Is my girlfriend covered by my car insurance policy?

Many people are protective of their vehicles. It’s not normal for a vehicle owner to be comfortable with lending their car out to just anyone.

If you have enough trust in your girlfriend to let her drive your car, you must look over your car insurance to verify that she’s covered.

The last thing that you want to do is get comfortable with the idea just to discover your vehicle isn’t covered for damage while she’s driving.

Compare car insurance rates today by using our free quote tool above!

You Need to Disclose Your Household Members

If you look at an auto insurance contract, you’ll notice that there’s nothing brief about it. Since auto policies are legally binding contracts, they have to be extremely detailed.

All of the limits of liability, exclusions, and coverage details are explained thoroughly in the policy form so that you don’t have any questions as to whether or not something is covered.

One area of your Personal Auto Policy contract that you should look over is the one that discusses who is covered to drive.

What happens if you don’t disclose household members?

If you don’t disclose a friend or family member who lives at the same address as you, it could present problems.

Failing to list all household residents over 14 when you’re initially applying for insurance could be classified as a material misrepresentation.

By definition, this classification means that you intentionally defrauded the carrier by being dishonest on your application to save money.

The carrier can actually drop your insurance at any time if they can prove you did this.

If your girlfriend moved into your home at some point during your term, the carrier may not drop your coverage but it could pose a coverage issue.

If for some reason, you have to file a claim for an incident that occurred while she was driving, the carrier could deny the claim.

What do you need to do to cover your girlfriend?

If you and your girlfriend are living in the same home, you will have to take some steps to ensure that there are no coverage issues before you let your borrow your car.

When adding a household driver to the policy, you’ll have to provide some basic information so that the carrier can run her driving record and classify her into a risk group.

When you’re calling your insurer to process an insurance endorsement, here’s what you should have with you:

• Your girlfriend’s full name
• Your girlfriend’s date of birth
• Your girlfriend’s occupation
• Your girlfriend’s driver’s license number
• How long your girlfriend has been licensed

When your girlfriend or anyone who lives in your home has access to your cars, they will probably be listed as a rated driver.

The term rated means that they will have an effect on your premiums if they have a poor driving record or no licensing experience.

What if your girlfriend has her own car?

When you’re sharing a residence but not necessarily sharing a car it works a bit differently.

You should still tell your agent that your girlfriend lives in the home and has access to your car, but you don’t have to name her as a listed driver if she has her own car and her own insurance.

Instead of listing a driver in their home with their own insurance as a rated driver, you can list them as a deferred operator.

This term means that they will be driving your vehicle from time to time but that they currently have their own liability coverage in place.

Is she covered if she doesn’t live with you?

If you haven’t taken the leap and moved in with your girlfriend, updating your insurance is less complicated.

You don’t need to list her to your policy because she’s not living in your home. You do, however, need to check to see if your insurer has a permissive user provision built into the policy.

Permissive user provisions provide the policyholder with extra protection if they give someone written or verbal permission to operate their car.

Insurance doesn’t only cover you and your car; it actually covers other drivers as well in many scenarios.

Your girlfriend has to meet the following criterion to have coverage:

• She must be licensed
• She must be an experienced driver
• She must have an acceptable driving record
• She can’t share ownership in the vehicle
• She can’t live in your home

Call your agent and discuss the situation to get the best advice. If your premiums are too high when your girlfriend is added, get several quotes. Use our online rate tool and see if you can save money by switching.