What Happens If Another Driver Has An Accident In Your Vehicle
Many different factors affect the price that policyholders pay for their car insurance. Driving records are a major concern for insurance companies when determining prices. Each accident and ticket that makes its way onto your driving record will increase the price of your monthly premium. Your insurance is there to protect you in case you are involved in a collision while driving on the roads. An auto accident can cost a lot of money in repair bills and medical bills of both drivers and cars. Whoever is responsible for the crash is responsible for the bills of both drivers involved. Auto insurance rates can be influenced when another driver gets in an accident in your car as well.
Most people that own a car are not the only person ever driving the vehicle. You have your insurance coverage on the vehicle and your auto insurance rates were approved for you as the primary driver. Most people occasionally let other people drive their cars, though, and that can lead to some issues with your insurance coverage. Some people have friends and family members that frequently drive their car and choose to add them as a secondary driver which increases auto insurance rates by a small amount every month. This protects the owner of the vehicle from an increase in rates if another driver causes a collision in their vehicle. If you do not have someone that drives your car frequently enough to justify adding them as a secondary driver, then all of the responsibility falls to the policyholder.
When another driver causes an accident in your car, the accident damage is covered under normal circumstances. There are situations where the insurance company can decline coverage, but it is not common. After an auto accident caused by another driver in your car, the insurance company first needs to be notified about who was driving and what kind of bills they can expect from the collision. After they pay out the money to cover the damages caused by the accident, they will increase rates. The collision will not go on your driving record, but it will go on your insurance record because they had to pay out. Having a secondary driver listed helps avoid this increase in rates because the increase would go on the insurance record of the other driver.
Auto insurance rates reflect the driving record of the policyholder. They also reflect what kind of coverage the car has as well as the car that is being covered. If you have a driver that frequently uses your car, contact your insurance agent to add them as a secondary driver to your policy. Also, make sure you know what coverage you have.
