Under 25 Insurance Question

[Cole436]

Hey, I hope someone (aka a broker) can help me out with this. When I moved from Calgary, I removed all insurance on my car except fire and theft. I'm currently back in the city for a few days and I'm staying at my parents house (which is not the same address as my Alberta license). As it's the weekend, I can't contact my broker to reinstate my liability. Being under 25, does my parents insurance protect their cars in a claims issue?

[Slava]

If you mean, are you covered if you drive their vehicle the answer is yes. The driver isn't insured, its the car. So if they lend you the car, you should be covered were anything to happen.

[Cole436]

Originally Posted by Slava

If you mean, are you covered if you drive their vehicle the answer is yes. The driver isn't insured, its the car. So if they lend you the car, you should be covered were anything to happen.

Are you sure? Because I had a very heated discussion with someone who was very sure that because I am not 25, or a resident of BC yet, and my insurance address is the same as my parents home address, I would not be covered under the cars insurance.

[burn_this_city]

I don't think you're covered because you're under 25.

[Goodlad]

Originally Posted by Cole436

Are you sure? Because I had a very heated discussion with someone who was very sure that because I am not 25, or a resident of BC yet, and my insurance address is the same as my parents home address, I would not be covered under the cars insurance.

I'm not sure how it works in Canada, but in the US if you're not specifically excluded from the policy (which is common if the owners of the car have children under 25) then you're covered under the insurance policy. Most insurers will make you pay extra if there is an under 25 year old dependent/resident in their household, and if they are unwilling to pay the extra amount that person will be excluded from the policy.

[sureLoss]

I think an issue might occur if the insurance company thinks you are an occasional driver of the household that your parents did not inform them about.

Since as you said you are listed on some documents as still living in your parents house, you might have to prove to them that you don't regularly use the vehicle or they may deny any claims.

here is a cached version of what the Insurance Bureau of Canada says about lending a car (for some reason their website is down?):
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&gl=ca&strip=1

Under certain circumstances, you can borrow a car without worrying about whether or not the car’s insurance names you as an occasional driver, or lend your car without worrying about whether or not the guest driver’s name is on your insurance policy.

If you are borrowing a car

The person whose car you are borrowing must give you permission to use it.
The use of the car cannot be part of a regular pattern, such as driving to school every day. (If you regularly borrow the same car as part of a routine, you must be listed on the owner’s insurance policy as an occasional driver.)
You must be a licensed driver who is legally allowed to drive in the province.
If you have an accident while driving a borrowed car, the accident goes on the record of the person who has the insurance policy on the borrowed car.

If you are lending your car

You must consent to its use by the other driver.
The person who borrows your car cannot be using it as part of a regular routine. If your friend uses your car every Friday to go grocery shopping, then he/she must be named on your insurance policy as an occasional driver.
The person to whom you lend your car must be a licensed driver who is legally allowed to drive in the province.
If the person borrowing your car has an accident while driving your car, it goes on your insurance record. When you lend your car, you are also lending your good driving record.

[Cole436]

Beauty, thanks guys.

[T@T]

Originally Posted by sureLoss

I think an issue might occur if the insurance company thinks you are an occasional driver of the household that your parents did not inform them about.

Since as you said you are listed on some documents as still living in your parents house, you might have to prove to them that you don't regularly use the vehicle or they may deny any claims.

here is a cached version of what the Insurance Bureau of Canada says about lending a car (for some reason their website is down?):
http://webcache.googleusercontent.co...&gl=ca&strip=1

The way I understand it you can't loan a vehicle to a person under 25 unless the loanee is under 25 him/herself, a person under 25 can drive your vehicle if your with them though. like if your training them or your impaired..etc.

[ken0042]

My previous policy specifically stated "no male drivers under 25" and "no female drivers under 21." My insurance was cheaper that way.

[Slava]

I would imagine that unless you have a policy with a specific wording that restricts those drivers, you can lend the vehicle to whoever you like? I've never seen a policy with the wording to only allow drivers over a certain age. In reality the vehicle is insured, and while the driver has to be licensed, your coverage stays on the car.

I'm not saying these wordings don't exist though, I'm saying I haven't seen them. Learn something new everyday!