Using your personal vehicle to carry paying passengers

Before you consider using your own vehicle to make ends meet, make sure to inform your broker or insurance company. In the case where you are making different use of your vehicle, it could increase the risk of incurring a loss.

Personal vehicle and business purposes

Since insurance premiums are based on the risk declared at the time the policy is purchased, any subsequent change can affect the premium or coverage provided.

Moreover, the standard auto insurance policy for a car owner in Quebec excludes any claim when the driver uses his personal vehicle to carry paying passengers. Even though ridesharing is very much in the news these days, it is not covered under the individual auto insurance policy in Quebec. The same exclusion applies to renting one’s vehicle to an individual.

It’s therefore important to know that if policyholders have not told their insurer they use their vehicle other than for personal use, the insurer may not provide coverage or only partly indemnify them, if they have an accident. This could have serious financial consequences.

In addition, as part of a pilot project between the ministère des Transports, de la Mobilité durable et de l’Électrification des transports and Uber, all Uber driver-partners are now covered by auto insurance. The coverage begins the moment they connect to the Uber app and continues until they disconnect. The one-year pilot project should end in the fall of 2017.

Liability

Liability coverage, which is included with every auto insurance policy, is there to protect a policyholder if he unintentionally causes damage to a third party. In the event of a lawsuit, the insurer will defend the policyholder and pay for damages, where applicable.

However, for the principle to apply, the damage which the policyholder is accused of causing must not have occurred as part of a remunerated practice, unless the insurer was first informed.

Individual auto insurance policies are drawn up to reflect the activities of the policyholder’s private life, not his professional or business activities. One more reason to talk to your insurer.

Source: infoassurance.ca