Q&A - Police Kept My Insurance Papers

Q&A ImageQuestion: I was recently issued a ticket and the officer failed to return my insurance papers (I'll assume accidentally), I only noticed this the next day. I tried contacting RCMP about this, and have been given the runaround, saying I have to contact the officer, but cannot because he is not on duty.

He will have had them for 7 days already before I can even contact him, if he even has them.

image of the top of ICBC insurance papers

Shouldn't He Have Told Someone?

Don't they have to fill out forms or something letting the office know what they did with these documents in their possession, if they dropped them in the mail or where they are, if this kind of thing happens.

If this was reversed and I had driven off with his ticket book accidentally I'm sure there would be a more urgent response, possible charges even. Any advice on what to do?

I've Done This Too

That's definitely something that I have done by accident and people usually don't like hearing from me at 2:00 am when I noticed it at the end of shift.

It's something that can easily be left at the front counter or with the oncoming shift with a note to call and let you know so that you can pick them up.

The papers could also have slid down out of sight inside the car so the officer did not realize that he had them. That requires someone to figure it out and go looking.

Failing to Produce Defence

I guess that you have really done all that you can in the circumstances and if no one will move any faster it will be a matter of waiting. You would certainly have a good defence for failing to produce them if you were stopped again!

Replacement Insurance Papers

You may also decide to short circuit the whole process and get a duplicate copy from ICBC.

You are allowed to carry a photocopy of your vehicle registration and insurance documents instead of the original. Keep the originals at home in a safe place and simply recopy them if something like this occurs.

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