Non-Owner Car Insurance Advice

Submitted by Recent_Mode_2220 t3_yhf2mn in massachusetts

I recently got my drivers license. I drive/borrow my partner’s (27F) car often. I live with her. Her car is actually owned by her dad. The policy is in her dads address (different than our current address but same state) and in her dads name; she is also under the policy.

Since I borrow the car so often (almost daily for running errands), I thought it would be ideal to get a secondary policy (non owner car insurance) for me. My thought process is, if there is an accident, the secondary policy would kick in when the primary policy only covers up to certain amount (I.e $40k damages , primary policy covers $25k and secondary would cover $15k).

I’m wondering if anyone has experience with non owner car insurance and any insurance companies that offer it. I tried googling and calling the top ones I saw (Geico, Progressive, Nationwide) but they don’t do online/ over the phone quote for this and I would need to check in with the local offices to see if it’s even offered.

Also, it is common/ worth it to get non owner car insurance?

Thank you!

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Comments

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Competitive_Bat4000 t1_iudgezk wrote

If the policy is under her dad’s address and states his address is where the car is primarily garaged/parked, when in actuality it’s not you’ll have bigger problems if an accident occurs.

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sweetheart4012 t1_iue115y wrote

This is correct, OP needs to get his gf to change the garaging address on the policy and add him as a driver.

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Recent_Mode_2220 OP t1_iudir0u wrote

Do you mind elaborating on the problems? I’m not familiar with car insurance. But it sounds like the car isn’t allowed to be “housed” at anywhere else besides the address on the policy? We moved out recently so that’s why the addresses are different. Should that be updated with the insurance policy? We moved 10 minute drive away from them.

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TheDeadlySpaceman t1_iudn71z wrote

The rate is based on where the car is “housed” because that’s where they assume you’ll be doing the majority of the driving and parking.

If they figure out that you’re housing it somewhere else, they can deny any payout because you’re committing fraud. Same if they figure out that you’re driving it frequently and aren’t on the policy.

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Recent_Mode_2220 OP t1_iudojzc wrote

Gotcha that makes sense. We will look into updating this!

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TheDeadlySpaceman t1_iudp4ln wrote

Honestly it’s probably not like they’d find it cost-effective to put a team of insurance investigators on the case if you did have to file a claim- you would just need to be careful about what you say to them.

“We borrowed it for the weekend/week” etc

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PakkyT t1_iueaafs wrote

A quick overview of how car insurance works in MA. The insurance is with the car and you assign a primary driver to the car on policy, You are allowed to lend your car to anyone you want and they are covered when borrowing your car even though they are not on the policy. However the caveat to that is anyone living in the same household as you must listed on the policy as a secondary driver to be covered. This is under the assumption that people living together with likely borrow each others car more often than anyone not living with the car's owner.

If the dad has the car policy and neither of you is listed on policy you could get away with that if anything happened by your dad telling the agency he lent the car to whichever one of you for that day. But if you wanted to do it right, he should change the "garaging" location to your address, list your partner on the policy as the primary driver and then you as secondary. Note that the insurance cost may change do to change of address and the records and experience of the primary driver. So if she is a relatively new driver or your town is considered higher crime than dad's, these could drive up the premium.

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jayeldee46 t1_iuddg1b wrote

Have you checked with the insurance agent for her policy to see if you can be added to the policy as a frequent non-owner driver? You should be able to do that and I think it would cost a lot less than picking up a separate policy.

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Recent_Mode_2220 OP t1_iuddtjq wrote

That’s a good idea! She doesn’t have a good relationship with her dad, may get the car taken away. Only her dad has access to change their policy and he likely will not do that for us.

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jayeldee46 t1_iudfl3k wrote

If she is on the policy she should be able to get a copy of it. Then review it to see what it says about other drivers. Most policies allow for someone else to drive the vehicle and to be covered. Being a named driver on the policy just makes it a lot easier if there’s a claim.

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Sheeshka49 t1_iueylgw wrote

You do not have an insurable interest in the car as you are a non-owner. The father/car owner needs to call his insurance broker/agent and make whatever policy adjustments are needed to cover the situation properly. You can pay the father the additional sum after the new/adjusted policy is issued.

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