Angel girl
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yes and no....I sell insurance for a very large company...you must either add them to the policy or in most cases you are given the option to exclude them. If you choose to exclude them then you will get an official form that must be signed stating if they drive your car and have a claim they are not liable....
the reason for this is that whether you give them permission to drive or not, they live in the house and have access to your vehicle....even if you don't give them the keys....they could choose to take it one night on their own....and insurance is all about risk....and promises...
You are paying for a PROMISE that your vehicle will be replaced/repaired and injuries be paid if an incident occurs....
Well think about it, if you were promising to pay for a 20,000 car if it was totalled, wouldn't you want to know who has acsess to the car, worst case scenario? I am sure you answered yes...well that is why ....insurance companies pay alot of money for accidents for the person who lives in the house but "never drives the car" famous last words....so thanks to all the liars and people who claim insurance fraud, companies are left with no choice....
You are either on the policy or excluded from the policy....end of story....
Hope that expains it better! :) I have sold auto insurance for about 4 years now... |
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hodgetts21
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yes it is true that companies do that, they know that if the car is in the household, at some point someone in the house will drive it. also there is a lot of fraud concerning high risk drivers in the household "borrowing" a good drivers insurance to save money. |
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swatprotection
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Work around. Tell your insurance agent that you will sign a written waive for members that don’t drive your car; this will help keep your cost low.
SwatProtection
http://www.swatprotection.com |
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bobbimathias
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only if they plan to drive. |
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mbrcatz
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Some insurance companies will let you EXCLUDE coverage for someone that does not drive the car at all. Many won't, because they're afraid of a lawsuit where the jury will make them pay anyway, but a few like Progressive or Infinity Leader, WILL let you exclude a driver from coverage.
What that means, is you sign a paper with the application, that states that NO MATTER WHAT, if the excluded operator is driving, the insurance doesn't pay.
If there's a loan on the car, and that person drives to get a gallon of milk and the car gets totalled, THERE IS NO COVERAGE. The owner of the car will keep paying the car off for the rest of the loan, AND they can have wages garnished and assets attached to cover the damages that their car did to someone else, if they can't afford to write a check for the damages to someone ELSE.
So, because of that, even if a COMPANY is willing to have the operator exclusion form, many AGENTS won't offer it, because 1. it's not in the client's best interest 2. It's a HUGE errors and ommissions exposure 3. even if everyone agrees to it up front, if a claim happens and gets denied, they are pretty likely to get sued. EVEN if they win the lawsuit, which they will if they have the paper trail, they STILL have to pay out $20,000 to $30,000 for legal defense fees.
So it's just not a smart business decision, for an agent to offer the operator exclusion form. You're looking at maybe $100 a year commission, against a possible $30,000 charge. It's wiser to just turn the client away.
If you go to Progressive or Infinity directly, bypassing the agent, you can get the operator exclusion form, in states where it is permitted by law. |
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Cindy
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yes they can do it. It's a gimmick to get more money from you. Although my children never drove my car I had to insure them on all autos. |
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Sue
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Yes, the only way around it is if they have their own insurance on their own vehicle. This is because so many people "say" their 16 yr old son will "never" drive the 2008 Cadillac, then, low & behold, a few months later, he is driving & has an accident. I have seen this more times than I can count. Anyway, even if he doesn't have access to your vehicles, what is to say he is not borrowing a friend's vehicle? Say the friend has let his policy lapse or has minimum limits, the son will get sued just as fast as the policy holder, when the policy limits are exhausted, they will come after you for the difference (so, you will call your insurance & expect him to be covered). So, the insurance company has the right to charge for all operators in a household & to properly underwrite the risk by asking for all operators in the household. Many years ago (in another state) I had a woman who swore her husband had a suspended license so couldn't drive her car & she wanted a standard policy (she was assigned risk) because she had a clean record. I had his old license # & pulled a driving record, well, in the prior 3 yrs he had at least 5 DWIs & with them, driving while suspended, accident & some other tickets that went along with the accidents, careless driving, failure to yield, etc. His record was several pages long. (I have no idea why he was not in jail, but he wasn't). Since his license was suspended, they couldn't be surcharged for his record, but, NO standard company would or should take them.
Even if your state allows it, excluding a driver is very risky. Like I said, if your son is driving a friends vehicle & gets in a serious accident - the friend does not have sufficient coverage - where do they go next? To you since your son was the driver. What if he was excluded on your insurance? They won't do anything, then, you hire your own attorney to defend him & if there is an award, since he is a minor & YOU excluded him, you are putting all of YOUR assets on the line. Don't forget, when it comes to lawsuits, they always go for the "deep pockets" whether it is right or not. |
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