How cautious does someone have to be when allowing a friend or employee borrow their car? Do you need to ask to see their driver’s license and check the expiry date to ensure that your insurance policy will cover you for any potential accidents? The recent case Wawanesa v. S.C. Construction Ltd.¹ demonstrates that the Courts require insureds to act reasonably in the circumstances. What is “reasonable” will depend on the circumstances. This case provides some comfort to insureds who don’t police their friends and employees before lending their vehicle, as many of us have done in the past.
The respondent, S.C. Construction (“SC”), is a small family-owned carpentry business. Their employee, Jason, had worked for the company for approximately 10 years. On May 4, 2008, one of the owners of SC, Giuseppe, allowed Jason to drive the company van home after work because Jason’s car was not working. Over the previous 10 years, Jason had been permitted to drive the company van home on 4 or 5 occasions, only when Jason’s car was not working or was being repaired.
On that May night, Jason was involved in a motor vehicle accident while driving the company van home. The other individual involved in the accident was injured and sued Jason as the driver and SC as the registered owner of the vehicle (on the basis that SC is vicariously liable for Jason’s negligence, because SC consented to Jason’s use of the vehicle).
It turned out that Jason did not have a valid driver’s license.
Permitting a person to drive your vehicle when they are not authorized by law to do so (e.g. when they do not have a valid driver’s license) is a breach of Statutory Condition 4(1) of your automobile insurance policy.
Wawanesa, the insurer for SC, sought a declaration from the Court that SC breached Statutory Condition 4(1) by allowing Jason to drive the company van without a valid driver’s license and for not notifying Wawanesa of a material change in risk.
The test for determining whether an insured has breached Statutory Condition 4(1) is whether she acted reasonably in all the circumstances. Unless the insured knew or ought to have known that the driver didn’t have a valid driver’s license or unless in the circumstances she should have asked to see the actual license, she will not be found in breach of the Condition. This is a question of fact.
Where an employee is hired as a driver it is obvious that the employer should ask to see the employee’s driver’s license. In this case, Jason was hired as a labourer; he was never permitted to drive the company van during work hours and was not required to do so. Further, he was seen to be driving his own vehicle to work and home for nearly ten years, at times with his family in the car. In all these circumstances the Court found that SC and Giuseppe acted reasonably in not asking to see Jason’s driver’s license before lending him the company van. Wawanesa was required to defend the action.
This case illustrates that insureds will not be held to an unreasonable standard and will not be denied coverage on the basis of technicalities when they acted reasonably in the circumstances. However, in order to avoid a coverage dispute such as this one, it would still be best to ensure that your friend or employee is legally permitted to drive before lending them your vehicle.
¹ 2012 ONSC 353.










