In An Accident While Driving Someone Else's Car?

As a Los Angeles car accident lawyer, I’m often asked about car insurance and how it works.A question that arises frequently is what happens if you cause an accident while driving someone else’s car.  Does your insurance pay for the damage, or does the car owner’s insurance pay?As a general rule, car insurance follows the car.  This means that if you’re driving someone else’s car, that person’s insurance should cover the damage caused by the car, even if the owner wasn’t driving it.There are exceptions to this rule.  Some insurance policies will list excluded drivers by name.  Most policies will not pay for damage caused by an excluded driver.Similarly, when purchasing an auto insurance policy, one must disclose all household members who are of drivable age.  If not, the insurance company would probably exclude coverage for damage caused by that person too.Be sure you’re up-to-date on who’s covered under your auto insurance policy.   While the general presumption of coverage above is usually applicable, you don’t want any surprises in the unfortunate circumstance that your car is involved in an accident.For questions about your accident case, or for an explanation of your rights under your auto insurance policy, the Rabbi Lawyer is one phone call away!