With the holiday season in full swing now, parties are underway everywhere. Avoid consuming alcohol or drugs that can impair your ability to safely operate your vehicle. Avoid drinking unless there is a designated driver to safely drive you home or call a friend, or a taxi or plan to spend the night out. The Ontario Ministry of Transportation recommends that the best way to avoid impaired driving is not to take a chance.
According to Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) Canada, an average of four people are killed each day in crashes involving alcohol and or drugs. There can be many consequences for both the impaired driver and the person injured from a motor vehicle accident caused due to impaired driving as a result.
Benefits Deprived in Auto Policy
Getting conviction for an impaired driving offence can deprive you of numerous benefits which are available under an auto policy. Some benefits which you will no longer be entitled to include are income replacement benefit, housekeeping benefits and lost educational expenses.
No Right to Sue
If the accident has resulted at your end, you are disallowed to sue anyone else you claim to be responsible for the accident. Effectively, this means that you will not be able to claim for damages such as loss of income, pain and suffering, rehab or medical funding not covered by your insurer.
Insurer Says No
In a few circumstances, it is possible that your insurer may refuse to cover the cost of vehicle damage if you ultimately get convicted of driving impaired.
No Insurance
One you get convicted on driving impaired, your insurance company can even refuse your policy renewal. It is possible that they may also cancel the policy if any severe injury resulted directly from your impaired driving.
High Insurance Rates
The risk is something insurance companies don’t like. Due to an impaired driving conviction, your insurance company can raise your insurance rates, even if any injury has not occurred from the event. In some circumstances, the new rates could be $8000 to $10,000 more than regular insurance rates per annum.
What You Need to Know
Just paying the insurance premium does not ensure your automatic coverage. Like you expect the insurance company to keep their part of the deal and give you adequate and agreed coverage, you too are responsible for maintaining your end of the deal.
As the insured, you have your own obligations as per the insurance policy contract.
How We Can Help
At Nanda & Associate Lawyers, our experienced Personal Injury lawyers understand your specific circumstances and provide customized solutions for each of them. We provide quality legal counsel and personalized care to ensure your claim receive successful outcomes. Call us today to file your claim or defend yourself against one.
Our Personal Injury lawyers are available for a no-obligation free consultation. Feel comfortable interacting with our caring team who speak more than 15 languages like English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Albanian, Hindi, Punjabi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil, Bengali and much more.
