If you let someone drive your car and they wreck it who is responsible for damages?

Question

i let a friend drive my car and she hit a telephone pole. my insurance does not cover that kind of accident. is she responsible for the damages? she said she would fix it and then backed out of it. is she legally obligated? i dont want to waste my time in court if she is not responsible for damages

Answer 1

Even though she is responsible for the accident (and should cover the costs) you could be ticketed for allowing an uninsured driver to operate your vehicle. You can take her to court, but collecting is a whole nother story.

Answer 2

She is responsible for damages and you'll have to take her to small claims court.

Obviously you don't have collision coverage on your insurance policy.  Giving her permissive use does not keep her from having to behave responsibly on the road and she doesn't have to be on your insurance policy to be allowed to drive your car!

Answer 3

she is responible.idont know about legal rights but i no for a fact she is, she was holding her license..but check, if u dont have her on the insurance, then u might have to pay for it but DEFINATELY get her to pay for it, it is wrong, irresponsible and disrespectful for her not to. she isnt worth being a friend if she doesnt pay u, she isnt respecting your rights no matter if its allegal or legal.

Answer 4

Here's how the insurance works:

The damage to the telephone pole (and yes, it will take a few months but you will get a bill for this) - is paid for by the liability policy on the car. That's your liability.  This will go down as an at fault accident.

If you have collision coverage on your vehicle - that will pay for the damage to your car.

If you do not have collision coverage on your car and the driver has a policy with collision coverage on it -- you can get a letter from your company confirming no collision coverage on your vehicle and file a claim against the drivers policy.  In many cases, your vehicle will qualify as a substitute auto under her policy. So (if she has collision coverage) her policy will pay for the damage to your car.

If she does not have a policy with collision coverage - you are s.o.l.

Technically, she is responsible for the damage to your car  - but you will probably never see a dime. Getting a judgment is one thing - that's the easy part--- actually collecting......whole different animal and much much harder to do. And if she declares bankruptcy....*poof*   you get zero.

So you will end up just having to suck up the loss.

But - when you took out your policy and chose not to purchase collision coverage - you decided to take the risk that in exchange for a lower premium - you would suck it up and take the financial hit if something happened to your car.  You gambled and you lost.

Answer 5

As you can see from the opposing answers you received, there are opinions on both sides of this issue.  This is what is called a "JURY QUESTION".   Only a jury can answer it.

In my experience, most likely a jury would tell you to split the damages as you both are responsible. You for loaning the car out, and the driver for hitting the pole.

Answer 6

Of course she is responsible for damages!!

She borrowed the car from you and totalled it. She obviously knew she was responsible, thats why she offered to pay for it in the beginning. If she knew she was in the right, she would have not offered.

The car was in her posession when it was destroyed. She is responsible for the repairs or to pay the value of the car.

If you are going to take it to court, try to take in a picture of the car before the crash, to show the condition, as well as a picture of the damage she did. I dont know what it is called in America, but there is a site that will give the vehicles value, go to that site and put the vehicles details in and print out the value. That is what the judge will use to determine the value of the car.

If you got the car repaired, make sure you take in the bill from the bodyshop, as well as any other bills you have related to the crash (tow truck, replacement telegraph pole, hire car, MAYBE cellphone calls)

Answer 7

On the surface of your statement, she is not legally responsible, as you gave her permission to drive the car. The cause of the accident may determine if you would be able to take her to Small Claims Court to recover the amount of the deductible on your insurance.  Depending upon the written clauses in your insurance contract (concerning other drivers of your car), they may "go after" her to recover the damage amount.  But once again, giving her permission to drive your car puts you on the hook for the damage repair.

Answer 8

well the person that owns the car shouldn't have let someone drive the car so it should be the person that owns the car that is responsible

Answer 9

yes . but small claims court here you come.