What happens if you let an uninsured driver use your car

[DebMcDonald]

This really really pisses me off Someone I work with has a son who is 24 I think and she lets him use her car all the time. He has absolutely no car insurance. I have brought this up several times to her and totally finally said "arn't you worried that he could get in an accident, and her response is - well I have insurance and what's the chances of that happening anyway. HELLO - the rest of us pay insurance and I also have a 19 year old DD on my policy, so we're paying a large sum of money. Am I wrong - isn't this illegal? I mean he's also been arrested several times in the last couple of months for breaking and entering and stealing a car, so in the grand scheme of things this is probably minor, but honestly......

 

[Canooknic]

Yes, driving without insurance is against the law and no her insurance company won't pay if he causes any damage to her vehicle.....some people are idiots unfortunately!!

 

[It'sWDW4me]

This really really pisses me off Someone I work with has a son who is 24 I think and she lets him use her car all the time. He has absolutely no car insurance. I have brought this up several times to her and totally finally said "arn't you worried that he could get in an accident, and her response is - well I have insurance and what's the chances of that happening anyway. HELLO - the rest of us pay insurance and I also have a 19 year old DD on my policy, so we're paying a large sum of money. Am I wrong - isn't this illegal? I mean he's also been arrested several times in the last couple of months for breaking and entering and stealing a car, so in the grand scheme of things this is probably minor, but honestly......

If I remember correctly from a conversation MANY years ago with my insurance agent, when you have car insurance it's the CAR that is insured, not the person driving said car. You can have different insurance on different vehicles - i.e. collision on one but not the other. So as long as your co-worker's son has a valid driver's license, she's given him permission to drive her car, and she has insurance current on her car... there is absolutely no problem. Her son needs to buy car insurance only if he owns his own car. Should he hit someone while driving her car (assuming he does have a valid driver's license), your co-worker takes the risk of being sued since she is the owner of the car.

 

[RitaE]

Insurance varies from state to state by largely - cars are insured, not drivers.


The only problem would be if she somehow misrepresented her situation on the application for car insurance which asks how a car is typically used. For example, if she claimed the 24 year old didn't live in her household and he does. There are some states that will allow a policyholder to exclude a certain driver from a car. If she has done that --- then there is obviously problem.

 

[clh2]

We are also paying for a DD to drive. Yes it is expensive. Once we added DD - we got very specific information from our insurance company on who is specifically covered on our car, and who is not. I.e. I do not think we can have someone else (except DD) under 25 drive our car. Period. Granted I don't recall the age, but it isn't a problem - no one else would be driving our car anyway.

The way we look at it is: we can only control what we can control. So - we have insurance for "under-insured" motorists. We have insurance for "uninsured motorists". It is an additional cost - but I am more concerned about what makes sense for our family than worrying about what someone else is or is not doing related to their insurance.

 

[plummer925]

She should simply call her insurance agent and find out.

I had a friend who had a license and no insurance (did not own a car) and my insurance company said that he could drive my car under my insurance.

If her son doesn't live with her then he wouldn't have to be listed on her policy.

 

[RitaE]

I just checked my policy and this is who has to be included as a listed driver in our case. So if she had my insurance, if he was driving the car more than once a month or if he lived in her household, then he would have to be listed on her insurance.


Drivers who need to be added include:

A dependent child who recently received a permit or license
A driver who recently moved into your household (even if they have other insurance)
A driver who is using your vehicle at least once a month
Unlicensed individuals of driving age that are living in your home

 

[kellia]

In Mich, you insure the car, not the driver. So, it doesn't matter as long as he has a license. Unless you have some kind of a rider saying specifically that person can't drive their car, I know some people have gotten that if their kids have lots of tickets or accidents. However, if he were to hurt someone, they could sue whoever the car was registered to, since they allowed him to use it.

In our state, our insurance also pays for us if we get in an accident, whether or not the other person is insured.

 

[tikistitch]

In the state I live in, it's the car itself that's insured, not the individual person. I don't have insurance in my name, but I pay for a portion of the insurance on the car I share with my sisters. My father's name is on the insurance card since the policy is in his name, but it's the car that's insured and we all can drive it.

 

[Fyrefly]

Yeah in MD you have to have who is allowed to drive the car on the list. So I didn't start driving until late and I was cheaper since I was after 18 at that point. But to save on bills since I couldn't have a car on campus my dad was able to work with the insurance company that I would only be billed on the insurance during months I was on break because I literally had no access to the car otherwise so it would be kind of stupid to have to pay extra for me on it.

 

[DebMcDonald]

So playing devils advocate here - why do I have to list my children on my policy when my cars themselves are insured - and if you don't need insurance if you don't own a car then why did my policy go up so much when I added a child to my policy.

This is her 24 year old son who does live in her household.

I'm the one with the question not the co-worker.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Her car insurance should cover an uninsured driver. Why are you so worried about something which isn't really any of your business?

 

[kim929]

It is frustrating when you do the right thing, pay out extra money and others find ways around the system.

Insurance companies require for you list everyone living at your address on your insurance policy, so not sure how that would work, in the case of an accident because the car is insured not the driver so if he lives there and not listed they might not cover it. If his address is listed somewhere else, it would be covered.

The down side to that is since the driver doesn't insure themselves, then when they go to get insurance the rate will be higher since they haven't had insurance before. I would think in the long run it would be better to insure yourself which I believe is much cheaper then if you were insuring a car.

 

[DebMcDonald]

Her car insurance should cover an uninsured driver. Why are you so worried about something which isn't really any of your business?

Touchy this morning are we - Because this mother has had her house searched by the police recently - her son has stolen two cars, he robbed three houses and if he gets into an accident and her insurance won't cover her, she's going to be up a creak more than she already is recently due to her son. So I was encourging her to do the right thing so she might not be out a car in the end, but according to everyone her car would be covered anyway and let's hope her son is not using it to go rob more houses.....

 

[robsmom]

In Mich, you insure the car, not the driver. So, it doesn't matter as long as he has a license. Unless you have some kind of a rider saying specifically that person can't drive their car, I know some people have gotten that if their kids have lots of tickets or accidents. However, if he were to hurt someone, they could sue whoever the car was registered to, since they allowed him to use it.

In our state, our insurance also pays for us if we get in an accident, whether or not the other person is insured.

Not sure that this makes sense to me. If it is the car and not the driver that is covered why would people bother to get riders for kids who have lots of tickets or accidents. Think about that, why wouldn't they just let the kids drive the car if they are covered anyway. The answer is that yes you insure the car, but you are required to list all drivers that meet certain requirements. The amount of insurance paid for the car depends upon who is driving it and how they are driving it (e.g. driving history, age, marital status, city versus country, a 50 mile daily commute versus a sahm running around town, etc.). The rates are based upon many factors related to the driver(s).
If someone who meets the requirements to be listed (which may vary), but is not listed (and paid for), the insurance company can and will deny coverage

.

 

[lost*in*cyberspace]

Touchy this morning are we - Because this mother has had her house searched by the police recently - her son has stolen two cars, he robbed three houses and if he gets into an accident and her insurance won't cover her, she's going to be up a creak more than she already is recently due to her son. So I was encourging her to do the right thing so she might not be out a car in the end, but according to everyone her car would be covered anyway and let's hope her son is not using it to go rob more houses.....

Touchy? . Not at all. I have zero stake in this issue. Her life is none of your business. You said what you felt you had to say to her; now you need to back off and leave her alone. Sounds as if she has enough to deal with without being harassed by a co-worker.

 

[RitaE]

Not sure that this makes sense to me. If it is the car and not the driver that is covered why would people bother to get riders for kids who have lots of tickets or accidents. Think about that, why wouldn't they just let the kids drive the car if they are covered anyway. The answer is that yes you insure the car, but you are required to list all drivers that meet certain requirements. The amount of insurance paid for the car depends upon who is driving it and how they are driving it (e.g. driving history, age, marital status, city versus country, a 50 mile daily commute versus a sham running around town, etc.). The rates are based upon many factors related to the driver(s).
If someone who meets the requirements to be listed (which may vary), but is not listed (and paid for), the insurance company can and will deny coverage

.

But it is still the car that is insured. You just aren't allowed to lie on the Policy application concerning how the car is utilized. I really can't answer questions on the separate riders for teens etc because my insurance company/state doesn't allow that. Here, if somebody lives in your house they are a listed Driver on your insurance.

OP, the robbery and all the other issues really don't have much to do with your question of what happens if you let somebody drive your car.

For instance, my 22 year old son is technically "uninsured" because he has a driver's license but doesn't own a car. He lives in the city and uses mass transit. When he visits here he will sometimes take my car somewhere. I imagine that if he had an accident the insurance company would probably investigate to verify that he shouldn't have been listed on our policy. Since he maintains his own residence and certainly doesn't drive my car more than once a month --- no problem.

 

[It'sWDW4me]

So playing devils advocate here - why do I have to list my children on my policy when my cars themselves are insured - and if you don't need insurance if you don't own a car then why did my policy go up so much when I added a child to my policy.

This is her 24 year old son who does live in her household.

I'm the one with the question not the co-worker.

I just checked my policy and this is who has to be included as a listed driver in our case. So if she had my insurance, if he was driving the car more than once a month or if he lived in her household, then he would have to be listed on her insurance.


Drivers who need to be added include:

A dependent child who recently received a permit or license
A driver who recently moved into your household (even if they have other insurance)
A driver who is using your vehicle at least once a month
Unlicensed individuals of driving age that are living in your home

If her DS does live in her house and if her insurance company requires that, because he IS of driving age, he be listed on her policy and if she DOESN'T have him listed on her policy and he's driving her car..... her insurance company can drop her policy pronto for falsifying her information and would most likely deny coverage if he DID get into an accident. Woe to her if he gets into an accident or commits a crime while using her car - she could very well lose the car to denial of coverage or to police impound.

But, IMHO, it sounds like your coworker is quite the enabler. He's been caught stealing cars and robbing houses and yet she still allows him to live in her home?

 

[ceecee]

I checked mine as well and it's the car and any licensed driver can borrow it. That being said, I would also hope she has a good umbrella policy along with car insurance as most of them have limits. It's her business, so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[robsmom]

But it is still the car that is insured. You just aren't allowed to lie on the Policy application concerning how the car is utilized. I really can't answer questions on the separate riders for teens etc because my insurance company/state doesn't allow that. Here, if somebody lives in your house they are a listed Driver on your insurance.

OP, the robbery and all the other issues really don't have much to do with your question of what happens if you let somebody drive your car.

For instance, my 22 year old son is technically "uninsured" because he has a driver's license but doesn't own a car. He lives in the city and uses mass transit. When he visits here he will sometimes take my car somewhere. I imagine that if he had an accident the insurance company would probably investigate to verify that he shouldn't have been listed on our policy. Since he maintains his own residence and certainly doesn't drive my car more than once a month --- no problem.

I think we are basically saying the same thing. The car is what is insured but it is insured based upon usage. In your case, your son is clearly not a regular driver and would be covered. For the person in the OP's question, this is more questionable to me. That being said, we really don't know as the OP isn't the one buying the insurance and we don't know what kind of insurance the mother has or how she answered the questions.