Are you the friend with the car? Are you the person with the truck that everyone needs to borrow? Are your children saving up to buy their own vehicles and demanding to drive yours in the meantime?
If you ever lend your vehicle to others to drive, there’s a couple things you should know about your car insurance.
In 2019, ICBC made the first of a few recent major changes to the way they rate auto insurance by introducing the Individual Driver Factor. This change required vehicle owners to list all regular drivers of the vehicle.
What does that mean for you?
If anyone in your household, or any of your employees, ever drives your vehicle, they need to be added to your Autoplan policy as an additional driver.
If anyone else, who isn’t your employee and doesn’t live with you, will drive your car more than 12 times in 12 months, they will also need to be added to your auto insurance policy as an additional driver.
To add someone to your ICBC auto insurance policy, call or visit Acera Insurance, and we will update your policy for you. All you need is the additional driver’s name, date of birth, and driver’s license number. You do not have to wait until renewal to add or remove drivers, and should update your policy throughout the year as your situation changes.
Your premium may change based on the accident history and experience of the driver(s) you add.
What if they only borrow my car a couple times a year?
If you occasionally lend your vehicle to someone who is neither an employee nor household member of yours, they do not need to be listed as a driver on your ICBC auto insurance policy, unless they drive the vehicle more than twelve times a year.
To protect yourself if someone who is not listed on your car insurance policy gets into an accident, you will want to purchase Unlisted Driver Protection.
ICBC’s Unlisted Driver Protection is free until an unlisted driver causes a crash in your vehicle. After that, when you come into renew your Autoplan policy, you will need to pay a fee. If unlisted drivers keep causing accidents in your vehicle, the cost of Unlisted Driver Protection will continually increase.
If you do not add the Unlisted Driver Protection to your car insurance policy and an unlisted driver causes an accident in your vehicle, you will have to pay a one-time fee. The amount of this fee depends on the driving experience and accident history of the unlisted driver.
If you have questions about listing drivers on your policy, or just need to renew your insurance, call us today. Most changes to your ICBC auto insurance policy can be made over the phone, and our highly trained team would love to help you.
Summary
It’s also important to consider if you’ll be lending your car to anyone else. If you have occasional drivers, or young drivers on your policy, make sure you understand how this could impact your coverage. Acera Insurance offers a variety of insurance products to protect what matters most, beyond just cars. This includes BC motorcycle insurance, as well as coverage for other vehicles you may own. Whether you’re looking for car insurance or motorcycle insurance in Vancouver, Chilliwack, or Kamloops, our brokers can help you find the right fit.