What Happens if Someone Else is Driving My Car and Gets in an Accident?
The Vehicle Owner’s Auto Liability Insurance Provides Coverage if the Person They Lend the Car Gets into a Motor Vehicle Accident
You were trying to do the right thing and be kind.
Your friend or family member asked to borrow your car, so you let them.
But you just got a call that your friend had an accident in your car, with multiple people injured and vehicles damaged.
Are you liable for these damages? And will your auto liability insurance cover an accident you weren’t involved in?
This article answers these questions, explaining whether your auto insurance policy covers bodily injuries when the person borrowing your car gets into a wreck. And in doing so, this article describes an additional insurance coverage source for car accident victims seeking monetary damages.
Read more about permissive vs. non-permissive users in motor vehicle crash lawsuits.
Then call our personal injury law firm if you were hurt and have questions about car accident laws in Virginia. We represent automobile accident victims across the state and can help you negotiate a top-dollar auto accident settlement.
Does Car Insurance Follow the Car or the Driver?
Generally, auto insurance follows the car, not the driver. Therefore, if an owner lets someone else drive their vehicle and they get in a crash, the owner’s auto insurance company would likely have to pay the claim subject to the coverages and exclusions in the policy.
This means the insurance a person buys for their car provides primary liability coverage in an accident caused by the person to whom they lend their vehicle.
What Law Says the Owner’s Auto Insurance Covers Other Drivers?
In Virginia, Code Section 38.2-2204, the Omnibus Clause, extends coverage under an auto liability policy to some persons other than the named insured.
This law, titled Liability insurance on motor vehicles, aircraft, and watercraft; standard provisions; “omnibus clause,” says that all policies or contracts of bodily injury or property damage liability insurance must include a provision or endorsement insuring the named insured “and any other person using or responsible for the use of the motor vehicle, aircraft, or private pleasure watercraft with the expressed or implied consent of the named insured, against liability for death or injury sustained, or loss or damage incurred within the coverage of the policy or contract as a result of negligence in the operation or use of such vehicle, aircraft, or watercraft by the named insured or by any such person …”
The Supreme Court of Virginia has held that the Omnibus Clause is for the benefit of a party who has suffered damages from the negligent use of an insured’s motor vehicle when operated by another with the owner’s permission, express or implied. Further, liability is not limited to acts of negligence in the operation of the motor vehicle for the owner’s business or benefit.
If the auto insurance contract conflicts with the statute’s requirements by excluding permissive users from liability coverage, the policy’s exclusionary provisions are void and ineffective. The statute controls.
Which of the Owner’s Auto Insurance Policy Coverages Extend When the Person Who Borrowed the Car Causes the Wreck?
All of them.
In addition to auto liability coverage, the following insurance coverages extend to the person you lend your car and the vehicle itself:
- Medical Payments Coverage (Med Pay): If you have Med Pay coverage, the driver of your vehicle may use this insurance to pay their medical bills and cover lost wages from the collision.
- Collision and “Other Than Collision” Coverage: This type of insurance coverage pays for physical damage to your vehicle regardless of who is at fault.
Further, a permissive user receives the same amount of coverage and protection the named insured does.
Permissive Use vs. Non-Permissive Use under Auto Insurance Policies
Usually, the accident victim (plaintiff) seeks additional insurance coverage under the named insured’s bodily injury and liability coverage.
For example, a plaintiff struck by a person driving an employer-owned vehicle will assert that the employer’s liability insurance must cover the plaintiff’s losses because the employer gave the defendant driver permission to use the car.
Numerous judicial opinions have interpreted whether the named insured gave explicit or implicit permission to the driver under a specific set of fact
This next section offers insight from some of the most important opinions on permissive use in motor vehicle accident cases.
What is Permission under Car Insurance Contracts?
Virginia courts have held that within the automobile liability insurance context, the word “permission” has a negative rather than an affirmative implication. This means that a permitted act is one not explicitly prohibited. Therefore, a driver can have permission to use the vehicle for a task even though the owner did not expressly authorize using the car to do the job.
However, courts in Virginia have also held that permission to do a specific thing with the car is not permission to do all things. For example, one court refused to find that a mechanic had permission to drive the named insured’s vehicle at night with friends or to run errands just because the insured permitted the mechanic to drive the car for maintenance and repair purposes.
As you can see, the specific facts of your case may determine whether the friend or family member had implicit permission to use the vehicle.
Express Permission to Use the Vehicle
Express permission is affirmative.
An owner given express permission to use their car to a family member or friend when they have “directly and distinctly stated, clear and outspoken,” the person can generally or for a specific purpose.
Implied Consent to Use the Vehicle
Under Virginia law, a car accident victim has two ways to prove the defendant driver had implied permission to use the owner’s vehicle:
- A course of conduct involving a mutual concession in the continued use of the automobile, or
- A lack of objection to the continued use of the car
And the question of implied permission is a question for the jury as a factfinder.
Therefore, an auto accident victim seeking to show permissive use should offer evidence of the following (if applicable):
- Past personal use of the motor vehicle with the owner’s knowledge
- Conversations between the owner and the defendant driver about using the car (including voice messages, emails, and text messages)
- Whether the named insured and the driver lived together when the accident happened
- The relationship between the named insured and the driver
Does the Owner’s Auto Insurance Policy Cover Accidents When the Person Who Borrows the Vehicle Lends It to Another Person?
Yes, as long as the vehicle owner does not prohibit the negligent driver from using the car.
Here is an example:
Amanda lends her car to Susan for as long as she wants.
Susan then lends the car to her boyfriend, Bob.
Bob crashes the car into Jennifer because he is texting and driving.
In this scenario, Jennifer can collect from Amanda’s insurance if she proves Bob’s negligence caused her injuries.
Now Amanda lets Susan can borrow the car indefinitely, as long as Bob doesn’t drive it.
In this case, Jennifer could not collect from Amanda’s auto insurance.
Emergency Circumstances May Create Implied Permission
Now let’s look at the same example a third time, with a variation.
Even if Amanda prohibits Bob from driving the car, Jennifer can collect from Amanda’s insurance coverage if Bob drives the vehicle due to an emergency.
Virginia courts have held that emergency circumstances warrant an exception to the vehicle owner’s prohibition on the car’s use by the driver. And therefore, the named insured’s coverage extends to the driver.
Is the Automobile Owner Responsible for Damages if They Did Not Give the Family Member or Friend Permission to Drive the Vehicle?
No.
Suppose the owner’s friend (or co-worker or family member or a thief) takes the car without their knowledge or consent, express or implied. In that case, the owner cannot be held liable for damages caused by that person’s negligent operation of the motor vehicle.
However, under Virginia Code Section 8.01-65, titled Defense of lack of consent of owner, the owner has the burden of proving (by a preponderance of the evidence) that they did not give express or implied permission to the driver.
When Does the Defendant Driver’s Auto Insurance Become Involved?
If the auto accident victim suffers catastrophic injuries, such as a head injury resulting in concussion and traumatic brain injury (TBI), a spinal cord injury requiring cervical or lumbar fusion surgery, nerve damage, or paralysis, or amputation, the insurance for the person that borrowed the car may get involved.
For example, the plaintiff’s damages, excluding pain and suffering, are $300,000.
However, the vehicle owner has only $60,000 in coverage.
Once the owner’s liability insurance pays the policy limits, the defendant driver’s insurance provides excess coverage.
Call a Top-Rated Auto Accident Attorney to Find All Sources of Insurance Coverage
A critical but often overlooked element of a personal injury case is finding enough insurance coverage to cover damages.
But our Virginia car accident lawyers can help you stack insurance coverages to make you whole after a crash.
Call us at 804-251-1620 or 757-810-5614 to get started.
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