Legal and insurance considerations for sharing your car

We know of no law in any state that says it’s illegal to share your car. Insurance reasons prohibit you from sharing or delivering your car in the state of New York. We don’t expect your insurer to cover losses that occur while your car is being shared. Protection plans made available via Turo provide up to $750,000 in third-party liability insurance from Travelers Excess and Surplus Lines Company. Protection plans also contractually provide for reimbursement for physical damage to your vehicle, which is not insurance.   

Check the terms of any lease or financing agreements for your vehicles to ensure they don’t prohibit your participation in car sharing. Further, many states have laws preventing subleasing. While we don’t believe car sharing would violate unlawful subleasing laws, there’s no guarantee that all law enforcement would agree.

Your insurer’s response to car sharing will depend on their specific policies and the laws of the state in which your car is registered. If your insurer is concerned about your participation in our marketplace, we believe you should be able to remove your vehicle(s) from Turo and retain your personal auto insurance coverage. If you receive any indication that your insurance is in jeopardy, let us know. We’ll take it up with your insurer and potentially with your state’s insurance regulator.

If you prefer to decline a protection plan offered via Turo, you can still participate in our marketplace as a Commercial Host. Read about insurance requirements for Commercial Hosts.

*Currently, only a select group of hosts operating as Commercial Hosts are permitted to list vehicles that are registered in the state of New York. If you’re interested in listing a vehicle fleet in New York, email us at list-ny@turo.com.

To participate in our marketplace and choose a protection plan offered via Turo, you must be located in the province of Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, or Quebec. Although your personal insurance will not be used during a Turo transaction, your personal insurer must approve of your participation in peer-to-peer car sharing. If you don’t provide approval from your personal insurance provider, your personal policy may be voided, and you’ll  be unable to obtain a new policy.  

In Canada, only certain auto insurers allow their policyholders to participate in car sharing. As of today, the following insurers have agreed to let their policyholders list their cars and share them on Turo: 

• Allstate Insurance Company of Canada: Policyholders from Allstate Insurance Company of Canada who live in Quebec are allowed to list and share their vehicle on the Turo car sharing platform, provided they notify their agent. The agent will add an endorsement to the host’s personal policy authorizing the use of Turo by the car host. Certain conditions apply.
• belairdirect: Policyholders from belairdirect are allowed to list their vehicles and share them on Turo. All they need to do is notify belairdirect by calling 1-844-308-8237. More information here.
• CIBC Home and Auto Insurance Program (underwritten by Certas Direct Insurance Company and The Personal): Clients with a personal automobile insurance policy through the CIBC Home and Auto Insurance Program residing in Ontario, Alberta, Nova Scotia, or Quebec are permitted to list their vehicle(s) on the Turo car sharing platform, provided they notify the insurer at 1-855- 964-2082.
• Desjardins Insurance: Both the Desjardins Insurance direct network and Desjardins Insurance Agent network allow policyholders to list their vehicles on the Turo car sharing platform, provided they first notify their insurer. Read more information about the direct network and more information about the Agent network.
• Industrial Alliance Auto and Home Insurance: Industrial Alliance Auto and Home Insurance Inc. (“IAAH”) is allowing its policyholders — except for those who have a telematics device (Mobiliz program) — to list and share their vehicle on Turo, as long as they first notify IAAH at 1-800-463-4382. Read more information.
• Insurance Corporation of British Columbia (ICBC): ICBC allows its policyholders to list their vehicles on the Turo car-sharing platform. Since Turo has Basic Blanket Insurance with ICBC, you do not need to visit your broker until your next renewal date. At this time, you may be asked if you are renting your vehicle via a peer-to-peer platform so it can be declared on the policy. Read more information.
• Intact Insurance, Novex Insurance, Jevco: Personal automobile insurance customers with Intact Insurance, Novex, and Jevco have permission to list their vehicles with Turo, as long as they notify their insurance broker. Read more information.
• La Capitale General Insurance: Policyholders from La Capitale are allowed to list their vehicles on Turo as long as they notify them. The agent will add an endorsement to the host's personal policy authorizing the use of Turo by the car host, at no additional cost for the host. Read more information.
• L’Unique General Insurance: Policyholders from L'Unique are allowed to list their vehicles on Turo as long as they notify their broker. The broker will add an endorsement to the host's personal policy authorizing the use of Turo by the car host, at no additional cost for the host.
• Promutuel Assurance: Policyholders of a personal Quebec Automobile Insurance Policy from Promutuel Assurance are allowed to list their vehicles on Turo as long as they notify their damage insurance representative beforehand. The damage insurance representative will add an endorsement to the host's personal policy authorizing the use of Turo by the car host, at no additional cost for the host.
• RSA Canada: RSA Canada allows policyholders to list their vehicles on the Turo car sharing platform, provided they first notify their broker to purchase the appropriate endorsement.
• SSQ General Insurance: Policyholders from SSQauto are allowed to list their vehicles on Turo as long as they notify them. The agent will add an endorsement to the host's personal policy authorizing the use of Turo by the car host, at no additional cost for the host. Read more information.
• The Co-operators: Co-operators General Insurance Company, COSECO Insurance Company, and CUMIS General Insurance Company allows its clients to list their vehicles on the Turo car sharing platform, provided that they first notify their insurer.
• The Personal: The Personal allows its policyholders to list their vehicles on the Turo car sharing platform, provided that they first notify their insurer. 

Even if your insurer is listed above, it’s important that you let them know that you're participating in Turo as a host. Letting your insurer know that your vehicle is listed on Turo won’t affect your personal premiums in any way. If your insurer isn’t listed, it means that they haven’t yet approved policyholders to share their vehicles on Turo. We’re working with insurers across the country to have them change their rules so that all hosts can soon list their vehicles and share them on Turo. We’re adding insurers on a regular basis, so please check in regularly. 

If you’re located in a province other than Alberta, British Columbia, Nova Scotia, Ontario, or Quebec, or you prefer to decline a protection plan offered by Turo, you can still participate in our marketplace as a Commercial Host. Read about insurance requirements for Commercial Hosts.

We know of no law that says it is illegal to share your car. Your insurer’s response to car sharing will depend on their specific policies. If your insurer is concerned about your participation in our marketplace, we believe you should be able to remove your vehicle(s) from Turo and retain your personal auto insurance coverage. If you receive any indication that your insurance is in jeopardy, let us know so we can help you address it with the insurer.  

We don’t expect your insurer to cover losses arising while the car is shared. That’s why the third-party liability insurance offered by Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance UK Ltd., via its broker Aon UK Ltd., provides £20,000,000 in liability protection. This is also why the protection plans available through Turo also offer varying levels of contractual reimbursement from Turo and coverage from Aioi Nissay Dowa Insurance, for Physical Damage and theft. Since you receive full insurance coverage for each Turo trip, you don’t need to inform your existing car insurer of physical damage to your car, and your premiums won’t be impacted.

Check the terms of any lease or financing agreements for your vehicles to ensure they don’t prohibit your participation in car sharing. Also, make sure that sharing your vehicle on Turo won’t cause your vehicle to exceed the annual kilometre limit set by your insurer.  If you prefer to decline a protection plan offered via Turo, you can still participate in our marketplace as a Commercial Host.  Read about insurance requirements for Commercial Hosts.