Are You Starting your Commute to Work or School Again? Tell Your Auto Insurer!

August 26, 2021, Kitchener, Ontario

Posted by: Robert Deutschmann, Personal Injury Lawyer

Many of us have already begun in office or work or are facing office openings in the next couple of months and a return to the in-office work routine. If you’ve been working from home due to COVID closures, you likely advised your auto insurer and may even have gotten a small premium rebate.

Now that we are gearing up for back-to-in-school learning and in-office work it’s time to advise your insurer if you are going to be using your car to commute to and from work or school, or if you are back to using your car for work. If you have a side gig during school or otherwise – think Uber or SkipTheDishes for example – you also need to advise your insurer.

If you have an accident and your auto insurance policy does not reflect the actual usage of your vehicle then you will face some serious problems. Firstly, your insurer will not honour any claims as you broke the insurance contract. Secondly, they will cancel your policy outright and you may face some challenges and premium hikes while looking for a new policy. Thirdly you will have to cover any damage loss claims out of your own pocketbook. Personal injury and tort claims may also fall on your own shoulders to pay.

Many people try to save a few bucks by not disclosing the actual use of their vehicle to their auto insurer. Parents loan a car to their school kids to drive to college or university or high school but fail to declare the information. Again, the insurance ramifications can be serious.

In the event of a serious accident or large claim insurance companies always investigate the accident and the situation closely. We see the results of these investigations regularly. They are thorough!

Other tips for back to work/back to school use of your car:

• If you haven’t been driving much for the last 19 months consider taking it to your mechanic for a check-up
• When you do get behind the wheel take it easy. Your commuting skills and everyone else’s may be rusty.
• Consider lining up some podcasts to listen to in the car. There are some great ones out there and they can help fill the time.

If you are continuing to work at home part-time or full time make sure to advise your home insurer of this as well. You may need to increase some coverages for content if you have lots of computer and office equipment. If you have a home office and you have meetings with clients or colleagues in the home then you may need special liability coverage to protect yourself and them in the event of an accident like a slip and fall on the stairs or icy sidewalk.

Whatever your personal situation is September will bring big changes to many of our lives and a welcome return to more normalcy.

About Deutschmann Law

Deutschmann Law serves South-Western Ontario with offices in Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Woodstock, Brantford, Stratford and Ayr. The law practice of Robert Deutschmann focuses almost exclusively in personal injury and disability insurance matters. For more information, please visit www.deutschmannlaw.com or call us at 1-519-742-7774.

It is important that you review your accident benefit file with one of our experienced personal injury / car accident lawyers to ensure that you obtain access to all your benefits which include, but are limited to, things like physiotherapy, income replacement benefits, vocational retraining and home modifications.