Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 6/28/2011

Question
My cousin had a car accident hitting rear, 3 cars involved. Guess my car is totaled, he is under-21 license driver but is not in the insurance policy. Police report just gave him a ticket not mentioning he's not insuranced. However he gave the insurance card. We haven't report the accident to the insurance company 'cause i really dont know what could happen. I finance that car but who uses and drives is my aunt and now my cousin who got the accident. What can I do? thank you

Answer
Hi John,

Auto insurance follows the car not the driver. So as long as your cousin does not live with you he is covered by your policy.

You need to report the accident to your insurance company as soon as possible. Just tell then that you loaned the car to your cousin and he had an accident. The insurance company will want to take his statement of what happened so they can determine who was at fault. Then your insurance company will pay the claims.


I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh