QuestionWe have had insurance with Allstate since 2003 insuring 3 vehicles and only my husband and I drive. My brother told me that liability follows the driver (which I now know it doesn't). If technically a driver can only drive one car at a time then we only have to insure two vehicles. Since we only use the third vehicle whenever one of our cars are in the shop then we could just switch the coverage on the vehicles that we are currently driving. Well, my minivan broke down on the interstate and had to be towed in on 04/18/08 Friday night due to transmission failure. I forgot to drop the coverage on the minivan and pick up the coverage on our truck until Tues. 04/22/08. The truck has been insured since 2003 as well but when it went into the shop for transmission in January we dropped it and just insured the minivan and the sedan. My question is that I had an accident in a parking lot on 04/22/08 but the affective date on my liability insurance for the truck was listed as 04/24/08. So does that mean that my insurance company doesn't have to pay even though I have liability and I was driving my own vehicle but the vehicle was not insured on the date of my accident even though my other vehicle that was insured is inoperable???
AnswerHi Sue,
I'm sorry, but I see no way that this particular loss can be covered.
The insurance first follows the vehicle. There are many cases when it could follow you when occasionally driving someone elses car as extra coverage or as primary coverage if they had no insurance.
There are 4 specific times that are NAMED in your policy when your policy will not follow you when driving another car.
1. When you are driving a car that has been left in your care and custody.
2. When you are driving a car that is provided for your normal use.
3. When you are driving a car owned by someone else living in your household.
4. When you are driving a car that you (or your spouse) have owned for over 30 days and it is not named on your policy at the time of the accident.
Most insurance companies give a 40% discount on the "spare" car when there are more cars than drivers.
Playing "musical cars" is very risky as you are learning. You must always call the company before driving the car and there is always the chance that you will forget or at certain times of the night and weekend, there is no one available to call.
Although I can't wave a magic wand and solve your problem, I do hope this information has been helpful.
Your feedback by rating my answer will be appreciated.
Sincerely,
Bennie
San Francisco Bay Area
