# Can someone else insure my car?



## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

I ride my motorcycle full time as soon as the ground is clear of ice, and I ride till the ground is covered with ice. I take insurance off of my car for this period, usually 7 to 8 months of the year. A friend is in need of a car, and I offered for the price of insurance he can use it until I need it again. Can he insure the car under his own name or would I have to insure it under my name with him as a secondary driver?

thanks


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## rgray (Feb 15, 2005)

wonderings said:


> Can he insure the car under his own name or would I have to insure it under my name with him as a secondary driver?


I believe you are stuck with the latter. The logic is that it is the car that is being insured. You write him on the policy. Depending on his age/record you might not have to explicitly name him, although it might be wise to do so. You should be careful about this. First of all, in the final analysis all liability falls back to you both as owner and as policy holder. If your friend has a claim it is to your policy and may affect YOUR rates later - it will be on the policy record. If your policy has 'first accident forgiveness' and your friend has an accident you lose your first accident. And so on. Talk to (and listen to) your agent on this because there can be subtleties and nuances to this. However, first and last, it is you who will be responsible.


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## adagio (Aug 23, 2002)

wonderings, don't do it.

My daughter had her insurance record messed up because a friend totaled her car. Only now, after 6 years, has she got her clean record back.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

I looked into that as well.
Not a good idea - rgray and adagio are dead on with heir comments.


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## mazirion (May 22, 2005)

Another thing to remember - if you stop insurance on your car, when you put it back on again, you'll be treated as a new driver - each year. This can be quite expensive. You are better off keeping it insured, and be wary of the pitfalls of lending it - especially for long periods.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

mazirion said:


> Another thing to remember - if you stop insurance on your car, when you put it back on again, you'll be treated as a new driver - each year. This can be quite expensive. You are better off keeping it insured, and be wary of the pitfalls of lending it - especially for long periods.


If you stop insurance completely that is probably true.
I assumed the OP does what I do with my convertible - I just keep theft and whatever else is needed for a car sitting in the garage all winter.


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## Demosthenes X (Sep 23, 2004)

For him to insure it under his name, you would have to sign the title over to your friend. Of course, if he decides the car is worth more than your friendship, he legally owns it and could take it and run. 

Perhaps talk to a lawyer and have him sign a contract explicitly stating that any damages, including their effects on your insurance rates, are his responsibility? But even then, I'd say you're taking a big risk.


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

If the insurance company does agree to this arrangement somehow, and then finds a reason to invalidate it (for example, your friend having an accident--this is the way insurance works), you'll be on the hook for the total.

With reference to continuous insurance, this is important; you don't want to start again as a "new driver"; but the motorcyclce insurance may keep things current.


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## GratuitousApplesauce (Jan 29, 2004)

I loan my car occasionally to a relative when I'm in town and it's not being used. Because of the infrequency of that use I'm not required to put her on the insurance, according the ICBC agent.

I completely trust that if she did anything to the car or got into an accident that affected my insurance discount or rate in any way, she would make good on it financially. I also know that she is a careful driver with a good history of driving.

wonderings, I would think hard about these two things if you decide to lend your car. Do you trust that your friend is a careful driver? Do you trust that your friend would compensate you for any financial hit to you? Unless you can unequivocally say yes to those questions, I would say don't do it.

Another issue that I would consider is that although your friend would pay for the gas that is used (I would assume), that is not the only expense that his use of the car would have. Every kilometre you put on the vehicle costs you money in terms of maintenance and the available life left on your vehicle. Your friend's use will wear out brakes, and other parts that need to be replaced, oil will need to be changed, tires will lose some of their available life, etc. With a few calculations you could probably work out a fair price per kilometre to charge for this. It might be more than you would expect since all the maintenance charges and parts replacement, as well as the purchase price worked out per kilometre driven, runs to many thousand a year for the average driver. You shouldn't let your friend make you carry all those expenses, unless of course he's providing you with some reciprocal large favour — or you just like him so darn much you are willing to gift him that.


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## krs (Mar 18, 2005)

I drive an Audi A6 - certainly not the cheapest to run, but also not a gas guzzler.
I figure the gas itself is about one-third of the total cost to run the car.


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## wonderings (Jun 10, 2003)

Thanks for the replies. I am well aware of the risks to myself in the case of an accident, and I am willing to take them. This is a friend I do trust and I am not concerned if something were to happen. He would be looking after all maintenance of the car as well. I keep the bare minimum insurance on my car for 6 months, then completely off for the next 2 months. Last year when I took my car out again for the winter, it cost me about $600 in fluids and getting the car ready to drive again, it would be cheaper if the car was regularly used then sitting with no attention for the next 8 months. Regarding km's on my car I could really care less, it just has to work for the winter, I will drive this car into the ground, though it is an Acura so I except it to last a long time still.

thanks for all your replies and suggestions


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## HowEver (Jan 11, 2005)

*Famous Last Words*

*Et tu, Brute?
Assassinated.
~~ Gaius Julius Caesar

Do you hear the rain? Do you hear the rain?
Minutes before her plane crashed.
~~ Jessica Dubroff, seven-year-old pilot

Let's cool it brothers . . .
Spoken to his assassins, 3 men who shot him 16 times.
~~ Malcolm X

Wonderings:



wonderings said:


> Thanks for the replies. I am well aware of the risks to myself in the case of an accident, and I am willing to take them. This is a friend I do trust and I am not concerned if something were to happen. He would be looking after all maintenance of the car as well. I keep the bare minimum insurance on my car for 6 months, then completely off for the next 2 months. Last year when I took my car out again for the winter, it cost me about $600 in fluids and getting the car ready to drive again, it would be cheaper if the car was regularly used then sitting with no attention for the next 8 months. Regarding km's on my car I could really care less, it just has to work for the winter, I will drive this car into the ground, though it is an Acura so I except it to last a long time still.
> 
> thanks for all your replies and suggestions


* http://www.corsinet.com/braincandy/dying.html


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