Ontario court held that insurance coverage exclusion bars fleet injury claim as vehicle was never scheduled prior to accident
A rental company drove an unscheduled vehicle for over a year without telling its insurer, and when that car was involved in an accident, nobody said a word for nearly three years. When the lessor finally sought coverage, Ontario’s Court of Appeal had a hard answer: an insurance coverage exclusion in a standard fleet endorsement meant there was nothing to collect.
What did the insurance coverage exclusion mean for this fleet
West York Sales and Leasing Inc. owned a 2017 Honda Civic, leased to 8182485 Canada Inc., operating as Platinum Car and Truck Rental (“Platinum”). Platinum held a fleet policy with The Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company, operating as Travelers Canada (“Dominion”), running from September 15, 2019, to September 15, 2020.
The Honda Civic was not on the Schedule of insured vehicles when the policy began. West York said engine failure had taken the car out of service. On August 25, 2020, it was involved in an accident; however, Platinum told neither party. The accident sat undisclosed for nearly three years, until both companies were named as defendants in July 2023.
The insurance coverage exclusion came from the Ontario Policy Change Form Monthly Reporting Basis Fleet Endorsement (OPCF 21A), s. (c), which states that no coverage applies to any vehicle owned or leased before the policy’s effective date that was not on the Schedule, until a request for coverage is filed.
The court, in West York Sales and Leasing Inc. v. Dominion of Canada General Insurance Company (Travelers Canada), 2026 ONCA 553, found that exclusion decisive.
How the OPCF 21A fleet endorsement determines coverage
OPCF 21A creates three categories of vehicles, each with a different coverage trigger:
- Category 1: vehicles listed on the Schedule at policy inception, which are covered from day one
- Category 2: vehicles added to the fleet after the policy starts, which are covered upon monthly reporting
- Category 3: vehicles owned or leased before the policy term, not listed at inception, and not covered until a formal request is filed with the insurer
The Honda Civic was Category 3. Platinum’s monthly report listed the vehicle but included no express request for coverage and no disclosure that it was a pre-policy vehicle. Notably, this report was filed on September 29, 2020, which is 14 days late and a month after the accident.
Here, the Court held that the word “until” in OPCF 21A (c) is unambiguous. As such, no coverage exists before a request is made, and the application judge’s conclusion that OPCF 21A (c)’s limiting words were “not relevant” was rejected outright.
Why the monthly report was not enough to trigger a duty to defend
The Court also shut down relief from forfeiture, which the application judge had granted under s. 129 of the Insurance Act.
Citing Kestenberg Siegal Lipkus v. Royal Sun Alliance Insurance Company of Canada, 2024 ONCA 607, the Court confirmed that relief from forfeiture requires coverage to have been triggered first. Meaning, if the coverage was never activated, the remedy is unavailable.
The Court drew a clear line between OPCF 21A (f), which governs premium calculation for vehicles already covered, and OPCF 21A (c), which determines coverage itself. For personal injury lawyers, identifying whether a fleet vehicle falls into Category 3, and whether a valid coverage request predates the accident, should be an early step on any fleet-related injury file.
One question remains open: what exactly constitutes a sufficient “request for coverage” under OPCF 21A (c). The Court said filing a communication about the vehicle’s coverage “may be sufficient,” but left the definition for another day, and almost certainly, another case.
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