What Is Non-Owner Car Insurance and Do You Need It?

If you happen to personal a automotive, it is best to have automotive insurance coverage for it. (Duh—it’s the legislation, and it’s frequent sense!)

However what in case you often drive a automotive that isn’t yours? Possibly you borrow your buddy’s truck to make your weekly Costco run. Possibly you generally hire a automotive for work or use a car-sharing service to take weekend street journeys.

Or, plot twist—possibly you haven’t been driving in any respect. There’s been a difficulty together with your driver’s license otherwise you’ve been quickly with out a automotive, however now you’re able to get again on the street.

Any of this sound acquainted? Then non-owner automotive insurance coverage is perhaps for you.

What Is Non-Proprietor Automotive Insurance coverage?

Non-owner automotive insurance coverage is a legal responsibility coverage. If you happen to get into an accident when you’re driving a automotive that isn’t yours, it’s going to pay for medical payments and property injury for whoever you hit. And that’s a very good factor—as a result of in case you hit somebody once you’re uninsured, you could possibly be personally accountable (aka liable) for 1000’s of {dollars} of medical payments and damages!

Some non-owner automotive insurance coverage insurance policies simply cowl prices for the opposite individual. However don’t fear—you may get insurance policies that provide you with extra safety, like these:

• Uninsured or underinsured motorist protection pays in your medical bills in case you get harm in an accident brought on by a driver who has no insurance coverage (or who doesn’t have sufficient legal responsibility protection on their very own coverage).

• Main medical and private harm safety protection pays your medical payments in case you get harm in a automotive wreck, irrespective of who’s at fault.

These are nice coverages to have, as a result of they shield you financially in case you’re in an accident whereas driving a automotive you don’t personal.

That mentioned, non-owner automotive insurance coverage doesn’t cowl all the things. It received’t embrace collision or complete insurance coverage, as a result of these forms of insurance coverage pay for repairs to the policyholder’s car. And because you don’t truly personal the car, you received’t have any restore prices.

It’s as much as the proprietor to supply complete and collision insurance coverage that can cowl the prices to restore or change their car in case you wreck it. That’s why non-owner automotive insurance coverage is typically known as a secondary coverage—as a result of it’s protection you get along with the first coverage that’s already on the automotive.

How Does Non-Proprietor Automotive Insurance coverage Work?

Non-owner automotive insurance coverage comes with quite a lot of guidelines (identical to each different kind of insurance coverage). We’re going to run by way of a very powerful ones right here, so buckle up, buttercup.

Non-owner automotive insurance coverage solely covers one individual.

With most automotive insurance coverage, you pay for protection on a selected car. After all that does no good in case you don’t personal a automotive, so non-owner insurance coverage is offered per individual. Meaning your title is on the coverage, and your insurance coverage solely covers you. So in case you borrow your brother’s automotive and let your good friend drive it, your coverage received’t cowl any accidents that occur whereas your good friend is behind the wheel.

Your legal responsibility restrict must be increased than the one on the proprietor’s main coverage.

Forty-nine states—besides New Hampshire—require car house owners to have legal responsibility insurance coverage. (Significantly, what’s up with that, New Hampshire?) So likelihood is that the proprietor already has a legal responsibility coverage on the automotive you’re borrowing. Your non-owner insurance coverage is supposed to cowl damages that exceed what the first coverage covers—and which means your legal responsibility restrict must be increased.

So let’s say your good friend has the state minimal of $30,000 in legal responsibility insurance coverage. You might have a non-owner automotive insurance coverage coverage with a $50,000 legal responsibility restrict. You crash your good friend’s automotive, inflicting $50,000 of injury. Your good friend’s legal responsibility insurance coverage would cowl the primary $30,000 of bills, and your insurance coverage would cowl the following $20,000, for a grand complete of $50,000.

You won’t must pay a deductible . . . however that doesn’t imply you received’t pay something in case you get in an accident.

One good factor about non-owner insurance policies is that they often don’t have a deductible. Meaning the insurance coverage kicks in straight away, so that you don’t must pay something up entrance.

Now, in case you’re considering you’ll be able to stroll away free and clear like Scotch tape, we’re gonna burst your bubble. You should still must pay for a number of the damages in case you get in an accident and your legal responsibility restrict is simply too low.

Let’s return to our instance: Your good friend has a $30,000 legal responsibility restrict, and you’ve got a $50,000 legal responsibility restrict. However this time, you trigger $60,000 price of injury and medical payments. Your good friend’s insurance coverage covers $30,000 and yours covers the following $20,000 for a complete of $50,000 . . . leaving you on the hook for 10 grand!

Keep in mind, the upper your legal responsibility restrict, the higher protected you’re. That’s why it’s so necessary to get the correct quantity of legal responsibility insurance coverage. (Having a better legal responsibility restrict could elevate your premiums a little bit, however belief us—when one thing goes improper, you’ll be thankful for that additional protection!)

Who wants non-owner automotive insurance coverage? (And who doesn’t?)

The title “non-owner automotive insurance coverage” could make it sound such as you solely want this protection in case you don’t personal a automotive in any respect—however that’s not essentially true. You might have a automotive of your personal and nonetheless want this insurance coverage. And somebody who doesn’t personal a automotive and doesn’t drive a lot could not want it. So it’s necessary to verify that is the fitting protection for you before you purchase it.

You’re most certainly to want non-owner automotive insurance coverage in case you:

• Borrow different individuals’s automobiles rather a lot. We already talked about why you want non-owner automotive insurance coverage in case you borrow a automotive, so we received’t cowl that once more. However we do need to add one  actually necessary factor: Non-owner insurance coverage doesn’t cowl borrowing a automotive from somebody you reside with. If that’s what you’re doing, you need to be listed in your relative or roommate’s insurance coverage coverage.
• Lease automobiles ceaselessly. From an insurance coverage standpoint, renting a automotive works rather a lot like borrowing one as a result of the rental firm already has some protection on the automotive. They’ll additionally promote you further protection. However in case you hire typically sufficient, carrying your personal non-owner automotive insurance coverage may truly be cheaper than the legal responsibility insurance coverage you pay for on the automotive rental counter. (It received’t cowl injury to the rental automotive itself, so it is best to look into getting a collision injury waiver by way of the rental firm.)
• Use a car-sharing service like Zipcar or car2go. Automotive-sharing companies usually insure their automobiles with the state minimal quantity of protection. So that you’ll need the additional protection in case of a extremely dangerous accident.
• Are submitting an SR-22 or FR-44 kind. Some drivers must file these types by state or court docket order to indicate that they’ve at the very least the state minimal legal responsibility insurance coverage. Normally, these drivers are attempting to get their license reinstated after it bought revoked due to one thing severe like a DUI, reckless driving or getting in an accident whereas uninsured. SR-22 and FR-44 types are comparable, and the foundations in your state will decide which kind you want. So remember to discover out which one is best for you. Your insurance coverage firm will file the shape in your behalf after you purchase the coverage. (Simply ensure you inform them you want the shape to be filed—they’re not thoughts readers.) 
• Want to reinstate an expired license. If you happen to let your driver’s license expire, some states require you to indicate proof of insurance coverage earlier than you may get a brand new license. (If you happen to personal a automotive that you simply’ll be driving as soon as your license is reinstated, you’ll must get protection for it—not non-owner insurance coverage.)
• Are quickly with out a automotive. It’s because insurers take a look at lapses in protection when assessing a driver’s threat. So let’s say you promote your automotive to repay some debt. You intend to make use of experience sharing and public transit for a short while, and also you’re saving as much as pay money for a automotive subsequent yr. It might be a good suggestion to get non-owner automotive insurance coverage within the meantime to keep away from paying increased premiums once you purchase that good, debt-free automotive later.

How a lot does non-owner automotive insurance coverage price?

That is the massive query. And as a lot as we’d love to present you a selected reply simply in your state of affairs, we will’t. (We all know, we all know.) The actual reply is it relies upon. There are quite a lot of variables that may have an effect on the fee for non-owner automotive insurance coverage, like your earlier driving file and the way excessive your deductible is (or in case you even have one).

The excellent news is that since non-owner auto insurance coverage is a legal responsibility coverage, it’s often approach cheaper than getting complete or collision insurance coverage for a automotive you personal. The different excellent news is that even when we will’t inform you precisely how a lot non-owner automotive insurance coverage will price, we all know somebody who can!

We work with a staff of impartial insurance coverage brokers known as Endorsed Native Suppliers (ELPs). They are specialists in all issues auto insurance coverage, to allow them to make it easier to get the protection you want. And since they’re native, you’ll have the ability to work with an agent who is aware of the ins and outs of automotive insurance coverage in your space.

So, in case you want non-owner automotive insurance coverage, now you’ve bought the proper solution to get it.

Join with an auto insurance coverage agent immediately.