How do I add someone to my car insurance for a day?

Car insurance gives you peace of mind while traveling the roads, but what about when your family member or friend needs to borrow your car? You might assume that your insurance won’t cover someone borrowing the car. In some cases, you may need to add the temporary driver to your policy, but not always. 

Many insurance companies have a clause extending coverage to anyone borrowing the vehicle. Read on to learn more about how to add someone to your car insurance for a day.

How To Add Someone To Your Car Insurance for a Day

If you’re only letting someone else use your car for a day or two, you most likely won’t need to add them to your policy. However, if your insurance company doesn’t offer automatic coverage for drivers you allow to use your car, you will need to call a representative with your company and give them the driver’s personal details so they can temporarily add the driver to your policy.

Your Permission Is Usually Enough

Generally, insurance companies consider people who are temporarily borrowing your car to be “permissive users.” Permissive users are those that don’t own or normally drive the vehicle that’s insured but have been given explicit permission to drive it. 

Insurance coverage automatically extends from the insured driver to their permissive users if the policy allows it. Some policies only cover immediate family members or spouses as permissive users, even if you do not share car insurance with them. Other insurance companies include anyone you give permission, even an employee or hired driver. Car insurance is for the car itself, not the driver behind the wheel, so it follows the vehicle in most cases.

Since the definition of a permissive user can vary significantly across policies and companies, it’s important not to assume based on previous experiences. Always call your insurance company and check on the current details of its permissive user policy before you hand over the keys.

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When a Driver Isn’t Considered a Permissive User

In cases where your existing insurance coverage won’t cover your friend or employee, you can request that they be added as a temporary driver. Keep in mind that each driver you add to your policy, even temporarily, may increase your car insurance rates. 

The reasons a temporary driver may affect your premiums include:

• A lack of driving history
• Recent accidents or collisions
• A lack of insurance coverage for their own vehicle

Ask the driver you want to add about their driving history before you decide to add them to your car insurance for a day, or temporarily.

How To Find Out if You Need to Add Someone to Your Car Insurance

Only your car insurance company can tell you what your policy requires. You may be able to log into your insurance provider’s website and check out policy documents there that would outline precisely how the company handles temporary drivers. 

The fastest way to get an accurate answer in most cases is to call the insurance company. Any customer service representative or insurance agent working with them should be able to tell you right away what to do in this situation. If you are required to add temporary drivers in some way, your representative will let you know how long the person will remain on your policy and what you’ll need to do to remove them. 

You may want to add someone to your policy if:

• Your friend’s car needs repairs, and you’re not using your vehicle for the next few days.
• You’re selling the car and the prospective buyer would like an overnight test drive.
• A family member is visiting from out of town and would like to avoid renting a car.

It’s as simple as checking your policy or calling your insurance company to find out what you should do.

Check Before You Temporarily Add a Driver to Your Insurance

In most cases, you shouldn’t have to officially add someone to your car insurance coverage for a day. If you do need to add someone, beware that your rates could increase. Check your insurance policy’s permissive user regulations to know exactly what to do in this situation.

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Case Studies: Adding Someone to Your Car Insurance for a Day

Case Study 1: Automatic Coverage for Permissive Users

John borrowed his friend Sarah’s car for a day to run some errands. Sarah was confident that her car insurance would cover John as a permissive user.

Since Sarah’s insurance policy automatically extended coverage to anyone she gave explicit permission to drive her car, she didn’t need to add John to her policy. John was covered by Sarah’s insurance during the time he used her car.

Case Study 2: Adding a Temporary Driver

Mark wanted to lend his car to his cousin Lisa for a weekend road trip. However, Mark’s insurance policy only covered immediate family members as permissive users.

Since Lisa was not an immediate family member, Mark needed to call his insurance company and request that they add Lisa as a temporary driver to his policy.

The insurance company agreed to add Lisa to the policy for the duration of the weekend, but Mark was informed that his insurance rates would increase due to the addition of an extra driver.

Case Study 3: Temporary Driver With a Poor Driving History

Emily needed someone to drive her car for a day while she was out of town. Her neighbor, Alex, offered to help. However, Emily was aware that Alex had a history of multiple speeding tickets. Concerned about the potential impact on her insurance rates, Emily contacted her insurance company to inquire about adding Alex to her policy.

The insurance company informed Emily that adding a driver with a poor driving history could significantly increase her premiums. Based on this information, Emily decided not to add Alex to her policy and instead made alternate arrangements for her car.

Case Study 4: Checking Policy Requirements

David frequently lent his car to his coworker, Maria, whenever she needed it for personal reasons. David assumed that his insurance policy automatically covered permissive users and didn’t bother to check the policy details. However, after a conversation with a friend, David became unsure and decided to contact his insurance company.

The representative informed him that his policy required him to officially add any driver who borrowed his car for more than 30 days in a year. Since Maria borrowed the car regularly, David had to add her to his policy to ensure continued coverage.

Case Study 5: Short-Term Policy for a Special Circumstance

Sarah’s brother, Mike, was visiting from out of town and needed a car for a day. Sarah contacted her insurance company to find out if they offered short-term policies for such situations.

The insurance company informed Sarah that they had a temporary policy option that could be purchased for specific time frames. Sarah decided to purchase a one-day policy to cover Mike’s usage of her car, ensuring that both her car and Mike were adequately insured during his visit.

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