers.
1. The Mandatory Coverage Access Mechanism
Legal Requirement: Under Quebec's Automobile Insurance Act, every vehicle owner must have at least $50,000 in civil liability coverage. The GAA is mandated to guarantee this minimum coverage is available to all Quebec drivers, regardless of their risk profile.
How It Works: If you have been refused coverage by multiple insurers, you can contact the GAA's Information Centre. They will help you find an insurer willing to provide at least the minimum required coverage. The risk is typically assigned to your last auto insurer, or to an insurer with whom you have other policies (home, business).
Requirement to Qualify: To use the access mechanism, you must first have contacted at least five insurers or brokers and been refused by each one. The GAA verifies these refusals before intervening.
2. The Enhanced Coverage Access Mechanism
Beyond the Minimum: The GAA, working with its member insurers, has also established an enhanced mechanism for non-mandatory coverage. This allows high-risk drivers to obtain coverage beyond the $50,000 minimum, including higher liability limits and physical damage coverage (collision, comprehensive).
Voluntary Participation: This enhanced mechanism is voluntary for insurers. Currently, participating insurers represent more than 85% of the Quebec automobile insurance market. This broad participation means most high-risk drivers can obtain reasonably comprehensive coverage.
Reasonable Terms Requirement: The mechanism requires participating insurers to offer reasonable terms for the risk. The premium must reflect actual risk but cannot be set so high as to effectively amount to a refusal.
Statistics: Over the past five years, nearly 2,000 Quebec drivers have used the GAA's access mechanisms to obtain coverage they could not find through normal channels.
For a deeper breakdown of higher liability limits and pricing, read our separate guide: How much does $2 million liability insurance cost?
How a Montreal Insurance Broker Helps High-Risk Drivers
For high-risk drivers, working with an experienced broker is often the difference between paying a reasonable premium and paying far more than necessary, or between finding coverage and being unable to drive legally.
1. Access to Non-Standard Insurance Markets
Standard vs. Non-Standard Markets: The insurance market is divided into standard carriers (who prefer low-risk drivers) and non-standard carriers (who specialize in higher-risk profiles). Direct insurers and banks typically only offer standard market products. When they decline your application, they cannot refer you elsewhere.
Broker Access: Experienced brokers have relationships with specialty insurers who specifically work with high-risk drivers. These non-standard carriers have different underwriting criteria and accept risks that standard insurers decline. Some Quebec non-standard carriers include specialty programs from larger insurers and dedicated high-risk insurers.
Multiple Options: A broker with strong non-standard market access can often present multiple options even for difficult cases. Different carriers assess risk differently, so a driver declined by one may be accepted by another at a more favourable rate.
2. Expert Risk Presentation
Presenting Your Case: How your risk is presented to underwriters matters. An experienced broker knows how to frame your situation, highlight mitigating factors, and provide context that a simple application form cannot capture.
Documentation: Brokers know what documentation helps your case: completion of defensive driving courses, installation of anti-theft or monitoring devices, changes in driving patterns, or explanations for past incidents that show they were anomalies rather than patterns.
3. Shopping Multiple Carriers Efficiently
Time Savings: Contacting insurers individually is time-consuming and frustrating, especially when facing repeated rejections. A broker submits your information to multiple carriers simultaneously, quickly identifying which ones will offer coverage and at what price.
Rate Comparison: High-risk premiums vary significantly between insurers. The same driver might receive quotes ranging from $3,000 to $8,000 depending on which insurer they approach. A broker's ability to compare ensures you do not overpay.
4. Planning Your Return to Standard Rates
Monitoring Your Progress: Being labelled high-risk is not permanent. A good broker monitors your policy and tracks when negative factors fall off your record. As convictions age and claims drop off, your risk profile improves.
Timeline: Most traffic convictions affect insurance rates for three years. At-fault accidents and more serious convictions can affect rates for six years. With a clean record during this period, you can eventually transition back to standard market rates.
Annual Review: Your broker should review your policy annually and shop the market as your risk profile improves. What was the best available rate last year may not be the best rate this year.
What to Expect: High-Risk Insurance Costs
High-risk insurance costs significantly more than standard coverage. Understanding the premium range helps you budget appropriately and recognize whether a quote is reasonable.
Risk Factor – Estimated Impact
One at-fault accident
- Premium increase: +25% to +50%
- Estimated annual cost: $1,500 – $2,500
Multiple at-fault accidents
- Premium increase: +75% to +150%
- Estimated annual cost: $2,500 – $4,500
Multiple traffic convictions
- Premium increase: +50% to +100%
- Estimated annual cost: $2,000 – $3,500
Licence suspension (demerit points)
- Premium increase: +100% to +200%
- Estimated annual cost: $3,000 – $5,000
DUI / Impaired driving conviction
- Premium increase: +200% to +300%+
- Estimated annual cost: $5,000 – $15,000+
Policy cancelled for non-payment
- Premium increase: +50% to +100%
- Estimated annual cost: $2,000 – $3,500
Combined factors (multiple issues)
- Premium increase: +200% to +400%+
- Estimated annual cost: $6,000 – $20,000+
These figures are estimates only. Actual premiums depend on your specific risk factors, vehicle, location, and the insurer’s underwriting criteria. The only way to know your actual cost is to obtain quotes.
Steps to Obtain Coverage as a High-Risk Driver
1. Gather Your Documentation
Before applying for insurance, request your Claims History Statement from the Groupement des assureurs automobiles. Review it for accuracy and be prepared to explain any claims that appear on your record.
Obtain a copy of your driving record from the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec. Know exactly how many demerit points you have and when convictions occurred so you can provide accurate information.
Gather details about your previous insurance coverage, including the insurer, policy dates, coverage limits, and the reason for termination if applicable.
2. Contact an Experienced Broker
Direct insurers who decline your application will not help you find alternatives. An experienced broker with access to high-risk markets can shop your application with multiple specialty insurers on your behalf.
Disclose your complete history honestly. Insurers verify the information you provide against FCSA and SAAQ records, and misrepresentation can void your policy when you need it most.
3. Evaluate Your Options
Coverage vs. Cost: High-risk premiums are expensive. You may need to accept higher deductibles or reduce optional coverage to make the policy affordable while maintaining at least the required liability coverage.
Payment Options: Ask about payment plans. Monthly payments may be easier to manage than annual premiums, though they often include financing charges.
4. Use the GAA Access Mechanism If Necessary
When to Contact the GAA: If your broker cannot find coverage through their markets, contact the GAA Information Centre. You will need to document that you have been refused by at least five insurers or brokers.
Contact Information: GAA Information Centre: 514-288-4321 (Montreal) or 1-877-288-4321 (toll-free elsewhere in Quebec). Website: gaa.qc.ca
Strategies to Reduce Your High-Risk Status
The high-risk label is not permanent. Taking proactive steps can accelerate your return to standard rates.
1. Maintain a Clean Driving Record
This is the most important factor. Avoid any new accidents or traffic violations. Each clean year improves your risk profile. After two to three years without incidents, you should see significant premium reductions. After six years, most negative history will no longer appear on your FCSA record.
2. Complete Defensive Driving Courses
Some insurers offer discounts for completing approved defensive driving or driver improvement courses. Even where no discount applies, course completion demonstrates commitment to safer driving and may influence underwriting decisions.
3. Choose a Lower-Risk Vehicle
If you are purchasing a vehicle, choose one with good safety ratings, low theft rates, and reasonable repair costs. Avoiding high-performance and luxury vehicles can significantly reduce premiums. Your broker can advise which vehicles are easier to insure.
4. Install Anti-Theft and Safety Devices
Installing approved anti-theft systems, GPS trackers, or dash cameras can qualify for discounts and demonstrate responsible behaviour. Some insurers require anti-theft devices as a condition of coverage for high-risk drivers.
Read More - 10 Strategies to Secure Your Freight from Theft in Canada
5. Consider Usage-Based Insurance (Telematics)
Some insurers offer telematics programs that monitor your driving behaviour. If you can demonstrate safe driving habits (smooth braking, appropriate speeds, safe driving hours), you may earn discounts of 10% to 30%. This is particularly valuable for drivers rebuilding their reputation after past incidents.
6. Review Coverage Annually
As convictions age and claims drop off your record, your risk profile improves. What was the best rate available last year may not be competitive this year. Have your broker shop the market annually to capture improvements.
Why Choose Qubit Insurance for High-Risk Coverage
Qubit Insurance is an AMF-certified damage insurance brokerage based in Montreal. We help drivers whom other carriers have denied to secure auto insurance and move forward legally.
Extensive Non-Standard Market Access: We work with specialty insurers that accept high-risk drivers. Our access to non-standard markets allows us to find options when traditional insurers decline coverage.
Professional, Judgment-Free Service: We focus on solutions, not past mistakes. Our brokers treat every client with respect and work to move your situation forward.
Long-Term Partnership: We do more than place coverage. We monitor your file, review your policy annually, and shop for better rates as your driving record improves.
Montreal Market Knowledge: We understand the Montreal insurance market and know which carriers actively write high-risk policies and offer competitive terms for specific risk profiles.
Facing a coverage denial is frustrating, but it does not end your options. Quebec law guarantees access to auto insurance, and as experienced brokers, we know how to navigate the high-risk market to secure coverage that fits your situation.
Contact Qubit Insurance for a no-obligation consultation. We review your driving record, claims history, and circumstances, then search our markets to find the best available coverage.
Call 514-659-3151 to speak with a high-risk insurance specialist and get back on the road legally and affordably.
Frequently Asked Questions
What happens if my insurance claim gets denied? Can I still get insured afterward?
Yes. A denied claim does not automatically block you from future insurance, but insurers will review the reason for the denial and your overall history. They check your claims record through the GAA and your driving record with the SAAQ. A broker can help present your file properly and find insurers willing to offer coverage.
Can my insurer deny a claim because I wasn’t listed as a driver on the policy?
Yes, especially for damage to the vehicle. If you drive regularly but are not listed on the policy, the insurer may consider this misrepresentation (withholding key information). This allows them to deny coverage for repairs to the car or even cancel the policy entirely. While occasional borrowing is typically covered, regular drivers must always be disclosed to ensure the policyholder isn't left paying for their own damages out of pocket.
Why did my insurance rate increase after a small or not-at-fault claim?
Insurers assess overall risk, not just fault. Even not-at-fault claims increase your loss frequency in the FCSA database, which insurers use when pricing policies. Multiple claims signal higher future risk, so premiums often rise. A broker can compare markets and help limit increases by finding insurers that weigh claims differently.
Can I borrow someone else’s car in Montreal and still have coverage?
In Quebec, insurance usually follows the vehicle, not the driver, so occasional borrowing often stays covered. However, if you drive the car regularly, the owner must add you to the policy. Insurers can deny claims if they discover undisclosed regular use. Always clarify driver status before relying on coverage.
I moved to Quebec. Do I need to change my licence before I can get insurance?
Yes, Quebec insurers expect you to hold a Quebec driver’s licence and register your vehicle locally within required timelines. If you delay, insurers may refuse coverage or deny claims. The SAAQ manages licence transfers, and insurers verify this information during underwriting. Completing the switch early avoids coverage gaps and complications.
