In most cases, your Georgia car insurance should cover other drivers. Generally speaking, most types of auto insurance coveragwe in Georgia goes with the vehicle, not the policyholder. If you loan your vehicle to someone else and they cause a collision, your auto liability coverage will be the primary insurance.
This is not an across-the-board definitive answer, however. Determining which insurance policy is primary following a crash is not always easy. Discussing your situation with an Atlanta car accident attorney can help you better understand your own case.
Required Insurance Coverage Follows the Vehicle, Not the Person
The mandatory auto liability coverage in Georgia applies to the covered vehicle. This includes:
- Bodily injury liability
- Property damage liability
According to Georgia’s Office of Commissioner of Insurance and Safety Fire, all vehicle owners in Georgia must have liability coverage with at least:
- $25,000 per person and $50,000 per incident in bodily injury liability
- $25,000 per incident in property damage liability
This is the primary coverage for damages caused by the covered vehicle regardless of who is behind the wheel. If the driver who caused the crash has their own policy and the damage in the accident exceeds the available limits of the primary policy, their auto liability insurance may be considered the secondary coverage in some cases.
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The insurance coverage that provides repairs to your vehicle after a crash also follows the car. The physical damage policy you pay for will allow you to repair or replace your car as needed, no matter who was driving or who caused the damage.
The types of physical damage coverage include:
- Comprehensive: This policy covers theft, vandalism, acts of God, and other types of non-collision damage.
- Collision: This policy pays for damages that a crash causes.
It is important to understand that these are not required coverages. You will only have physical damage coverage if you opt to pay extra for it. If another party crashes your car and you do not have this type of policy, you may not be able to recover compensation for your repairs. However, lenders and leasing companies generally require this type of “full coverage” policy.
Some Types of Insurance Coverage Are Exceptions to the Rule
There are exceptions to the auto insurance following the vehicle rule. Primarily, this includes medical payments coverage, known as med pay. Med pay always follows the individual. This is the policy that will pay for your medical transport, assessment, and treatment if you were injured in a crash.
While liability insurance covers these costs when someone else causes a crash, med pay ensures there is a policy to turn to regardless of who is legally responsible for an accident. This can be key if you caused an accident, the at-fault driver left the scene, or there is another issue with holding someone else liable for your injuries.
Personal injury protection (PIP) policies, where available, also generally follow the person and not the vehicle.
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What Should I Do If I Was Driving Someone Else’s Car and Was in an Accident?
If you caused an accident while driving someone else’s car, the vehicle’s owner’s insurance should cover the damages anyone else suffers in the crash. This should be true any time you had the owner’s permission to borrow their vehicle. Your auto insurance coverage may act as a secondary source for payment, if necessary.
If another driver caused the accident, you may want to connect with a car accident attorney on our personal injury team. While this should move forward just like any other car accident claim, and you should be able to hold the at-fault driver legally responsible for your injuries and other damages, as well as repairs to your friend’s car, it could be complicated by the fact that the vehicle belongs to someone else.
Our attorney can sort this out, manage your claims, and build a case to prove the at-fault driver acted negligently. This will allow you and your friend who owns the vehicle to continue focusing on your everyday life while your lawyer seeks compensation for your bills, expenses, losses, and more. Most car accident law firms work based on contingency fees, so you should not need to pay anything up front to get started with your claim.
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Talk with Bader Scott Injury Lawyers About Your Legal Options Today
Many situations could leave you wondering if a Georgia car insurance policy covers other drivers. The best way to find out for sure is to let a car accident attorney assess the specific details of the case. The team from Bader Scott Injury Lawyers is here for you. We will discuss the accident and insurance coverage with you for free today. Contact us to get started.
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