A dealership can hold a broad garage policy and still have a particular vehicle fall outside the liability protection expected for highway use. Harris Victoria Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram Ltd. v Insurance Corporation of British Columbia, 2026 BCSC 1380, shows why the details of registration, licensing and the statutory vehicle regime matter.
The case followed a catastrophic pedestrian injury. A Jeep owned by the dealership was being driven with the dealership's consent when the collision occurred. The dealership was later held vicariously liable and faced a judgment of roughly $5 million. It turned to ICBC and argued that its garage policy should indemnify it for the third party liability.
The Court rejected the claim. The existence of the garage policy was not enough. Under the statutory and regulatory system that applied in 2018, the vehicle still had to meet the requirements that connected the particular Jeep to insured highway operation. On the facts, it had not been registered or licensed in the way required for the dealership to obtain the liability coverage it was seeking.
That distinction matters in commercial auto programs. A garage policy is designed around a business that regularly owns, moves, tests and sells vehicles. It does not follow that every vehicle in inventory has identical status at every moment. The policy operates alongside a statutory scheme that can make licensing and vehicle status part of the coverage analysis.
For dealerships and brokers, the practical lesson is to map operational practices to the policy and regulatory structure. Temporary movement, customer use, dealer plates and inventory status can create different insurance consequences. A broad description of the business is not a substitute for confirming how a specific vehicle becomes insured for a specific use.
The petition for indemnity was dismissed. The ruling is tied to the British Columbia automobile insurance regime in force at the time and to the facts of this dealership transaction, but the underlying risk management point is wider. Commercial auto coverage depends on the legal status of the vehicle as well as the existence of the policy.