Your claims history file and driving record, what insurers see

When you ask for an auto insurance quote, the insurer does not rely only on your answers. It can consult two files kept by two different organizations: the Fichier central des sinistres automobiles, which traces your claims, and the SAAQ driving record, which lists, among other things, your demerit points and your offences. Knowing what they contain, how to obtain them and how to correct them saves you a lot of surprises.

Two files, two organizations

	Fichier central des sinistres automobiles (FCSA)	Driving record
Who keeps it	It belongs to the AMF and is managed by the GAA	The SAAQ
What it contains	Claims from the last six years, with your share of fault	Your licence, demerit points, offences, conditions and driving experience
Who consults it	You and an insurer, according to the GAA	You, and in particular an insurer or an employer with your consent
How to get it	Online, by mail or in person, from the GAA	In SAAQclic, by phone or at a service point
If there is an error	The GAA checks with the insurer, the only one able to correct it	Contact the SAAQ

The Fichier central des sinistres automobiles

The Fichier central des sinistres automobiles (FCSA), Québec's central auto claims file, is a database that centralizes the information collected from insurers about the claims in which each insured has been involved over the last six years. It belongs to the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) and is managed by the Groupement des assureurs automobiles (GAA).

According to the GAA, when an insurer pays an indemnity, it must send the claim to the FCSA. Your file may therefore contain an accident for which you claimed nothing, if the other party's insurer compensated its client. The same claim may also appear twice, to reflect your insurer's version and the version of the other party's insurer, when the information they sent is not identical. The insurer also sends a notice to any insured whose vehicle was involved in a claim reported to it.

Each claim is attributed to a single person: the custodian of the vehicle. This is the person behind the wheel or, if no one was driving, the person who had physical custody of the vehicle, for example when it was parked or when it was stolen. The file therefore follows the driver, including behind the wheel of an employer's vehicle, a rented vehicle or a borrowed vehicle. In one of the GAA's examples, a son who has a collision with his father's minivan sees the claim recorded in his own file, not in the owner's.

The statement shows the claims from the six years before the date of consultation. For each one, it indicates, among other things, the date, the make and model of the vehicle, the version (your insurer's or the other one's), the custodian, your percentage of fault, which is 0%, 50% or 100%, the total indemnities paid and the coverage under which you were compensated. For the other party, only the first five characters of their licence number appear.

The percentage of fault generally comes from the Direct Compensation Agreement, which we explain in our guide to the Direct Compensation Agreement.

Getting your statement from the GAA

The GAA offers four ways to obtain a copy of your claims file:

• online, by confirming your identity with your financial institution through the Interac verification service;
• online, with your account at the Service d'authentification gouvernementale, the Québec government's authentication service, for immediate access;
• by mail, with the completed form and a photocopy of your Québec driver's licence;
• in person, by appointment at its offices.

Consult it before asking for quotes: you will see what insurers will see.

The SAAQ driving record

According to the SAAQ, the driving record mainly contains the class or classes of your licence and its status (valid, cancelled, suspended, revoked), your demerit point regime and the points accumulated, the offences committed, the conditions and mentions added to the licence, medical restrictions and your driving experience.

In Québec, everyone who drives is subject to the demerit point system. Points are entered when the SAAQ is informed of the conviction, that is, when the fine is paid or a judgment is rendered. For sanction purposes, they remain on record for 2 years from the date of conviction; for the purpose of paying for your licence, for 2 years from the date they were entered.

The threshold depends on the status of the licence and on age. According to the SAAQ, it is 4 points for learner drivers and probationary licence holders, 8 points before age 23, 12 points at ages 23 and 24, and 15 points from age 25. Under the 15-point regime, the SAAQ sends an information notice once 7 points have accumulated, stating the number of points entered, how long they will stay on record and how many remain before revocation. Reaching the threshold leads to the revocation of the licence, for a minimum of 3 months. If it is a first revocation in 2 years, the holder of a driver's licence or a probationary licence can ask a judge for a restricted licence, if they show that they must drive for their main job.

The SAAQ also warns that driving while your licence is revoked or suspended leads to the seizure of the vehicle for 30 days and a fine of $600 to $2,000, plus costs. Points also have a cost: according to the SAAQ, they increase your contribution to the Fonds d'assurance automobile du Québec, paid with your licence.

Your offences do not stop at the border. Reciprocity agreements with Ontario, Maine and New York State allow the SAAQ to enter in your record the points for offences committed in those jurisdictions, as if they had been committed in Québec.

You can obtain your driving record free of charge for yourself, online in your SAAQclic account, by phone or at a service point. The SAAQ indicates that an insurer can also request it, with your consent.

How insurers read these two files

According to the GAA, at the time of subscription the insurer asks you for all the information needed to complete the insurance application. It can then access your FCSA file and validate that information with you. The Q.P.F. No. 1 requires you to declare, before and during the contract as well as at renewal, any information that may influence the risk, including any past accident or loss, any conviction for an offence under the Highway Safety Code and any criminal conviction. When in doubt, the form recommends contacting the insurer.

What weighs in the balance varies from one insurer to another, but the organizations give some benchmarks:

• The AMF lists, among the factors that can lower a premium, having held a licence for several years, not having committed traffic offences and not having had an accident, whether or not you were at fault.
• The GAA specifies that an insured involved in several claims over the last three years may represent a higher risk, and that their premium is then likely to be higher.

A claim for which you were not at fault is therefore not necessarily neutral: how it is taken into account depends on each insurer's rules. Hence the value of reporting every accident to your insurer, even without a claim. The GAA recommends it so that your version of the facts is recorded in the FCSA.

Correcting an error

Once you have your statement, if you want to know the circumstances of a claim or you notice an error, you can ask the GAA to check the information with the insurer, by mail or in person. The GAA specifies that it is not authorized to correct your file without the insurer's agreement: the insurer confirms the information and is the only one that can change it.

What you notice	What the GAA provides
A percentage of fault that you dispute	Only your insurer can change it, so discuss it with them
A claim that appears twice	Often two versions, one from each insurer, so ask for a verification
A claim you never had	Make a consultation request, then a verification request
A recent claim that does not appear	There is a delay between payment and transmission, so request it again later
Amounts that do not match what you received	Only your insurer can detail the indemnities paid

For the driving record, contact the SAAQ. Also remember that points are entered as soon as the fine is paid: if you believe a statement of offence is unjustified, you must contest it before paying, following the instructions it contains.

Once a correction has been made, notify your insurer or your broker so that it is taken into account in your file.

Frequently asked questions

Does an accident without a claim appear in my file?

Not necessarily. The GAA explains that claims for which an insurer paid an indemnity are sent to the FCSA. An older fender-bender that you reported without being compensated may therefore not appear. If the other driver was compensated by their insurer, however, the claim may appear in your file, where you will be shown as a person involved: having reported the accident then allows your insurer to put forward your version.

Do theft, hail or broken glass count too?

Yes, when they lead to an indemnity. The examples published by the GAA cover a collision with an animal, theft, hail, vandalism and broken glass: in each case, the claim is attributed to the person who had custody of the vehicle at that moment, who is not necessarily its owner.

My child sometimes drives my car. What do I need to declare?

The Q.P.F. No. 1 requires you to tell the insurer if people other than the named insured drive the vehicle. And in the event of an accident, the GAA specifies that the claim is recorded in the file of the person who had custody of the vehicle, so in your child's file if they were driving.

Before asking for quotes

• Get your FCSA statement and read every line.
• Check your demerit points and offences in SAAQclic.
• Prepare accurate answers: dates, circumstances, offences, drivers of the vehicle.
• Then compare quotes that cover the same protections and the same deductibles.

We are neither an insurer nor a broker: we explain these files, and our licensed partner presents quotes to you.

Sources

• Groupement des assureurs automobiles (GAA), gaa.qc.ca: Fichier central des sinistres automobiles (at a glance, requesting your claims file, understanding the claims file, to whom the claim is attributed).
• Société de l'assurance automobile du Québec (SAAQ), saaq.gouv.qc.ca: demerit points, obtaining a driving record.
• Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), lautorite.qc.ca: the page on how auto insurance premiums are determined, Québec Automobile Insurance Policy Q.P.F. No. 1.

Pages consulted on September 29, 2026.