Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 6/12/2009

Question
I am a claims rep and got a quest from 3rd party clmt. I have a claim in which the named insd let his friend drive the car. friend doesnt qualify as insured so the limits were reduced to 15/30 5k in california. They want to know where they can get info confirming that the limits were reduced under permissive user. where would I refer them to since i can not disclose an actual copy of our insurance policy ? This is a viking Insurance/sentry insurance policy. Thank You

Answer
Hi Alice,

In 22 years in the business, I have never heard of liability coverage limits being reduced because a vehicle owner loaned their vehicle to someone. My understanding is that a vehicle owner can loan their vehicle to anyone that does not live in their household and be protected with the same coverage limits as the named insured. Auto insurance coverage follows the vehicle, not the driver.

If your company policy has language in it that limits coverage if the vehicle is driven by someone other than the named insured, it is likely a self writen (non-ISO) policy. To my knowledge there is no California law where you would find this as it is based on the specific wording of your company's policy.

If this is the case, perhaps you could find that section of the policy that indicates so and copy only that section to send to the claimant. That way you are not disclosing the actual dec sheet and specific coverage limits but just the general information that shows the limitation in coverage for a non-named insured permissive driver.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh