Question:
I need to borrow my brother's car for a week. He says
he needs money to add me to his insurance policy. Does he? I
thought I'd be covered under his policy. Is he trying to scam
me?
Answer:
We don't know your brother. You do. Is it more likely that he's
scamming, confused, or bought a cheap policy that limits who can
drive?
In general if you borrow a car from a person you don't live with
you are usually covered as a
permissive user
. This means their auto insurance coverages will extend to
you without being placed on the policy as a driver.
There are, however, some insurance policies where only the named
insured and other named drivers are covered by the car insurance
policy, so it could be possible that your brother knows this and is
correct that he would need to add you to the policy as a driver to
have his auto insurance coverages extended to you. (See "
Who can drive your car?
")
If he needs to add you to the policy, it is possible your
brother might see a rate increase.
Adding a driver
doesn't always cost more to the policyholder, but your driving
record would be taken into account. If the auto insurer feels you
will add risk, then normally it would cost to add you as a
driver.
If he is just uncertain, he needs to ask his agent to review the
policy details and tell him if you will be extended coverages
without being listed on the policy or if you need to be placed on
the policy as an additional driver or
occasional driver.
Guidelines vary from insurer to insurer. If you are going to use
his vehicle this one time for one week, you might be covered under
the terms of his current policy, but if you were going to continue
to drive the car on a regular basis for the foreseeable future, you
might need to be listed as at least an occasional driver to be
properly covered.
Will you believe him if he tells you he's confirmed the extra
cost?
If you don't have a vehicle of your own or routinely available
to you, then a non-owner's auto insurance policy may helpful to
you. This type of policy can limit the amount of risk someone takes
when lending you his or her car.
A non-owner policy offers secondary liability coverages that
would be extended to a borrowed car if the car owner's limits are
exceeded. Collision and comprehensive coverages aren't
available with a non-owner policy, but medical payments, uninsured
motorist and underinsured motorist coverages typically can be
included.