Auto Insurance Claims: auto insurance, insurance fraud, insurance applications


Question
My daughter lives in MO and bought a 2008 car last year which is fully insured. She has an unlicensed boyfriend who lives with her and drives her car sometimes.  He tells her that her insurance will cover anything that happens even if he is driving.  The insurance company is not aware that an unlicensed adult lives with her. Also, he owns an old truck which she included her name on the title with his so that it could be insured by her. He drives it on a daily basis, and also says insurance will cover it in the event of an accident. I've told her she is putting her financial security at risk (has great credit, owns a home.... while he has nothing to lose) letting him drive her vehicle...as well as having her name on the title of his truck.  He says I don't know Missouri Insurance and that it will cover any accident even if he is driving.  Is he right?

Answer
She has misrepresented a material fact on her insurance applications.  If a loss occurs and the insurance company figures out what she did, they will attempt to void the policy.  Voiding means the policy never existed and they return her premium but do not cover losses.

Realistically, it is difficult to void a policy but the facts seem pretty clear here, so they could very well succeed.  In my opinion, this is also insurance fraud and they could decide to pursue her criminally.

What she is doing is illegal and not smart.  They might get away with it, but is is unethical and very dangerous.