University Student Considered An Insured "Dependent" Despite Living Away From Home

Gardiner v. MacDonald Estate, 2015 ONSC 227

Are university students truly independent of their parents? As much as they would like their parents to believe they are, when it comes to automobile insurance and SEF 44 contracts, these students may not be.

In January of 2008, Ben Gardiner was enrolled in his second year at Carleton University in Ottawa. Like many university students, Gardiner had lived in residence during his first year and then moved to a nearby campus apartment during his second year. Gardiner returned home to his mother's house in Renfrew, Ontario in the summer months, and would visit her twice a month during the school year. 

Unfortunately, during that second year of university Gardiner was a passenger involved in a serious motor vehicle collision with a city bus, which killed all the other occupants of the car and left Gardiner with multiple fractures and a brain injury.