Whose insurance pays if you are driving another person's car with them in the vehicle?

Answer 1

== Car insurance== As always, a lot of it depends on your aunt's auto insurance. But unless your aunt has a very restrictive policy, there's a good chance that her insurance will pay for the damages to your mom's van. Insurance typically follows the vehicle. In this case, your aunt totaled your mom's van while obviously driving with permission (since your mom was in the van at the time of the accident and assuming your aunt hadn't kidnapped your mom :). If your aunt was liable for any property damage in the accident -- for instance, she hit another vehicle -- your mom's policy would take care of that since she has liability coverage. But without full coverage, where does that leave the totaled van? Most likely, your aunt's insurance carrier will review the loss and deem your mom's van a "non-owned vehicle." They will rule out any other applicable coverage (ie, collision coverage on your mom's policy) and -- again, most likely -- consider themselves primary for the damages to the van. One possible problem: If your mom and aunt live in the same residence, they would be considered "family members" under your aunt's policy and it's very unlikely your aunt's carrier would cover the van's damages. This is because an exposure exists when people live together that should be reported to the carrier so that the carrier can rate the policy appropriately. Most auto policies exclude coverage for vehicles not on the policy, but owned by a "family member." (Don't be confused by the term "family member"; certainly, your aunt and mom are members of the same family, but for insurance purposes, it usually means living in the same residence). Another possible problem: Your aunt's policy may be very specific about providing coverage only for her vehicles. Some policies won't even cover you when you're in a rental vehicle. So, you're best bet is to have your aunt make a claim with her insurance carrier, the sooner the better. Investigations for this type of loss can take a while, since two insurance companies are involved (and, believe me, insurance companies aren't always the greatest about communicating with one another). If your aunt gets an automatic denial for coverage on your mom's van, tell her not to stop there. She should request a copy of her policy, the specific language, and an explanation from her claim adjuster and, if necessary, that adjuster's supervisor. I mention this only because this loss falls under the "tricky" category, and you don't want inexperience on an adjuster's part misleading your aunt. Good luck!