When a person loans their vehicle willingly to another driver in Indiana, the car insurance usually follows the vehicle. This means, according to Esurance, that should someone borrow a car and get into an accident, it is the car owner’s insurance that will pay. However, as with any situation, things are not always that cut and dry. There are some other circumstances that could alter the liability in an accident.
To begin with, if the person who borrowed the car is not at fault for the accident, then the at-fault driver’s insurance will usually cover the costs of any damage. Another situation that could absolve the vehicle owner of liability is if the borrower did not get permission to drive the vehicle. In this case, the driver would be liable.
However, when a driver has been given permission to use a car, the owner is almost always liable. Insure.com notes that each accident situation may warrant a different outcome. For instance, if a person lets someone drive their car and that person has no license, insurance likely will not cover any damages in an accident because non-licensed drivers are usually excluded from coverage. Both the driver and owner could face being taken to court for damages and have to pay them out of pocket.
Complicating matters more is if the damages exceed the owner’s insurance coverage limits. In a situation where a driver has borrowed a car, caused an accident and created liability for the owner’s insurance, anything not covered by insurance is usually the responsibility of the car’s owner, meaning he or she may be taken to court and ordered to pay damages.