Tom McCutcheon – Attorney at Law
Q: I was driving my friend’s car and she doesn’t have insurance. I have insurance, but I got a ticket for failure to show proof of insurance. Does my insurance not cover the car that I was driving?
Chelsea
Athens, AL
A: Your insurance follows you in terms of your liability coverage. If you borrow a car that is uninsured and do damage to someone else’s property, your liability insurance coverage should pay for it absent some contract language to the contrary.
You should be able to show the judge that you had insurance on a car and the judge should recognize that your insurance would cover damage to someone else’s car if you were at fault.
If you have collision coverage on your car, that is insurance that will repair your car in the event that it is damaged no matter whose fault it is, that coverage only follows you in a borrowed car under most circumstances, if your car was broken and/or being repaired. Otherwise, your insurance will not pay to fix a car you borrow if you could have been driving your own.
Because people ask what types of coverage they have, 25/50 means that your insurance will pay $25,000 to any one person injured and $50,000 maximum per accident. 100/300 means that your insurance will pay $100,000 to any one person injured as a result of your negligence and $300,000 maximum per accident. UM (uninsured/underinsured motorist) covers your bodily injury in the event that you are injured by someone who is either uninsured or underinsured. This coverage stacks so that if you have multiple cars, you have multiple coverage. The buyer of insurance chooses how much coverage protection they need. 50/100 pays $50,000 to any one person and $100,000 maximum no matter how many people are in the car.
Obviously, you should buy insurance proportionate to what you need to protect. If you are retired and own your own house be sure and discuss with your agent how much insurance you need. On the other hand, if you are just starting out in life and have no property, very little income then obviously a smaller policy would be adequate.
Buckle up and drive safely.
2210 Helton Drive
Florence, Alabama 35630
Telephone: 256-764-0112
