insurance question.. studying away?

[hanshigi]

hey i got a quick question for the insurance savy folks out there,

i go to school in ontario

so i'm planning to take my car there with BC plates caz the Insurance rate over there is just so high-


I heard somewhere that there is a special coverage for students studying out of province but their permanent address is here.


anybody know what would be the best way to go on about this?

[asian_XL]

don't take any insurance advice on RS...go to your nearest autoplan place

[ilvtofu]

I think if you plan to go to school there for like a semester (term?) and then come back it should be fine, because that way you probably don't exceed the limit of being away?

But I doubt the adjustors in ontario are willing to examine your car for ICBC in case you get into an accident, but this should be perfectly legal if you're trying to save a few bucks off insurance.

[slammer111]

I thought the limit was 60 days, but don't quote me on that. Call Autoplan.

And as with anything, just don't get into an accident and you will be fine.

[ilvtofu]

^lol i thought it was 6 months, but you may be right, i just remember a 6 in there, lolz
best bet is to check ICBC website...

[ecsw]

My sister bought her insurance in Montrel when she drove her car there.

She came back 2 years later and her car was considered as out-of-province. To get BC license plate again, she needed to take the car to authorized shop for inspection which was like $2~300 at the time (10~15 years ago).

[97ITR]

You get 3 months in Ontario before you have to switch over your insurance. Before you 3 months is up, you have to get a safety inspection before you can register your car and insure it. FYI, registering and insuring your car are two different things in Ontario.

[Demosthenes X]

I also go to school in Ontario, and have my car insured on BC plates. Here's the scoop:

1) You must be a full time student, and be prepared to prove it if you ever have to make a claim. I'm in the middle of making a claim right now (fucking vandals!!!). I had to fax a copy of my Verification of Enrolment and proof that I was a BC resident when I insured the car (I sent a copy of my credit card statement showing that I drove from Victoria to Ontario).

2) Your rates, whatever they are, will double. Going out of province makes you region Z, and whatever your base rate is goes up by 2X. In my case, that was still $1500 cheaper than the lowest quote I got in Ontario!

3) You may need proof that Ontario is okay with you running BC plates. The rep I used asked me for the name of the person I talked to - I said I had no idea, and that was that. But apparently there is a place where they fill in whether the authority in the destination is all right with out of province plates. FWIW, my understanding is that Ontario is fine with out of province plates as long as you're a full time student and your permanent residence is the same as your plates. If you're in a university town like London or Kingston, you should be fine.

4) As far as making a claim goes, if you ever have to, ICBC has an "out of province" department you deal with. I had to get a couple estimates, as well as the aforementioned Verification of Enrolment, and send it all off to my agent. Still waiting to hear from him, but once my claim is approved I'll get the work done, and ICBC sends a co-pay cheque to the shop which I have to sign before the shop gets paid.

If you have any other questions, feel free to email me - I don't check RS much anymore. My email is demosthenesx@gmail.com.