People often wonder whose insurance covers a car accident where someone other than the owner of the car is driving the vehicle. The answer is that there are multiple insurance companies that could be responsible for the car accident depending on a number of factors.

If someone drivers your car and gets into a car accident, the victim of the car accident can possibly go after your car insurance if the driver of your car was a permissive driver. This means that the driver had permission to drive your car when they got in an accident. Permissive drivers can be assumed where the driver of the car was a family member in some situations. Common situations where it could be assumed is a child that is under 18 years old and lives with you or your spouse.

Your insurance will not have to cover the car accident injury of the other person if the person you gave permission to drive your car has their own car insurance. Since the other person caused the car accident, their insurance will be primary and your insurance would be secondary on the car accident, in general.

If the driver did not have your permission to drive your car, the person injured in the car accident probably cannot go after you for your insurance. These situations usually come into play where your car was stolen. Stealing of a car can be a situation where you did not give permission for the driver to drive your car.

The person that is injured in the car accident will also have their own car insurance that will cover injuries they sustain should there not be any insurance coverage on the car at the time of the collision.

If there was a passenger injured in the car accident, they can get coverage from their own insurance as well as the driver of the car they were in. Additionally, pedestrians have similar rights and options if they were hit by a car while crossing the street or somewhere else.

These situations may vary where your car accident injury insurance dictates other language. You should look at your policy to determine what your insurance coverage states you may be responsible for. If you are injured in a car accident, you need a Seattle personal injury lawyer to represent you in your case. If you have been in a car accident, call me immediately so you don’t lose your right to be compensated for your injuries sustained in the car accident.