Reader question:

When I get car insurance for my vehicle, who will be covered?

Mark

Great question.

More people than you think. The great thing about most auto insurance policies is that they are surprisingly flexible. In most cases, if you get auto insurance coverage for yourself and your car, you will also be covered for your family members such as a spouse or teenager. However, if you want those people to still be covered while driving another car, then you will have to actually add their name and car to the policy. This can be even cheaper in the long run, because more people and more vehicles on your policy take your rates down–except, admittedly, in the instance of the teenager.

Your car insurance policy will also cover anybody who drives your car with your permission. So if you let a friend or relative take a ride and they get into an accident, then you can still make a claim. However, the deductible and the ramifications of an at fault accident and all of that, rate increases, and so on, will be on you, even if it wasn’t you in the car. They are also covered even if you did not expressly give them your permission. Howeve, if you did not give permission, then you will not be held liable.

Cheers,

Fashun Guadarrama.