Category 8, plainly explained
If you rent out your car and it is insured in category 1, your insurance does not cover that rental. This is not an administrative formality: it decides who pays the day something happens.
This page explains what category 8 is, why we require it before any listing, and how to get it. One call to your insurer, and the matter is settled for good.
What it is
Insurance companies in the CIMA zone — the fourteen West and Central African countries that share the same insurance code — classify vehicles by use, on a grid of ten categories. It is not your model that counts, it is what you do with it.
Category 1 covers passenger vehicles, for your private and work travel. It is the one under which almost all private individuals are insured, often without knowing it.
Watch out for the word “professional”: here it refers to your own journeys — going to the office, doing a round, travelling for work. It does not mean earning an income from the vehicle itself. Renting out your car is not one more professional use: it is a different use.
Category 8 covers vehicles intended for rental.
Category 4 covers passenger transport — a vehicle and a driver provided. It does not concern you: on our site, a private owner always rents without a driver.
A vehicle rented out for payment falls under category 8, not category 1. The day you rent it out, its use changes, and the insurance must follow.
Why it really matters
Your premium was calculated on the basis that you drive your car. Not that a third party drives it for payment. The risk is not the same, nor is the premium — and that gap is where the trouble starts.
First what does not change, and what you should know: the victim of an accident is compensated in every case. The CIMA code protects third parties, and the insurer cannot use a declaration problem between you and them against the victims.
The problem lies elsewhere — between your insurer and you, and it takes two forms depending on the case:
The most frequent case
Use not declared, in good faith
Through oversight or ignorance, the insurer applies a proportional reduction: it compares the premium you paid with the one you should have paid, and compensates you only in that proportion. The rest is on you.
If the omission is proven
Deliberate omission
The insurer can go as far as voiding the contract: no cover at all, and it turns to you to recover what it paid to the victim.
In both cases, your own vehicle is not covered, and the difference comes out of your pocket. A serious crash runs into millions of francs.
That is why we make it a condition of entry and not a recommendation. No private owner’s listing is published without a valid category 8 insurance certificate. It is not administrative zeal: it is what makes the difference between extra income and a financial accident.
What to know before calling your insurer
Three honest points, because they will save you a back-and-forth.
Labels vary from one company to another
The ten-category grid is a pricing practice shared by the companies of the zone, not a single regulatory form. Your insurer may say “passenger vehicles offered for rental”, or “rental without driver”. It is the same thing. The number 8 will mean something to them; still describe your situation in one sentence, it removes any ambiguity.
Get the scope confirmed in writing
Especially if your vehicle is not a passenger car — a pick-up, for example. In black and white, not over the phone.
We publish no prices
No Senegalese insurer publishes a category 8 premium, and we will not give you an estimate we cannot stand by. The extra cost exists, it varies from one company to another, and it is up to your insurer to put a figure on it.
How to get it
Call your current insurer. It is the shortest route: your contract exists, it is a change of use, not a new policy.
What you say
“I would like to rent out my vehicle, without a driver, to private individuals. Can you move me to category 8?”
What you ask next
“Can you confirm in writing that this category does cover the rental of my vehicle?”
That written confirmation is what counts. A verbal agreement does not protect you on the day of a claim.
Get your insurance certificate showing your vehicle and the category chosen. That is the document you will upload to the platform — not the ECOWAS brown card, which is a document for travelling between countries and says nothing about your category. You will need it if you allow travel outside the country, which is a separate question asked at sign-up.
If your agent does not know category 8, do not conclude it does not exist there: ask for the underwriting department, or consult a broker. Rental has long been an insured use in the CIMA zone.
In the meantime, your sign-up is not lost
If you declare category 1 on the form, your request is not rejected: it is put on hold. You keep your file, your photos, your information. We call you back, and the listing goes live as soon as the certificate arrives.
It is by far the most frequent sticking point of the sign-up. It says nothing about you — it simply shows that nobody thinks about their insurance category until they need it.
The other documents we ask for
Category 8 never comes alone. Before publication, we also ask for:
The roadworthiness certificate, less than twelve months old. We apply this rule even when your certificate remains administratively valid for longer.
The registration certificate. If the name on it differs from the one on the insurance certificate, the holder’s identity document is required before publication. The road tax sticker does not block publication: if it has expired, remember to renew it.
We report these uploads with their date — “The Owner uploaded an insurance certificate valid on [date]” — and nothing more. We carry out no physical inspection of vehicles. What we hold to is that no private owner’s listing exists without these documents. Offers from listed professionals fall under their own scheme, with its own documents.
Frequently asked questions
My car already has comprehensive cover. Isn’t that enough?
No. Comprehensive refers to the extent of cover — what is covered. The category refers to use — under what conditions. A comprehensive policy in category 1 does not cover rental.
Is it expensive?
More expensive than category 1, necessarily, since the risk is not the same. How much exactly, only your insurer can say: no Senegalese company publishes a category 8 price, and we will not give you a made-up figure.
What if I only rent occasionally?
The category depends on use, not frequency. A single claim during a single rental is enough to raise the problem.
Is my pick-up concerned?
Double-cab pick-ups registered as passenger vehicles (VP) up to 3.5 tonnes are open to rental, subject to written confirmation from your insurer of the exact scope of category 8 for this type of vehicle. Ask for it before signing up.
And to rent with a driver?
Not possible as a private individual. Providing a vehicle and a driver is passenger transport: it requires a road transport licence, category 4 insurance and drivers holding a professional card. That is the scheme for listed professionals.
One call to your insurer, and the matter is settled for good
No private owner’s listing is published without a valid category 8 insurance certificate.