Los Angeles, CA personal injury attorney Narbeh Shirvanian talks about what happens when the driver is not the owner in a car accident case. Inquiries often arise from potential or existing clients regarding the impact of not owning the vehicle they were driving. If the vehicle doesn’t belong to them, the insurance policy isn’t in their name, and they are not the insured, questions emerge about how this situation affects the case. The key consideration is permissive use, wherein coverage of someone else’s vehicle insurance for a driver not listed depends on having had permission to operate that vehicle.

Insurance companies may delve into details such as whether the driver resides with the registered owner and the frequency of previous vehicle usage. In our practice, the general rule is that, as long as there’s permission to drive someone else’s car, and the insurance coverage is current, the driver should be covered.