Canadian RV Insurance

[Morgan]

The young lady who bought my Casita lives in Quebec (I live in New Mexico). She'll be down here in late January to pick it up.

Her auto insuror told her they cannot insure the Casita until it has been imported and inspected by SAC in Quebec.

The following questions are for those of you who live in Canada and who have bought an RV in the states.

Is the response of her insuror typical? Reasonable?

How did you insure your RV against damage during the trip back to Canada?

[Roger C H]

That sounds bogus. Washington State issues a 'transportation license' only good for one day if you want to move an unlicensed, normally licensed vehicle. Why wouldn't an insurer do the same? ... researching...

I think this website may be helpful:

http://www.riv.ca/ImportingAVehicle.aspx

Ooh! Another website:

http://www.tc.gc.ca/eng/roadsafety/tp-tp13...ailer_e-414.htm

Good Luck!

BTW: Here is the one for the other direction:

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/cl...utomobiles.xml

I think that if a vehicle passes the gov regs, it should be insurable. Here are some other costs, however:

Cost considerations. Determine any possible duties, provincial and federal sales taxes, trip permits, temporary insurance and provincial licensing requirements before you import your
vehicle.

Fees for registering a vehicle imported from the U.S. through the RIV program with a Form 1.
$195.00 + GST and QST for vehicles entering through a border crossing in Quebec $195.00 + GST for vehicles entering through a border crossing in any other province

Here is an aspect one wouldn't normally think of:

U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
CBP requires at least 72 hours advance notice before any self-propelled vehicle is permanently exported from the United States. CBP regulations state that at land border points:
1. required documentation must be submitted at least 72 hours prior to export; and

2. the vehicle must be presented to CBP at the time of export. CBP recommends that you contact the border crossing directly to determine all documentation required and the hours of operation.

These recent paragraphs from:

http://www.riv.ca/Docs/RIV-09_brochure-EN-web.pdf

I don't know about trailers, but forewarned is forearmed.

Aren't governments fun?

[Scott S.]

not bogus... went through this.
you can get private insurance if you are worried about damage during the trip. good idea.
I had someone tow mine to the camp in Ontario and because the Govn't office is NOT open on weekends, you don't need a plate on it (not sure about PQ). you'll be paying GST at the border and $195 fee for some guy to come out and check the tires (some are not allowed in Canada), the VIN # and the lights. it just has to have lights, they don't have to work BTW. paperwork has to be at the border 3 days in advance or you'll be waiting. I hired a broker so all the paperwork was proper when the trailer crossed... $125 and worth every penny. a tranfer permit can be issued so the trailer is legal once it hits the border... go straight to Canadian Tire and have them do exactly what the guy at the border did... another $40... why? beats me. then you're OK to get a plate on it and pay QST. perhaps the seller could give you a bill of sale for lesser amount ? but you didn't hear that from me!
All I have to say is that there is a government office in Ottawa that simply exsists to collect these fees and push paper. go figure.

they cuctoms website out lines all this and lists the tires that are an issue and also a few RV's that are not allowed in Canada. you're totally OK with the egg BTW. I phoned numerous times with questions and got conflicting answers every time too so good luck.
hope this helps

Scott

[Roger C H]

There you go. Nothing like hearing from someone who has been through it.

[Doug Mager]

Never been 'through all this' BUT remember too almost each (Canadian) province has their own 'style' of insurance so what 'works' in Ont/Que WON'T necessarily work here in B.C. (for example).

[Jake]

The young lady who bought my Casita lives in Quebec (I live in NM). She'll be down here in late January to pick it up.

Her auto insuror told her they cannot insure the Casita until it has been imported and inspected by SAC in Quebec.

The following questions are for those of you who live in Canada and who have bought an RV in the states.

Is the response of her insuror typical? Reasonable?

How did you insure your RV against damage during the trip back to Canada?

Hello:
I imported an Award Travel Trailer into Ontario Canada, about 2 years ago, from New York state.
I called ahead to U.S Customs and Immigration to check to see if it must be approved by them to leave the country.
I was told that they DO NOT need to know any inforamtion on Travel Trailers leaving the US.
ONLY if the vehicle is Motorized!
I called my Car Insurance company in Toronto, (AXA Insurance) and informed that I would be buying and pullling it back into Ontario. My agent then said that as long as I had a Bill of Sale (stating that I had paid and purchased the trailer) and Title (Ownership here) signed by previous owner.
Then when the trailer was being towed by my insured vehicle, it was covered, whether it had a transit permit, or out of state/province Trailer plate on it.
Just the above proof, that it was now owned by me.

At the Canadian Border, I just declared the trailer, showed them the above paperwork, they confirmed the VIN #, and I paid the GST (Goods & Services Tax) ONLY, no duties or RIV fees.
Once in Ontario, it did NOT require any inspection, just took the above paperwork, and and the Canada Customs paperwork, and then paid the PST (Provincial tax) purchased a new Trailer plate, and it was done.
Was not a problem at all.

Once here and when I was not travelling with it, I parked in a Campground for the season, I took additional Insurance out for it, as it was then not attached to my vehicle, and the cost was $126 for the Year, and covered for all perils, and replacement value of $15,000.

Perhaps the laws and requirements in Quebec may differ?

Sorry for being long winded, just wanted to include all in the process.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!
Jake.

[Morgan]

My thanks to each of you. Some very informative posts.

I'm still hoping for one of our Quebecer members to chime in. Well, maybe after the holidays.

[Carol H]

Hello:
I imported an Award Travel Trailer into Ontario Canada, about 2 years ago, from New York state.
I called ahead to U.S Customs and Immigration to check to see if it must be approved by them to leave the country.
I was told that they DO NOT need to know any inforamtion on Travel Trailers leaving the US.
ONLY if the vehicle is Motorized!
I called my Car Insurance company in Toronto, (AXA Insurance) and informed that I would be buying and pullling it back into Ontario. My agent then said that as long as I had a Bill of Sale (stating that I had paid and purchased the trailer) and Title (Ownership here) signed by previous owner.
Then when the trailer was being towed by my insured vehicle, it was covered, whether it had a transit permit, or out of state/province Trailer plate on it.
Just the above proof, that it was now owned by me.

At the Canadian Border, I just declared the trailer, showed them the above paperwork, they confirmed the VIN #, and I paid the GST (Goods & Services Tax) ONLY, no duties or RIV fees.
Once in Ontario, it did NOT require any inspection, just took the above paperwork, and and the Canada Customs paperwork, and then paid the PST (Provincial tax) purchased a new Trailer plate, and it was done.
Was not a problem at all.

Once here and when I was not travelling with it, I parked in a Campground for the season, I took additional Insurance out for it, as it was then not attached to my vehicle, and the cost was $126 for the Year, and covered for all perils, and replacement value of $15,000.

Perhaps the laws and requirements in Quebec may differ?

Sorry for being long winded, just wanted to include all in the process.

Cheers and Happy Holidays!
Jake.

I know I am little behind on this but in case someone is still thinking about importing to Canada I have imported a used trailer and a new car to BC. Jake is correct a car does need to be pre approved (at least 3 days needed) before you take it to the border to import but the trailer *does not need pre approval* you just need to show up at the border with the trailer, the bill of sale, title and a readable VIN number and it helps to have a copy of the cheque or money transfer as well as a copy of the ad you found the trailer on (they want to know that what you paid is what it was really worth). If the trailer is over a certain age (16 years ?) it does not need to go into the RIV program and there are no RIV fees.

RE the insurance issue I would suggest checking with your home insurance provider. They all seem to be different. In BC ICBC would not cover the trailer until it was in BC and inspected but through my house insurance I was able to get something to help with it. I also purchase a travel permit in the US to make sure I was covered. In the case of the car the dealer in the US arranged the travel permit for me prior to picking it up.