Ontario's Financial Services Regulatory Authority (FSRA) has imposed administrative penalties totaling $37,500 against two auto collision companies and an individual, and issued compliance orders restricting all three from engaging in the business of insurance.
The penalties comprise $15,000 against 24/7 Auto Collision Inc.; $20,000 against Altaf Hussain, and $2,500 against 2551662 Ontario Inc.
FSRA found that all three engaged in an unfair or deceptive act or practice by charging for goods or services in connection with insurance claims that were either not provided to claimants or delivered in a substantially deficient manner, contrary to Sec. 439 of the Insurance Act.
None of the parties requested a hearing before the Financial Services Tribunal to contest the proposals.
The action sits within a markedly more aggressive regulatory posture from FSRA.
The regulator initiated 100 enforcement actions in the 2024 to 2025 fiscal year, up from 65 the previous year, imposing administrative monetary penalties totalling $1.2 million and issuing 25 orders to revoke or refuse licences across the mortgage and insurance sectors.
Sanctions have nearly doubled in volume over two fiscal years as FSRA makes more assertive use of its enforcement tools, with compliance orders that bar parties from the insurance market representing one of its most consequential interventions.
The collision repair scheme targeted in this action is one strand of a broader and rapidly escalating auto insurance fraud problem in Ontario.
While vehicle theft has shown signs of improvement, organized crime appears to be pivoting to claims-based schemes. According to Aviva Insurance's investigations unit, the number of suspected staged collisions in Canada rose about 400% in 2025, compared with the prior year, reaching more than 1,000 identified cases. Aviva senior fraud leader Mike Cardillo noted that criminal groups are becoming increasingly sophisticated, with network analysis revealing recurring combinations of the same tow operators and clinics appearing across multiple injury claims at different carriers.
The connection between the towing and collision repair sectors and organized fraud networks has drawn growing law enforcement attention. In June 2025, Peel Police seized vehicles, firearms and body armour valued at $4.2 million as part of Project Outsource, which targeted a criminal network tied to the towing industry and named ten separate insurance companies as alleged victims, including Aviva, Intact, Definity Financial and Economical.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada estimated that fraud costs Canadian over $1 billion annually in added insurance premiums, with the burden falling disproportionately on Ontario drivers. Car insurance premiums in the province rose an average of 4.1% in the first half of 2025, with fraud cited alongside surging repair costs and vehicle theft as primary drivers.
FSRA is building a more systematic infrastructure to combat the problem. Its new Fraud Reporting Service Rule, approved by the Ontario Minister of Finance in June 2025, will require all auto insurers in the province to submit ongoing fraud data to FSRA once the related changes to the Insurance Act are proclaimed in force. The initiative is designed to establish a fraud baseline, identify regional trends and support targeted enforcement, with FSRA expressing ambitions for the program to eventually go national.
These fraud-related developments are unfolding alongside a significant structural reform to Ontario's auto insurance product itself. Effective July 1, 2026, certain statutory accident benefits that were previously mandatory in all Ontario auto policies will become optional, shifting more responsibility to consumers and brokers to ensure coverage is appropriately tailored.
The FSRA enforcement action serves as a reminder that the collision repair sector remains a material fraud exposure. The compliance orders barring 24/7 Auto Collision Inc., 2551662 Ontario Inc. and Hussain from the business of insurance represent the regulator's most direct tool for removing bad actors from the market, and their use signals that FSRA is prepared to deploy that tool where the evidence warrants it.
