Is Car Insurance Tied to the Car or the Driver?

There are different ways to approach auto insurance, and how you approach it influences what’s covered, who’s covered, and the rates you’ll be paying. In this post we’ll explore these various approaches – and hopefully empower you to make the best choice when selecting auto insurance.

If your household owns more than one vehicle, each of those vehicles will need to be linked to an insurance policy. Following this logic, we’d get auto insurance quotes tied to the car rather than the driver. However, each individual’s driving history and driving habits make a difference, so in some cases you might want to choose quotes based on the driver. In some cases, you might want to insure yourself as a driver even if you don’t own a vehicle, which would allow you to benefit from certain types of driver protection.

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What Insurance Covers Damage to the Vehicle?

For the most part, the first-party coverage you carry on a specific vehicle is tied to that vehicle. If you get into an accident in one car, you can’t use the collision coverage from your other car to pay for its repairs. However, liability insurance can be transferable under certain circumstances.

For example, if you are driving a car that you don’t own and get into an accident, your own car insurance might be able to pay for damages. This varies from one state to the next. It also depends on whose car you’re driving and what type of insurance that car carries.

Some policies are written to cover accidents involving the vehicle regardless of who is driving it. However, others may be exclusionary plans that cover only drivers named on the policy. Before you borrow someone’s car or lend out your own to a friend, it’s a good idea to double-check the policy details to be sure that any accidents will be covered.

Will Insurance Cover Your Injuries as a Driver?

In some states, every driver is expected to carry first-party medical payments coverage. This insurance pays for your injuries in the event of an auto accident. If you are injured as a passenger in someone else’s vehicle or while driving a car you don’t own, your medical payments coverage will still pay for your injuries.

See How Much You Can Save on Car Insurance

If you don’t own a car but live in a state where medical payments coverage is required, you may wish to purchase “drivers only” insurance. Insurers often offer these types of policies at discounts. Furthermore, such policies offer peace of mind that your medical expenses will be covered whenever you’re in an accident even if the car you’re riding in isn’t insured.

Do you need insurance? Check out this offer to get the protection you need.