My friend lets me borrow her car...and it got stolen!?

Question

My friend let me borrow her car for four months since she was out of the country. Which is really nice of her since I didn't even ask. I asked her if she was insured for another person to drive her car and she said yes.

Few weeks ago, as I was parked at the train station (where I leave my car in the morning and ride the metro to work), and when I got home the car was gone...

Called the police, filled a report.... they called me the next day telling me they recovered it 30miles away..... so I asked my friend to send me a letter authorizing me to pick up the car.... I get the car back, for $140... need to have it towed because the ignition is punched....$126... and when we get home, a friend of mine looks at the car and tells me the catalytic converter and the muffler are gone... so I call my friend, she gives me the phone number of her insurance so I can explain everything....

The insurance is really hard to reach (Progressive in California) have left messages, emails... whenever they call me they need more time... they always say they gonna call me back....

Anyway, the car is still by my house, waiting for the insurance to come, and today my friend is telling me that if the insurance finds out she was not driving, they won't pay her and will kick her off...

She told me she was properly insured for me to drive the car before she left, I did everything to get the car back..... since she obviously lied to me, what is now my responsibility? Should have I checked myself her insurance policy and not take her words for granted? What will the insurance really do when it comes to fixing the car? Charge me?

I am feeling really bad, the car was my responsibility, but I feel I am doing everything I can, and now she tells me she lied to me...

Any advice is welcome at the point!

Thank you for your help.

Answer 1

I hate to say it, but you should have gotten your own insurance policy for the vehicle.  Try to get her insurance company to pay for it since it was theft, not an accident that you were driving when the car was damaged.  The reality is no one was driving the vehicle at the time the damage was done.  

But if you keep driving it after it's fixed, get your own policy on it.

Answer 2

First off I don't think it was fair for you to involve the insurance company,you should pay everything out of pocket,you took on the responsibility to drive the car,you need to pay for everything cash,work out a payment plan with her,you want her insurance company to pay but you do know this will affect her insurance rate right. Either way you and her will argue about it,and in the end you and her will no longer be friends I'm willing to bet my last $1.You had the car,it was stolen while in your care,so pay for it,don't get your friend in trouble. Your friend was trying to be nice and now she is about to get F-cked.

Answer 3

Honestly, you should have been on the policy since you were going to be using it on a regular basis. Progressive will probably still cover it though. They will find out that you were driving from the police report (which they require to file a claim) so if you lie to them, that's insurance fraud which will get you about five years in the slammer. Be upfront with them, they're not terrible people. As long as she had comprehensive coverage this should be covered. Call this number and enter your nine digit claim number and they should be able to assist you. 1-800-925-2886

Answer 4

as a friend, she shouldn't have lied to you about you being insured. you need to tell her what you think about being the one who was driving the car and don't let her guilt you into anything. you didn't ask for the car to be stolen and you didn't make it easier for them to do it. you've already gone out of your way to help take care of this. just don't stress, and keep her informed of everything that's going on. be level-minded and if she lied to you about the insurance then that is her fault and if they won't pay then she should since she lied. that's just my opinion. i'm sorry you're having to go through this :[

Answer 5

Your friend should have called Progressive before she left and had you rated on the policy as the driver of the car since you would be driving it for the time that she was gone.

You could NOT have purchased your own policy for your friend's car because the car is NOT in your name.

Progressive may be telling you they will call you back because the insurance policy is NOT in your name.  Typically they need to speak to the insured, which is your friend, and get her authorization that it is ok to speak to you regarding the claim.  Theft claims are ALWAYS turned over to a special investigative team who specifically looks into the claim to be sure that it really was a theft.  You took the right steps of filing a police report and reporting it to the insurance company, but theft claims do take some time to research so be patient :-)

As long as she has comprehensive coverage, progressive should cover the vehicle regardless of WHO was driving because your friend gave you PERMISSION to drive her car (which is typically considered permissive use to insurance companies).

Just be glad the whole car isn't totaled.  When my car was stolen it was totaled!!!!  They were sure to not leave anything left of the car... the engine was completely missing from my car!!

And don't listen to KIM C,  the person who said that your friend's insurance rates are going to go up because she is VERY wrong!  Your friend's insurance rates will NOT increase for a comprehensive claim.  Theft is out of the owner and driver's control hence why it is a comprehensive claim.

DO NOT FEEL GUILTY!!!!! There was nothing you could have done to prevent someone from stealing the car.  

I don't see a reason why progressive wouldn't pay the loss as long as there was comprehensive coverage on the car!  

KEEP YOUR HEAD UP and best of luck!

Answer 6

first of all, contact your friends insurance agent and find out exactly what and who is covered under her policy. Every state is different so you'll need to do some reaserch. Here in MA, as long as you have insurance on any other car, you can drive her car with no problems as long as both of you are not listed under the same address, then you have to be in her policy.

It sounds like you have done everything that was expected of you. The insurance should pay for it if the car was insured against theft.

Keep calling the insurance, other wise they will take their sweet time coming out to do an estimate and keep this moving.

Hope this helps and good luck.

Answer 7

Your friend should have added you to her policy as a driver before she left as you would have care, custody and control.  SHE chose not to do that.  This is not on you.  Theft is not a matter of fault.  While I understand you feel  bad, you're not responsible.

Progressive will do and investigation  and speak with both of you for their investigation.  Progressive does not NEED your friend's permission to talk to you.  This is part of their investigation.  Just tell tehm what happened and all should be taken care of.  As long a she has comprehensive ins.  This is not normally a type of claim that increases her rates unless she's making a habit of this and then this is her situation and not your's.  Just make sure what she is telling you is the truteh from progressive.  You can ask the adjuster specific questions but remember  they may be limited just how much they can tell you due to privacy issues but things like they're refusing to pay and stuff like that they can tell you.  They would also send her a letter as to why she was being denied.  Make sure you read that.  

You'll be fine thought im sure of it.  Honestly on a sale of 1 to 10 on whether or not your should worry about it.  this is about a 1.  In other words don't worry...

Answer 8

Her responsibility IF she misinformed you about the coverage. Let her handle it when she returns.