Who Can Drive My Car Under My Insurance In Ontario
Driving your car in Ontario comes with loads of responsibilities. Being a driver, you would be responsible for yourself. Besides, the responsibility should cover your vehicle and other people who are on the road. It’s natural to wonder who can enjoy the liberty to drive your car in Ontario under your insurance cover. In this article, we have come up with an adequate explanation for this question.
In short, anyone can drive your car, as long as you provide them with permission and the driver owns a valid license. However, you should be aware of the nuances before giving your car’s keys to someone else.
After all, mistakes lead to accidents, and this is why car owners consult insurance experts like Surex regarding the right coverage for their vehicles. You might click here to reach out to the professionals.
Types Of Drivers Who Can Drive Your Car In Ontario
Drivers are categorized into three groups, considering whether they can drive your car in Ontario. These are
- Regular driver
- Occasional driver
- Rare driver
Regular Driver
The regular driver comes first, and this person may be any individual at your home, owning a driving license. This person should be driving the vehicle regularly. In most households, spouses happen to be the regular driver. You may also permit your licensed children to be regular drivers.
Occasional Driver
Occasion driver would be someone who drives your car less frequently. However, this interval should be more than rare. Many car owners allow their grandparents to drive the car on weekdays or take their kids to certain classes. Besides, you may have a friend whom you allow to drive the car. Occasional drivers may not drive the vehicles regularly. However, the frequency should be high enough to deem them as occasional drivers.
Rare Driver
Some drivers come under this category as they ‘rarely’ take the keys from you. The instance might be once or twice a year. Even if someone drives the vehicle only once since you purchased the car, they may be a rare driver.
Who Should You Add To Your Policy To Drive Your Car?
You can add anyone to your car insurance policy, provided the person has a valid driving license. Remember, according to the norms, an insurance policy would not follow the individual but the vehicle. However, some deeper intricacies should be kept in mind.
- If needed, you can hand over the keys of your car to another person, provided the person owns a license, and the driving record looks clean. In case of an incident, the insurance companies would cover the damage.
- However, you might have other individuals who drive the vehicle more frequently. In these cases, you need to add these drivers to your policy to get the damages covered.
- You need to add these people as occasional drivers to the insurance policy. This implies, in case of an accident, they would be undeniably covered. Failure to add the occasional driver may lead to denials when you claim the benefits.
Remember, any person residing at your home should be added to your policy. To be on the safe side, add your spouse, children, and other members holding a valid driving license to the insurance policy.
This should be done even if they own their cars. If they do not have any insurance coverage of their own, you can add them to yours so that you can get the coverage in case of an incident.
Adding people to your policy comes with a cost. You would be charged a higher premium depending on the driving record of the person being added. A person with a clean record would contribute only a minimal increase in your rates.
Can Your Insurance Be Affected If Another Driver Is At Fault?
If your car is involved in an accident while someone else is driving, your insurance policy would directly be affected. To ensure that you have adequate cover for the accident, you need to name the person as a regular or occasional driver on your automobile insurance policy. If the person is a rare driver, there might be an argument whether the accident should be covered since the driver was handling the car in a rare situation.
Now, you must note that violations like obstructing traffic, speeding tickets, or any other offenses that come under the non-accident category would follow the driver. This implies that it will not affect your policy when a person driving your car gets booked under these offenses but the one driving your car. Therefore, the individual’s driving record would come under scrutiny, so your policy would not bear any impact. Only when you get the person insured through your coverage, your policy would be affected.
What Can Happen If There’s An Accident Without The Insurance Of The Occasional Driver?
It is not mandatory for everyone driving your vehicle to be insured. Someone might be using your car to move some small belongings to a new home. In this case, you need not put that person under your insurance. However, what might happen if the person runs into an accident?
In these cases, your automobile insurance policy should cover the expenses if the aforesaid driver adheres to these norms.
- Owns a valid Canadian license for driving;
- Obtain verbal or written permission to drive the car from you;
- Adheres to the norms mentioned in your policy;
- Is not a part of illegal activities like impaired, distracted, or reckless driving.
Drive my car under my insurance in Ontario: Endnote
You should know what your policy covers before you hand over the keys to your car to someone. In the process, you can allow your friends, colleagues, family members, or other acquaintances to use your vehicle without any hassle. Well, the norms and regulations governing insurance coverage for cars and their drivers may appear too complex if you are a new car owner. In these situations, it makes sense to reach out to the insurance specialists for a professional consultation before making the purchase.
