What Happens When Someone Else is Driving Your Car and Gets In An Accident

As a motorist in Georgia, you’ve purchased liability insurance to protect yourself financially in the event you cause an accident. But does that protection extend to someone you’ve lent your vehicle to? Will you be on the hook for their mistakes, and will your premiums go up as a result? In other words, does insurance in Georgia follow the vehicle or the driver?

Can Someone Else Legally Drive My Car in Georgia?

Yes, another person can drive your car if you allow them to, either by approving their request to drive your car or by telling them that they may drive your car whenever needed. Another person might also have a legal right to drive your vehicle if they have access to your vehicle’s keys, and you know that they have used that access to take your car.

Whose Insurance Pays After the Crash?

As a general rule, auto insurance follows the vehicle, not the driver. As a result, when you lend your car to someone who gets into an accident, borrowed car accident rules may mean that your insurance policy will pay for any damage to your vehicle and for any liability that the person you lent your vehicle to bears for the crash. However, the driver’s insurance can provide secondary coverage for losses not covered by your insurance.

Furthermore, there are certain circumstances under which your insurance coverage might not apply, or under which you might not bear any financial liability for the crash. For example, you might not be responsible for a person who drives your car without your knowledge or permission, or for someone who drives your car while intoxicated, provided you were unaware of their intoxication.

What If the Other Driver Wasn’t Authorized?

You will probably not be responsible for an accident caused by a driver who borrowed your car without permission. Furthermore, your insurance policy likely will not extend coverage to such an accident.

For example, let’s say that you instructed a friend not to drive your vehicle, but they took the keys without your knowledge to take your car for a joyride. Alternatively, perhaps a thief stole your vehicle by taking the keys or by breaking into the car and hotwiring the ignition. Because your auto insurance will apply only when you’ve given someone permission to drive your vehicle, it will not cover an accident caused by either of these hypotheticals.

How Fault Impacts Insurance and Claims

The allocation of fault for a car accident can affect subsequent insurance or legal claims. Georgia uses a modified comparative negligence system for car accident claims. Under the modified comparative negligence system, an injured party may recover compensation if they bear less than 50 percent of the fault for the car accident. Furthermore, any share of fault on their part will reduce their financial recovery in a lawsuit proportionately. For example, let’s say that a jury finds an injured driver sustained $100,000 in losses and bears 25 percent at fault for the car accident. In that case, the court will reduce the driver’s award by $25,000 to reflect their share of fault.

When someone gets in an accident while driving the car you lent them, your liability may depend on the share of fault that the other driver(s) involved in the crash bear for the collision.

What Happens if the Driver Has Their Own Insurance?

Although auto insurance policies typically insure specific vehicles, insurance can also follow drivers under certain circumstances. The auto policy insuring your vehicle will provide primary coverage for liability in the event that someone borrows your car and causes an accident. Most policies provide coverage for named drivers or any other person who operates a listed vehicle with the owner’s permission.

However, if the person who borrowed your vehicle has their own auto insurance, their policy can provide secondary coverage, covering additional liability that exceeds your insurance’s policy limits. Furthermore, even though your insurance offered primary coverage for the accident, your insurer may try to recoup some of the losses it paid from the driver’s insurance provider. The driver’s insurance policy may provide primary coverage if the driver took your car without your permission.

When the Vehicle Owner May Be Held Liable

There are certain situations where you, as the vehicle owner, might be liable for a car accident caused by someone you allowed to drive it. For example, you might bear liability for an accident under the rule of negligent entrustment, meaning that you knew or should have known that the person you lent your vehicle to posed a substantial risk of causing an accident, perhaps because they had a history of reckless driving or because they were visibly intoxicated at the time. You might also bear liability for a crash if you lent your vehicle to someone you know or should have known did not have auto liability insurance.

What to Do Immediately After the Accident

In the event that someone is in an accident while driving your vehicle, you can protect yourself and your rights by taking the following steps:

Collect information from the other driver(s) involved in the accident and any eyewitnesses to the crash.
Contact your auto insurance company as soon as possible to notify them about the accident. Remember to advise your insurer that someone else drove your car in the accident.
Also, notify the driver’s insurance company.
Report the crash to law enforcement and obtain a copy of the police accident report.
Keep copies of all bills, invoices, and receipts for expenses incurred due to the accident.
Reach out to an attorney as soon as possible to learn more about your options, especially if your insurer denies Georgia auto insurance accident coverage or if other parties involved in the accident file claims against you.

Contact The Scott Pryor Law Group for a free, no-obligation consultation with a personal injury attorney to discuss your rights after someone has caused an accident while driving your car.

Image via Clark Van Der Beken, used with Unsplash License

Scott Pryor

Managing Attorney | CEO

Scott is a U.S. Marine Veteran. He is a member of the State Bar of Georgia and is listed in the top 1% of trial attorneys in the nation by the Litigator Awards. He is also a member of Super Lawyers, National Trial Lawyers, the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association—Champion Level and sits on the Communications Committee of GTLA and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum.