mibix

Hello there,
This is my first post here and I've scoured the internet for a few questions, but want to double check with some experienced expats.

Myself and my partner are wanting to travel to Canada with the intent of finding work and maybe settling down at some point in the future, although this trip will be more of an extended work holiday. The plan is to meet a friend who lives in Toronto, and stay at hers for a while. Then we will look at buying a camper van (either a RV or a normal van with some supplies) to travel the country a while before returning to Toronto.

Can somebody please confirm I have these facts correct?

1) If we buy and insure the van in Toronto, the insurance will cover all the other provinces.

2) We can drive on our full+clean UK licence for the duration of the 6 month holiday visa.

3) If we obtain a 'International Experience Canada' visa, this can left unused, but activated once we have found work.

4) Once we have found work, we can exchange our UK licence for an Ontario one, and hopefully get lower premiums.

Many Thanks in Advance

dbd33

1. Yes, and the States. However, getting a policy will likely entail pretending that you have an address in Canada. Your friend in Toronto may be able to help with this but a friend in a more insurance friendly postal code would be better.

3. Yes. It's not a given that you can have six months as a visitor though. Usual but not certain.

4. Exchange yes, lower premiums probably not.

I'd expect the premium for this to be more than the cost of the van. If your friend is over 25 and licensed for three or more years, what I would do is to put the van in your friend's name, insure it in his or her name for TPFT (almost all policies here are "any driver") and, if there's an accident while you're driving, say you borrowed it for the day. Coverage will exist, the insurance company will be obliged to pay for a third party claim, the insurance company will think you've behaved really very badly and won't like you. **** 'em.

mibix

thanks dbd33,

Our friend is OK for us to use her address as the 'base' and register the van there.

I've had a look at the premiums and for a van worth $2000, 6 months insurance was about $3-4000 Although it's not cheap, it's surely cheaper than bus fares and hotels - plus we get to go what we want when we went

So if the policy is in her name in Toronto, and if there's an accident in BC, we can get away with saying we borrowed it for a week even though the distance is quite great? I don't plan on having an accident, put if so, would this affect her premiums as it does over here?

dbd33

Yes and yes.

mibix

Amazing thank you

dbd33

Not at all, but note the phrase "what I would do". That's not necessarily what Jesus would do.

I don't know how licenses work for long term visitors. I know people who have driven on foreign licenses for years, decades in one case, but how you should administer this if you're visiting for more than 90 days is a mystery to me.

mibix

That sounds pretty much like what I would do - I'm definitely not on par with Jesus...

JonboyE

You don't borrow a $2,000 van for a week to drive from Toronto to BC and back. The moment you got to BC you would have to trun around and drive back. If you are going to try this your story has to be plausible.

christmasoompa

Don't forget to factor in other expenses though, i.e. gas, campsite fees, etc. Might be that when it's all added up, buses and motels would be cheaper after all!