Loaned Vehicles Update
My 21-year-old son has his own insured vehicle, but he lives out of town for school, so his legal address is not mine. He often drives my fully insured spare vehicle, which he recently got into an accident with. I believed the car would be insured under these circumstances.
I recently filed a claim, and their initial response was to send me a form asking if he “may live in the household” and if he “may regularly drive the vehicle.” Now, I understand that they define “regular use” as more than once per week. He typically drives the spare car occasionally and sometimes leaves his vehicle at my house.
Are they likely to deny this claim? The damage is probably under $5,000, so it’s not a huge concern.
Edit: Coincidentally, I’m also lending him and my daughter a different vehicle this week for a trip to Florida. She has her own car and insurance and is living away at college too. They’ve never driven this specific vehicle before, and I would have thought this was perfectly fine.
It sounds like you’re dealing with a tricky situation regarding your insurance claim. Since your son has his own vehicle and insurance, it might be a gray area for your insurance company due to the specifics of his use of your spare car. Their definition of “regular use” being more than once a week could definitely play a role in how they assess the situation.
If your son does drive the vehicle often enough for it to be considered “regular use” under their policy, they might deny the claim due to non-disclosure of his use. It’s crucial to be transparent with your insurer about how often he drives it, as they may also take into account the fact that he has a different address.
As for your daughter, since she also has her own car and insurance, it’s typically fine to loan her another vehicle as long as she doesn’t have a similar pattern of consistent use that would raise similar questions with your insurance company.
It may be worth reaching out to your insurer to clarify the situation and determine if there are any steps you can take or additional coverage you can consider going forward. It’s always better to be upfront and get accurate guidance directly from them. Good luck!