Does Car Insurance Follow The Car Or The Driver?
Drivers frequently cause car collisions in non-owned vehicles. Therefore, you may be wondering, “does car insurance follow the car or the driver?” In Georgia, car insurance follows the car, not the driver. So, if the negligent party drove a non-owned vehicle, that vehicle’s insurance policy will usually provide coverage. That’s true even if the negligent driver lacks insurance coverage. If the negligent driver purchased their own insurance coverage, that coverage will act as secondary coverage.
When the Driver’s Insurance Matters
Auto insurance policies typically cover every household member. However, sometimes insurance companies exclude certain household members from coverage. For instance, an insurance carrier might exclude a family with an unsafe driving record. Insurance companies also deny coverage when a vehicle is driven without the owner’s permission.
In both of those scenarios, the negligent driver’s insurance policy is typically the sole source of insurance coverage. Unfortunately, many negligent drivers don’t have their own insurance coverage when they don’t own a vehicle. In that case, the accident victim’s uninsured motorist coverage is usually the only source of insurance coverage.
How An Atlanta Car Accident Lawyer Can Help?
If you were seriously injured by a driver that did not own the vehicle he or she was driving, we urge you to contact an Atlanta car accident lawyer at Graham Scofield Injury Lawyers. These cases are technically challenging. They also have to be litigated if the liability insurance company denies coverage.
Liability insurance companies know that it can be difficult for an accident victim to prove that the negligent driver was a permissive user. Therefore, they frequently deny coverage – even if they think that the negligent driver was probably a permissive user. Insurers hope that accident victims won’t have enough money to prove that the driver was a permissive user.
The attorneys at Graham Scofield Injury Lawyers have the resources to prove that the negligent driver was a permissive user.
Our Firm’s Recent Success Story
State Farm contended that the negligent driver wasn’t a permissive user of the non-owned vehicle. We believed that the negligent driver resided in the same household as the vehicle owner. Therefore, absent a specific policy exclusion, the negligent driver was a permissive user.
Unfortunately, we were unable to serve the negligent driver with lawsuit papers at the home where he and the vehicle owner lived. The driver would hide each time the process server came to the house. State Farm refused to let the case proceed unless we proved that the negligent driver lived at the vehicle owner’s address. The best way to prove his residency was to serve him with lawsuit papers at that address.
During discovery, we learned that the negligent driver had given a sworn statement to our client’s uninsured motorist insurance carrier. He admitted that he and the vehicle owner resided in the same household. Once we produced that recording to State Farm, they realized that they couldn’t win. They begged us to settle the case.
If the insurance company disputes coverage in your case, we’ll determine whether they’re correct. If they’re not correct, we’ll take your case to trial unless they pay you what you deserve.
Call us today at (404) 939-9470, or reach out through our our online form to schedule a free, initial evaluation of your case.