Legal-Ease
Sara E. Hart and David Cowley-Salegio
No Endorsement is an Island
Court Considers Whether Policy Limitations Extend to SEF 44
A
utomobile owners in Alberta may supplement Alberta’s standard automobile insurance policy, the SPF No. 1, with a variety of standardized endorsements (sometimes called “riders”). An endorsement is an amendment to an insurance contract that alters the scope of the underlying policy. In the auto insurance context, an endorsement will typically extend 26 The Alberta Broker June–July 2020
coverage to include a risk not otherwise covered by the policy—in exchange, of course, for an additional premium. For instance, the SEF 20 (the “Loss of Use” Endorsement) provides reimbursement for expenses for a rental vehicle when insureds have lost the use of their own vehicle, and the SEF 32 (the “Recreational Vehicle” Endorsement) waives conditions of the underlying policy that require compliance with
authorization and age requirements with respect to recreational vehicles in certain circumstances. The most frequently litigated endorsement would seem to be the SEF 44 (the “Family Protection” Endorsement), which indemnifies insured persons for injuries they suffer as a result of inadequately insured motorists. When insureds suffer injuries and cannot collect from the at-fault driver because of that driver’s
