If you have rental car coverage on your automobile insurance policy, and you go and rent a U-Haul cargo van or pick-up truck - are you covered? What do you think?

This is not an easy question and is misunderstood by most. The safest route is to talk to your insurance broker before assuming anything is covered ... that is what we are here for. That being said, here is the basic answer:

The rental car coverage on your auto policy is designed for when you rent a personal vehicle, and not for most trucks and vans that you might hire for a move. As a result, there are some exclusions that would apply. Here are the main ones that would apply:

1. The coverage would not apply to any vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating over 4500kg (that would exclude most moving trucks and large vans) (check your specific policy wordings to confirm exclusions).
2. The coverage would not extend to carrying passengers or commercial use of the rented vehicle, in case you were running errands for your business.
3. The coverage is restricted to only those people named on the underlying policy.
4. Note that there is also a dollar limit to the coverage that might be an issue.

So as mentioned, every situation is unique, so give us a call to make sure.

Of note, one of the recommendations put forth in the Report on the Five Year Review of Automobile Insurance, presented to the Financial Services Commission of Ontario is as follows:

"The superintendent intends to amend the OAP 1 to provide a limited amount of coverage for vehicles with a GVWR over 4,500 kg's."

This is just a recommendation and has not been adopted, so ensure you are properly covered.