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If you lend your car to someone, then you are also sharing your automobile insurance.
What does it mean when you share your insurance?
If you live in Ontario, then when you share your insurance, the other driver is covered, as long as you have given him or her permission to drive your car. If the person that has borrowed your car becomes involved in an accident, and if declared at-fault, then your insurance rates will increase.
Precautions to take if you plan to lend your auto to another driver:
Be clear on the rate class of your vehicle. If your policy specifies that your automobile will be used for business purposes only, and the person that has borrowed your car does not use that vehicle for conducting your business, then that same borrower will not be covered by the insurance policy.
If you intend to loan your car to a specific person on a regular basis, then that person’s name ought to appear on your insurance policy. If you plan to loan your auto on an occasional basis, and to the same person, then that person should be named on your policy as an occasional driver. If you got your insurance policy, then you need to be sure that you lend your auto to someone with a license from Ontario, or from another province or territory.
Learn as much as you can about the driving history of the person that will be borrowing your set-of-wheels. You must be certain that the borrower’s license remains valid in Ontario, or in the province that issued it. It is possible that the borrower developed a certain medical condition after obtaining his or her license. For instance, maybe the person to home you plan to lend your car looks quite healthy. Still, it may be that he or she had a seizure after obtaining a driver’s license. Someone with a history of seizures is supposed to get examined by a neurologist, before receiving permission to drive on the roads in the province that issued the license.
The fact that the borrower of your automobile has a license might not prove of significance, if the province or territory that issued it was never told about the borrower’s most recent medical problem. That would certainly be true, if that particular medical problem was one that can affect someone’s driving ability.
Only a neurologist can determine the chances that someone with a history of seizures might have another seizure, while sitting behind a car’s steering wheel. You do not want that to happen, after you have lent your automobile to someone that stands at risk right now for having another seizure. And if there is an accident, call on a personal injury lawyer in North Bay or Sarnia.