That may be true, but you can always let a court decide. I think the vehicle owner is going to be hard pressed to avoid liability, unless they can show proof that the car was being operated w/o their permission, explicit or tacit. Whether the insurance pays is between the ins. co. and the owner of the auto, unless the court oders them to pay.
We got hit twice in two weeks. We’re reasonably sure it was teenagers, as all the goods were easily hidden or easily explained to parents (or easily hocked). They got Mr. K’s leather jacket, our Harley beer, whiskey, a change bucket with about $200 in it, and ALL my CDs. And Mr. K’s knife collection, which included his K-Bar from Vietnam. That was the only irreplaceable thing.
The good:
The driver does not have her own insurance, BUT, she is listed as an authorized driver on the owner’s insurance policy. Yay! (I don’t wanna know how she got listed without a license…)
The bad:
The insurance company is SafeCo, which is notorious ('round these parts, anyway) for fighting tooth and nail on even the smallest of claims. Arrgh.
The ugly:
The owner is claiming the car was stolen, and our tires were slashed last night. I don’t know if it’s related or not, but it seems a mighty big coincidence that we FINALLY track down the owner and insurance agent, and the very same night we’re vandalized. Sigh.
Well, we’ll see where it goes, I guess… supposedly a claim adjuster is coming over today. We’re gearing up to insist on our own appraisal with a neutral third party – say, a local fencing company, or something – rather than rely on the insurance adjuster’s sense of fair play.
The owner is claiming the car was stolen even though the driver is listed on the insurance policy? This ought to be good…
And good luck with SafeCo. I had to sue them after I was rear-ended by one of their drivers, and it took them FOREVER to settle because they were so insistent that I was lying about my injuries. Assholes, as far as I’m concerned.
I’m really sorry to hear about the vandalism. 
IANAL and I don’t live in your state. But, if my understanding of the law is correct, the driver is liable for any damage that they cause, regardless of insurance and/or insurability. If the driver is liable for the damage, you should be able to win a judgement against him/her in small claims court.
But, it won’t be neat and it won’t be quick. Maybe your homeowner’s insurance can pursue remedies against the liable party. What does your agent have to say?
I’m sure we’d win; I’m equally sure we’d have a hellish time collecting. Our agent is as close to useless as is possible; he hasn’t done anything and we’re the ones chasing everything down. If we want to file a claim, he’ll happily take our deductible and start the process, but unless we file a claim he’s not going to do anything. Filing a claim is a last-resort option, since it’ll cost us and may end up driving up our rates, regardless of whose fault it is.
(And yes, we’re looking at changing homeowners insurance – we were before this – but finances make it difficult at the moment)
I hate insurance companies.
Nah, the companies are ok, it’s the dimwits that they employ that can make the difference between a good or bad experience. The level of empathy a lot of claim reps don’t show is absolutely boggling to me.
If the owner is pulling the old, “she stole my car” bit you can always ask to see a police report where the owner reported the car as stolen. If there isn’t one, then it’s difficult for an insurance company to deny a claim due to unauthorized use of the car. Make sense?
And oh yeah, barring an unexpected medical emergency (first siezure, etc.) or something like that the driver is ultimately the one who’s liable.
Any updates?