Did you know that BC’s auto insurance laws have a serious gap that can leave unsuspecting sellers on the hook? Recently, CBC’s Go Public covered a story where a BC man was liable for towing and storage on a car he had sold privately. The problem is a legal loophole in most provincial laws which can result in sellers being held responsible for vehicles after they’ve sold them.

Scott Stanley explained that “only buyers are required to transfer the registration at the vehicle registry office. The seller doesn’t have to be there.

So if a buyer never completes the paperwork, the seller’s name stays on the registration — and with it, the responsibility for tickets, towing, insurance or possibly criminal liability.”

For a Langley, BC man that liability was a $1500 bill when a car he had sold three months earlier was found abandoned without plates and towed.

This cautionary tale confirms that if you are selling a car privately you would be wise to attend at the vehicle registry office with the buyer to make sure the vehicle is properly transferred. 

Read the story here: Man billed $1,500 for vehicle he didn’t own, insurer says he still has to pay