California vehicle code 16028 which speaks on the financial responsibility evidence required upon request notes that every person who drives a motor vehicle upon a highway shall provide evidence of financial responsibility for the vehicle that is in effect at the time the demand is made.

From this and other motor vehicle financial responsibility laws it would appear it is the vehicle that needs to be insured. So if you lend your vehicle to a friend you would need to have proof of insurance in the vehicle for the friend to show if pulled over. Since you would want this policy to cover your friend while they were driving your vehicle, in case of an accident, you should contact your insurance carrier to make sure that your friend would be covered.

Typically if you give someone permission to drive your car they will be covered under your insurance coverage but some policies do have exclusions that would prevent some people from being covered by your car insurance.

You can research the financial responsibility laws of CA at the California DMV website.

If your friend does purchase a car or decides they want a non-owners car insurance policy they can come to us for a quick quote.