Family debate: isn't this reasonable?

[missred]

@you_with_the_face

No true, if the accident was the other driver’s fault. Presumably someone would have stepped up to pay the insurance. Either the son, the ex, the MIL, or some combination of them.

Not necessarily true. When I lived in Indiana, an uninsured motorist in an accident was automatically deemed at fault. He (or likely, Mom) could have been on the hook for the other driver’s property and medical expenses.

IMO, Grandma gifted the kid with a white elephant. Something that wasn’t necessarily in Mom’s budget. And where was Dad in all of this? Did he volunteer to split insurance costs or was he sticking it to Mom too?

[Personal]

@missred

Not necessarily true. When I lived in Indiana, an uninsured motorist in an accident was automatically deemed at fault. He (or likely, Mom) could have been on the hook for the other driver’s property and medical expenses.

IMO, Grandma gifted the kid with a white elephant. Something that wasn’t necessarily in Mom’s budget. And where was Dad in all of this? Did he volunteer to split insurance costs or was he sticking it to Mom too?

missred, when did you live in Indiana? I’ve never heard that before.

[Nawth_Chucka]

@epbrown01

Update: Now it’s been really, really resolved - nephew has totaled his mom’s old Focus, though he wasn’t hurt. Since it had just liability on it and apparently this was his fault (it was a single car accident), he’s now on the bus. Two cars totaled in the same year, means everyone - mom, dad, grandma - has pretty much said “I’m out, kid - you’re on your own.”

Holy crap, unless he takes a driving course his insurance rates are going to be ridiculous till he’s at least 30. Sounds like the bus is his best option for the foreseeable future.

[missred]

@Personal

missred, when did you live in Indiana? I’ve never heard that before.

I left there in 1995, but still have family there. I know that as recently as 2010, it was still in effect. My dad was in an accident where he was actually the one ticketed 9failure to yield), but the other driver, who was uninsured, was the party at fault. According to the law, he was driving illegally.

[Mama_Zappa]

@doreen

And it actually goes in both directions- my son had to list my husband and I as drivers on his own policy. Because we all lived in the same household.Depending on the insurance company, he might have been able to exclude us or we could have excluded him - but then if we drove each other’s cars , we wouldn’t have been covered. Not if we borrowed the car because one was in the shop, not to move from one parking space to another, not if my son got sick and we picked him up and drove his car home for him.

Heh - yeah. Insurance companies will try to force everyone to cover everyone.

We have a friend staying with us for a bit. We also have a young male driver in the household. He’s covered under our insurance of course (ouch). But about 6 months after our friend moved in, she got a message from HER insurance company saying that as she was sharing a household with a young male driver, her rates were going up retroactively. Never mind that my kid has rarely even RIDDEN in her car, and has never driven it… We provided proof that he was covered under our policy, I need to find out how that all shook out.

I do wonder how it works if you’ve just got a short-term guest who borrows your car. I was under the impression that the insurance went with the car, not the driver (though obviously rates are impacted by the expected driver(s)).

[Omar_Little]

@Mama_Zappa

I was under the impression that the insurance went with the car, not the driver (though obviously rates are impacted by the expected driver(s)).

Liability insurance can do both. If you have liability coverage, it can be used to cover your while you drive a rental car. If someone else borrows your car, your liability coverage should also cover any damage they may do to others property under permissive use.

[doreen]

@Mama_Zappa

I do wonder how it works if you’ve just got a short-term guest who borrows your car. I was under the impression that the insurance went with the car, not the driver (though obviously rates are impacted by the expected driver(s)).

It does go with the car and it will cover you for short term guests or others who are not part of your household. The issue with the household is that the insurance company will base their premium on all the other drivers in your household unless you explicitly exclude them from coverage ( if the company allows that) - and if you do that in order to pay a lower premium, then you’ve excluded them from coverage by choice.