Car was Borrowed and Got into an Accident – What Happens Next?
Reader’s Question:
If an individual without a driver’s license operates someone else’s car and is involved in an accident, will the owner’s auto insurance cover the accident? Will it matter whether or not she had the owner’s permission to drive the car in San Antonio, TX?
Dan
San Antonio, TX
Whether the vehicle owner’s insurance will cover an accident when the car was driven by an individual without a valid driver’s license will depend upon the terms of the owner’s auto insurance policy and any exclusions the auto insurance policy may have written into it.
Generally an insurance provider will cover those that you permit to use a car. So normally if a friend borrows your vehicle your car insurance follows the vehicle and extends to any accident the driver may have while using your automobile.
Some car insurance policies though exclude from accepting car insurance claims for drivers that are driving the vehicle without a valid license. Some insurers may permit the auto insurance claim to go through but this incident claim would likely increase the owner’s car insurance rate premiums since it is more of a risk to an insurance carrier that an insured permits their cars to be driven by unlicensed motorists.
It does matter if a an individual has permission to drive the car or not. One of the prerequisites to an insurance carrier accepting a car insurance claim is that the driver of the car had permission to drive it. If somebody unknowingly takes your car without your permission then most likely an insurance carrier will not accept the car insurance claims.
You should check with your auto insurance carrier in San Antonio, TX to find out if they will accept car insurance claims arising from this accident or not.
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