Legal Implications When Someone Else Crashes Your Car

Be careful who you let drive your vehicle in Texas; their actions can have financial and legal implications for you. If someone else was operating your vehicle at the time of an accident, your own insurance may be required to pay for the crash under Texas’s car accident laws. Understanding when your insurance may or may not cover the crash is important for your financial future. Make sure to speak to an experienced San Antonio injury lawyer for legal guidance.

When Your Insurance Covers the Crash

Car insurance is connected to the automobile, not the driver. Therefore, if you gave someone else permission to drive your car, your own car insurance will be used to pay for damages if that person causes a car accident. 

Since Texas is a fault-based state, as the at-fault driver, the person driving your car will be expected to pay for the other party’s medical expenses, lost wages, property repairs, and more. Your automobile insurance should provide coverage even if you weren’t the one driving your vehicle. 

If you don’t have enough insurance to completely pay for the accident, the insurance of the person who was driving your car may step in to provide supplemental coverage. However, your own auto insurance will typically be the primary source of coverage for the other driver’s losses. 

When Might an Insurance Company Reject Coverage?

If you lent your vehicle to the wrong person or did not lend it at all, accident coverage options will change. In the following circumstances, your auto insurance may not cover the accident:

• Negligent entrustment. If you knowingly let someone incompetent, reckless or an unfit person – such as an unlicensed teenager – drive your vehicle, your insurance company may refuse to cover the accident. You could instead be held personally liable for damages caused by the driver.

• Excluded driver. Certain individuals may be listed specifically as exclusions on your auto insurance policy, such as some household members. Be sure to read your policy carefully before allowing anyone to borrow your car.

• Stolen vehicle. If someone stole your car or borrowed it without your permission, your insurance company may deny coverage. This breaches the permissive use policy and can make the individual driver personally responsible for all damages.

• Business use. Many car insurance companies don’t offer coverage when a car is driven for commercial purposes, such as for Uber or Lyft. This requires an additional type of business insurance. 

Your own medical bills and property repairs won’t be covered if someone else crashes your car unless you have comprehensive, collision or another type of first-party coverage on your policy. If you only have the minimum required amounts of car insurance in Texas, you will only have liability insurance to pay for the damages of others. 

What to Do if Someone Else Crashes Your Car in Texas

Understanding the complex liability issues associated with an accident involving a borrowed car may require assistance from an auto accident attorney in San Antonio. A lawyer can investigate your specific situation to determine whether your insurance is available for primary coverage. 

If the other driver was at fault and not the person operating your vehicle, your lawyer can help you prove this to protect yourself from liability. Otherwise, an attorney can work with your own insurance provider for assistance with the claims process.

To speak to an attorney directly about your specific accident case at no cost, contact Hill Law Firm Accident & Injury Lawyers.