Someone Got A Speeding Ticket While Driving My Car Will My Rate Go Up
Typically, the ticket follows the person, not the car. So if your buddy was driving your vehicle, saw the berries and cherries, and received a hefty speeding ticket, it would be recorded on his drivers record and your car insurance shouldnt be affected.
However, if a driver who is listed on your policy gets a speeding ticket , it unfortunately could cause your insurance premium to rise. Learn more about how much insurance rates go up after an accident.
Share these tips for teen drivers with your newly liberated, bright-eyed motorist to keep them safe and focused on the road and hopefully help them avoid speeding tickets.
Does Insurance Follow The Car Or Driver
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Most people buy car insurance without giving much consideration to what exactly is covered and how car insurance works. Its important to get a good grasp of your coverage to ensure you are protected from financial loss. Being underinsured or not understanding the conditions of your auto insurance policy may end up costing you significantly in the event of an accident or a claim.
Consider lending a vehicle to another person what insurance concerns might apply? Does car insurance cover the other car or driver? This article explores the issue of letting a neighbor borrow your truck for hauling purposes, or letting a friend borrow a car to get to work, for example, as the insurance impacts can be severe in the event of an accident.
Who Is Coveredand When
Your auto policy will cover you and other family members on your policy, whether driving your insured car or someone elses car with permission. Your policy also provides coverage if someone not on your policy is driving your car with your consent.
Your personal auto policy only covers personal driving, whether youre commuting to work, running errands or taking a trip. Your personal auto policy, however, will not provide coverage if you use your car for commercial purposesfor instance, if you deliver pizzas or operate a delivery service. Note, too, that personal auto insurance will generally not provide coverage if you use your car to provide transportation to others through a ride-sharing service such as Uber or Lyft. Some auto insurers, however, are now offering supplemental insurance products that extend coverage for vehicle owners providing ride-sharing services.
Learn More: Check out this handy infographic on the types of required and optional drivers insurance coverages.
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Auto Insurance Basicsunderstanding Your Coverage
The basic personal auto insurance mandated by most U.S. states provides some financial protection if you or another driver using your car causes an accident that damages someone elses car or property, injures someone or both.
But to make the best decisions about purchasing other types of auto insurance coverage you might need, youll want to understand whats covered, whats not covered and whats optional. In addition to understanding types of coverage, youll also want to consider coverage amounts.
Why? Because state-required minimums may not cover the costs of a serious accident, so its worth considering purchasing higher levels of coverage.
Heres a rundown of the types of coverage availablesome are required others are optional all are priced individually to let you customize coverage amounts to suit your exact needs and budget.
Who Needs To Be Listed As A Driver
First, you should know who is supposed to be listed on your car insurance policy. Some insurers are stricter than others when it comes to who needs to be listed as a driver. This can make the whole process quite confusing. You must find your carrier’s requirements, because it could cause problems if you knowingly did not list a driver who should have been listed.
Most insurers expect the following people to be listed as a driver on your policy:
- Licensed family members living in the household
- Unrelated licensed drivers living in the household
- Anyone driving your car and not insured under another policy
In general, you should include everyone in your household as a listed driver so that they can be covered by your car insurance.
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Insurance That Covers Your Car
Just because you have auto insurance doesnt mean all damage done to your vehicle will be covered. Not all states require comprehensive or collision insurance, and without those you will likely be left on the hook for any damage your vehicle sustains.
Most auto loan companies and banks require comprehensive insurance on any vehicle to which they hold the lien, which means that if your car is financed, you will be covered for damage to the vehicle, as that is the lienholders collateral.
However, most states dont require comprehensive insurance on vehicles that are older, or those that are paid off. If you dont elect comprehensive or collision insurance specifically, you may be at risk if your car is involved in an accident.
Collision insurance is narrower in scope than comprehensive, and covers damage done in an accident, whether with another car or an inanimate object such as a tree. As with comprehensive insurance, you may need to specifically request coverage to make sure youre not left unprotected.
In the case of both collision and comprehensive insurance, your vehicle will usually be covered even if someone other than you is driving. Of course, the driver will need to be using your vehicle with permission, and depending on their relationship to you, there may be other restrictions or exclusions as well.
car insurance, such as comprehensive and collision coverage, is in place in the event that a vehicle is damaged.
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- Your car insurance will cover your car
- Your car insurance can cover you in another vehicle
- An exception to your car being covered when someone else is driving is the other driver not acquiring your permission
- Another exception is a household member driving and not being listed on your policy
A common question involving car insurance is this: does car insurance follow the driver or the car?
Read on to learn all of the nitty gritty details for this frequently-asked question.
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Take Advantage Of Multi
If you obtain a quote from an auto insurance company to insure a single vehicle, you might end up with a higher quote per vehicle than if you inquired about insuring several drivers or vehicles with that company. Insurance companies will offer what amounts to a bulk rate because they want your business. Under some circumstances they are willing to give you a deal if it means youll bring in more of it.
Ask your insurance agent to see if you qualify. Generally speaking, multiple drivers must live at the same residence and be related by blood or by marriage. Two unrelated people may also be able to obtain a discount however, they usually must jointly own the vehicle.
If one of your drivers is a teen, you can expect to pay more to insure them. However, if your childs grades are a B average or above or if they rank in the top 20% of the class, you may be able to get a good student discount on the coverage, which generally lasts until your child turns 25. These discounts can range from as little as 1% to as much as 39%, so be sure to show proof to your insurance agent that your teen is a good student.
Incidentally, some companies may also provide an auto insurance discount if you maintain other policies with the firm, such as homeowners insurance. Allstate, for example, offers a 10% car insurance discount and a 25% homeowners insurance discount when you bundle them together, so check to see if such discounts are available and applicable.
The Cost Of Adding A Driver To Your Car Insurance
Adding a driver to your car insurance policy will have an impact on your rates. However, it isn’t the case that adding another driver will always raise them in fact, we found that depending on who the primary and secondary drivers are, adding another driver can actually bring your car insurance costs down by a significant amount.
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Don’t Be Afraid To Say No
Letting a friend or family member borrow your car may seem like an easy decision, but in reality, there’s a lot to consider. Take some time to review what your insurance policy does and doesn’t cover, and don’t be shy about asking the other driver a few key questions. If letting someone borrow your car puts you in a tough or uncomfortable position, don’t hesitate to say no. It may seem like you’re doing someone a favor at the time, but a crash could easily sever a friendship and set both of you back financially. On the other hand, knowing your car is covered even when you lend it out will save you from unnecessary worriesand save you money if an accident does occur.
Policies With Excluded Drivers
Except for a few states, every state allows drivers to exclude other people from their policy. The states that don’t allow this are New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Virginia, and Kansas. State Farm says that if someone has had several accidents or DUIs, insurance companies are likely to make you exclude them from the policy. If a driver wants to exclude someone from their policy, such as a family member or a young teenage driver, they are allowed to do so.
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Insurance Options After Someone Else Drives Your Car And Gets In An Accident
Remember, using your insurance means you are liable for paying your deductible, even if its a friend who crashes your car. Fortunately, your friends insurance can help if the damage exceeds your coverage. For example, if your policy covers up to $45,000 and the damage is $55,000, the driver’s insurance can cover the final $10,000.
However, that isnt the case if youve specifically excluded the driver from your policy. You might choose to leave someone off your insurance because they are a high-risk driver and expensive to insure – like a new driver with multiple speeding tickets, or someone with DUIs on his or her driving record. If that excluded driver crashes your car, your insurance company will refuse to cover the damage.
Does My Car Insurance Cover Other Drivers
Some types of auto insurance follow the driver. But generally, auto insurance follows the car.
So if your friend borrows your car and they get into an accident, your car insurance extends to your friend.
But since were dealing with insurance, there are a lot of exceptions. The laws vary depending on where you live. In fact, auto insurance rules are different in every state.
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Anamarie Waite Car Insurance Writer
Car insurance usually follows the car in Wisconsin. The types of car insurance that follow the car in Wisconsin are bodily injury liability, personal injury liability, uninsured motorist protection, collision, and comprehensive. Youre required to carry bodily injury liability, property damage liability, uninsured motorist protection, and MedPay in Wisconsin. MedPay follows the driver, unlike liability and uninsured motorist coverage.
If you let someone borrow your car and they cause an accident in Wisconsin, bodily injury liability insurance pays for injuries to the other driver and their passengers. Property damage liability insurance will pay for damage to the other driver’s car. If the person who borrowed your car causes damage that exceeds your coverage limits, their liability policy can act as secondary coverage. But their coverage only kicks in after yours is tapped out.
You wont need to use your PIP or MedPay coverage if someone caused an accident while driving your car because PIP and MedPay follow the driver. You will have to use your collision and comprehensive insurance to pay for damage to your car, though. These optional coverage types pay for your car to be fixed no matter who was driving, but it is a claim on your policy.
How much bodily injury liability should you have?
Get Discounts For Installing Anti
Individuals have the potential to lower their annual premiums if they install anti-theft devices. GEICO, for example, offers a potential savings of 25% if you have an anti-theft system in your car.
Your insurance company should be able to tell you specifically which devices, when installed, can lower premiums. Car alarms and LoJacks are two types of devices you might want to inquire about.
If your primary motivation for installing an anti-theft device is to lower your insurance premium, consider whether the cost of adding the device will result in a significant enough savings to be worth the trouble and expense.
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Can My Child Drive My Car Without Insurance
If theyre living at home, you should be sure to include them as a driver on your policy because if they are not, and they get into an accident, you run the risk of them not being covered.
Your agent can add your teen driver to your existing policy so you wont have to worry about whether your teen is covered or not. Even though insurance follows the car, household members who are regular drivers should always be listed on the policy to ensure optimal coverage.
Can Someone Else Drive My Car
Discover what happens if someone else drives your car and gets into an accident.
There are times in life when we need to let someone borrow our car, but we hesitate allowing them to use it because we dont know if we can, or if we should. We wonder:
- Can my babysitter use my car to drive my kids to the swimming pool?
- Can my friend drive my car?
- Can my brother-in-law or other family member borrow my car for the weekend?
- Can I drive someone else’s car?
- Will my friends insurance cover any damages I cause while driving their vehicle?
- Do irregular drivers need to be added to my policy?
At the heart of it, we want to know, If we give them permission and they get into an accident, is it covered by my insurance? Is it legal for someone to drive my car who is not on my insurance policy?
“Generally, it’s not a problem if they’re driving with your consent,” says Jeanne Salvatore, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs and consumer spokesperson for the Insurance Information Institute. “If it’s an occasional use, say I borrow your car to go pick up milk, and as long as permission has been verbally granted, you’ll typically be covered.”
“When you have someone you employ, such as a nanny or a nurse, who will be a regular, additional driver in your household, contact your insurance agent about your policy,” Salvatore recommends. “He or she may need to be added to it.”
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Can Someone Not On Your Insurance Drive Your Car
Some insurance coverage types follow the car while others follow the driver. However, there are still some variables and specifics of a claim that will vary depending upon the insurance laws of the state, the policy, and the amount of coverage the policyholder has on their vehicle.
We’ve all been there. A friend calls or shows up asking to borrow our car because theirs has broken down, someone else is using theirs, or they just don’t have a car of their own. Or, we have been that person asking to borrow a car. We lend it to them, but we often ask ourselves what would happen if they got into an accident while driving our car and if they are allowed to drive our car when they aren’t even on the insurance policy. So, can someone not on your insurance drive your car?
Uninsured Drivers Depend Solely On The Car’s Coverage
If you dont have insurance and you drive your friend’s car, your friend is on the hook for whatever damage you cause. But if the damage exceeds your friends insurance coverage, the other driver could sue you and your friend, who also could sue you to cover his or her share!
This is assuming your friend gives you permission to drive. If you don’t have permission to drive someone’s car, insurance gets a little more complicated.
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Insurance Follows The Vehicle
The idea that the insurance policy follows the driver is a myth it actually follows the vehicle. If you loan someone your car, your insurance policy should provide primary coverage in the case of an accident, while the drivers insurance would provide supplemental secondary coverage.
For example, say you lend a friend your car and they get into a fender bender accident. If police determine he is at fault in the incident, you would be responsible for filing a claim for the accident with your insurance company, paying the deductible, and paying any resulting premium increases for your policy. Your friends insurance company would be expected to cover costs that exceed your insurance coverage.
If your friend wasnt at fault in the accident, the other drivers policy would cover the damages to your car and your insurer wouldnt be involved.
