Your insurance policy typically only provides protection for you and those living in your household, including family members, significant others and nannies who share an address. They should all be included for liability reasons on your policy.
While temporarily borrowing someone else’s vehicle does not rise to the level of regular usage, a non-owner car insurance policy provides sufficient coverage.
You Can Add a Friend or Relative
If your friend needs to drive your vehicle, it is vital that they are covered properly. Otherwise, an accident could seriously disrupt both their relationship with you as well as cost you in lost coverage costs. Luckily, adding non-family members like friends may be possible depending on state regulations and insurance provider policies – so long as their driving is covered appropriately.
Under special permissive use options, you may be able to add non-family drivers as “permissive users”. This option typically applies when you allow only certain friends access to your vehicle occasionally – for instance when borrowing it for vacation use or providing it when theirs needs servicing. Most often adding someone under this option won’t affect premiums adversely; however it is a good idea to check with your insurer beforehand on any requirements they might have before permitting others to drive it.
Add non-family drivers to your policy with non-owner car insurance policies, which provide liability protection in case of an accident. However, these plans won’t cover damage to either the vehicle you are borrowing nor injuries sustained during an incident; rather they serve as supplements to the primary owner’s auto policy coverage.
Under normal circumstances, adding non-family members as drivers on your auto policy requires them living at the same address with you; otherwise they would require having their own policy and being added as a rated driver on your policy.
Non-drivers refers to people living at your residence but who do not drive your vehicles regularly. These individuals can be covered under separate policies through separate providers without impacting your rates – this makes a great solution for nannies or caregivers transporting children between extracurricular activities, for instance.
When adding non-family drivers to your auto insurance policy, it is important to remember they may be removed at any time – for instance if there is a divorce between partners, for instance. Furthermore, it’s a good idea to maintain open communications with all those included on your policy so there will be no surprises if any claims occur – this can especially come into play if covering teens with poor driving records or risk factors; you can find more information in our article How to Save on Teenage Car Insurance.
You Can Exclude a Friend or Relative
Alternatively, if you would like to exclude one or more drivers from your coverage altogether, request an excluded driver exclusion. This will stop them from driving your vehicle and any accidents they cause from being covered under your policy. Typically this process is undertaken if a family member has had multiple accidents or convictions that might require coverage under your policy; excluding someone could save you money over time!
Once granted permission to drive your vehicle, permissive use is often covered under most auto policies. If someone in your household borrows it and causes an accident while using it, liability coverage may apply depending on state laws and insurer. Therefore, for optimal coverage it’s often beneficial for everyone driving vehicles in your household to be listed on one policy to take advantage of any multi-car or multi-driver discounts offered by insurers.
Your insurance provider will usually exclude drivers if you explicitly tell them not to drive your vehicle. This can be accomplished either through formal request process after an incident occurs, or simply asking to have them removed from your policy. Most people that opt to exclude someone may do so out of personal preference or save money with lower premiums on car insurance policies.
However, if you include a named driver exclusion clause in your policy and that individual drives your car and causes an accident, insurance likely will not provide coverage – meaning you will likely have to cover any injuries or property damages they cause yourself.
Sometimes you cannot exclude friends or family from your insurance policy, such as when they have children under 16 that must be included as “rated drivers” per state regulations. In such instances, it may not be possible to exclude an individual altogether.
If your child will be driving their own vehicle, they should remain as a rated driver on your policy until they turn 18 or graduate from high school. Once this occurs, they can obtain their own car insurance policy and be excluded from yours if desired; but it would be wiser to speak to an agent first about how this decision may impact their policy and how to save money by keeping young adults as rated drivers on it.
You Can Transfer Registration to a Friend or Relative
Transferring car registration can be a straightforward process. Simply visit your local DMV office, surrendering the original plates and receiving an FS-6T receipt from them in exchange for giving it to the new vehicle owner along with any required documents such as proof of liability insurance and registration documents (keep in mind, however, that it will have the same expiration date).
Your relative will need to submit a transfer of title application, pay any sales taxes (if applicable) and provide evidence of automobile insurance before the DMV will approve their vehicle transfer. Make sure they get fast coverage by getting a free quote now.
