Does insurance cover a driver who is not on your insurance?

Answer 1

Covered PersonsAuto Insurance covers the Named Insureds as defined by the policy. It may provide property coverage as well as medical coverages. It will almost always provide Liability coverage. Some policy forms extend coverage to other permitted drivers while some policies will not.

For example a "Named Driver Policy" extends no coverage for other drivers at all whether permitted or not while most "Standard Policy" forms will extend coverage to permitted drivers. It all depends on the type of policy you buy. Insurance is not for cars, it is for the protection of the people who own and drive them.

Your auto Insurance does not automatically insure anyone who drives and it does not as many assume in layman terms follow the car, It follows the named insureds interest in the vehicle when it comes to property. The liability portion covers the named insured as defined by the policy and their legal liabilities as defined in the liability coverage section of the Policy.

Never assume that Auto Insurance Follows the car. Automobiles do not drive themselves. It all depends on your policy language. There are many types of auto insurance policies available in the market place these days.

Never make broad assumptions about your legal liabilities. Your Insurance Agent can usually explain your coverages and recommend the right policy for you.

Happy Motoring.

AnswerMost insurance companies will cover a driver not listed on the policy as long as they can "reasonable assume the driver would have had permission to use the vehicle." and as long as the person has not specifically been excluded from the policy.

Just keep this in mind: The car is insured. A driver permitted to drive the car is usually covered since the insurance follows the car. That owner of the car will always be responsible for anyone driving their car provided that the driver has the express or implied consent of the owner to drive it. That is called "vicarious liability".

Insurers set premiums (as to liability coverage) based, in part, upon the persons who will drive it. The insurer is concerned with the risk factors that the driver(s) create. These include, driving history, age, whether or not the vehicle will be used for personal or commercial purposes, etc.

As a second note, make sure you add drivers to your policy that have a normal access and usage of the car to properly notify the carrier of that driver or drivers. If a carrier finds out that you have a driver that's not listed (either through a claim or other database) they can mandate you adding that driver. Moreover, if a collision occurs the insurer may deny coverage that would otherwise exist. This is because the policyholder did not pay a premium attributable to the risk created by the additional driver/