Understanding the importance of details in car insurance

Jennifer Reeve, Manager of BC Auto Sales, discusses how Western goes over important details about car insurance that could be overlooked.

I’m Western’s Manager of British Columbia Auto Sales and I am based in Kelowna. I started my insurance career when I was 17, and at the time I was one of the youngest to be licensed in B.C. My father was in the insurance business and a career in insurance was a natural for me. I enjoy camping on the weekends and capturing the beauty in water colour paintings. My cat, and the Akita, rule the house.

Q: What is the importance of knowing the tax implications when you sell your vehicle privately?

A: Unless you are a GST Registrant, you will not be remitting any taxes to the Consumer Taxation Branch. We do that for you!

Your obligation is to correctly complete the APV9T Transfer Tax form that you can pick up from any of our offices, and provide the seller with the signed Registration document.

Here’s what you also need to do:

• Remove your license plates from the vehicle you’re selling.
• Remove your insurance and registration. The insurance and registration are actually two parts of the same document (APV250).
• Tear off (carefully please!) the bottom, vehicle registration portion.
• Give the registration to the buyer, making sure it has your signature on it. (It must be the original registration, not a photocopy.)
• After you've been paid, fill out and sign the Transfer/Tax Form in full. Each of the four pages must have original signatures.
• To complete the transfer, take the registration and Transfer/Tax Form to your Western Financial Group office. We strongly recommend going together with the buyer to ensure that the registration transfer is processed in a timely manner and that your name and any insurance and license products are removed from the vehicle registration record.
• Remember to cancel your insurance or transfer it to a new vehicle.

As a purchaser you have to pay provincial sales tax and there are some exceptions which you can find at https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/taxes/sales-taxes/publications/pst-308-vehicles.pdf

The Consumer Taxation Branch (CBT) has given ICBC permission to accept and remit taxes on their behalf for the sale of any car or truck or trailer.

Q: Why is it important to understand the insurance implications of adding a new driver to your policy?

A: If you add a new driver to your policy, such as a teen or adult son or daughter as an alternative driver, you are likely to pay a bit more because ICBC looks at their driving experience as well as crashes.

3. What discounts exist when you insure a vehicle or multiple vehicles with Western?

A: We have a discount of up to 10% that applies if you drive your car 5,000 km or less in a year. The discount starts when you start or renew your insurance or buy new plates. A reading of your odometer with a photo, for example, is recorded at that time.

ICBC is also hinting at future discounts, so make sure we record your odometer reading!

There is a discount available for safety technology on your vehicle such as autonomous emergency braking (AEB).

If you have 10 years of driving crash free, you get one forgiveness of an accident.

Then there’s the experienced driver savings discount. The more driving experience you have, the better your discount will be from ICBC. Within this program, there is a seniors’ discount if you are 65 and older and your car is for pleasure use.

If you get the fuel tax refund, you can qualify for a 25% discount on your basic auto plan coverages. ICBC is now expanded that to include caregivers who drive the vehicle. It recognizes that some people do have a care giver who only drives their vehicle to help them do errands and go to appointments.