Hiding Drivers

Hiding a driver, or better yet, failing to disclose a driver, can lead to devastating consequences. If the car being driven by a non-listed driver is registered in the policyholder's name and an injury or damage crash occurs, the owner can be held just as responsible for the accident as the driver. Then, if the insurance company denies the claim because the driver was not authorized on the policy, both the driver and the owner might be held personally liable for the damages and/or injury. What is the point of buying auto insurance if the company refuses to pay after an accident? Like any other contract, specific terms and conditions apply, and disclosing all drivers living in your house is one of them.

Unrelated Household Members

Often, drivers will rent a room and share the living space with unrelated roommates, and the insured is honest about their presence in the household. We appreciate your honesty, but it raises a legal concern. You say now that none of those roommates will ever drive your car, but what if one begs to borrow your car and you hand them your keys and tell them to fill the tank before they bring it back. You see where this is going. The roommate crashes the car and calls from the scene on their smartphone that your vehicle has been totaled. Worse yet, they might also ask if you can get one of the other roommates to come and take them to the hospital because they may have suffered a concussion and whiplash. Will your insurance company cover the accident if you explicitly told your agent that none of your roommates would ever drive your car? I certainly wouldn't want to test that scenario. Not only might the insurance company deny the claim, but now your car has an accident on its record, and your policy gets charged a permissive-use surcharge.

Add and Possibly Exclude Drivers

Please give us the name, date of birth, and driver’s license number of a new driver in your household. If you fail to list them and they crash the car, they may not be covered. The policyholder is responsible for reporting all drivers and members of the household who are of driving age. If disabled or unlicensed, the company will list them as a household member only and not charge extra for them. Sometimes, adding a driver to the policy brings the price down, triggering a risk-averaging event. We can assess the cost if you have a junior member of the family approaching driving age. Encourage the child to wait until they turn eighteen to get their license. The cost to insure a teenager can be as high as $300 extra a month. Failing to disclose them could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars.