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Can you drive someone else’s car?
Yes. You can drive someone else's car with their permission since you don't need to be a registered owner to drive it. However, insurance coverage follows the vehicle primarily and the driver secondarily.Skip to article
Written by:
Shivani Gite
Contributing Writer
Shivani Gite is a personal finance and insurance writer with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She is passionate about making insurance topics easy to understand for people and helping them make better financial decisions. When not writing, you can find her reading a book or watching anime.
Laura is an award-winning editor with experience in content and communications covering auto insurance and personal finance. She has written for several media outlets, including the USA Today Network. She most recently worked in the public sector for the Nevada Department of Transportation.
Generally, insurance coverage follows the vehicle primarily and the driver secondarily. This means if you got in an accident in your friend’s vehicle, most likely the insurance of the car owner would be the first insurance company that would have to pay on a claim. Secondly, the insurance of the driver, you, would be involved if the primary coverage is not enough to cover damage costs.
This being said, under most insurance policies, others can drive your vehicle as long as you give them permission and you should be able to driver other friends or a family member’s cars as well. The type of coverage the owner has on them would be the primary insurance on the vehicle. Before driving anyone else’s car or allowing someone to drive yours, it is always wise to contact your insurance agent to make sure there are no exclusions on your policy that would not cover you or the car for some reason.
Finally, if you are stopped by a law enforcement officer in someone else’s car, you should not get in any trouble as long as the person gave you permission to drive the vehicle and you are able to produce the registration and other documentation the officer might request of you.
— Michelle Megna contributed to this story.
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Laura Longero
Executive Editor
Laura is an award-winning editor with experience in content and communications covering auto insurance and personal finance. She has written for several media outlets, including the USA Today Network. She most recently worked in the public sector for the Nevada Department of Transportation.
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John McCormick
Editorial Director
John is the editorial director for CarInsurance.com, Insurance.com and Insure.com. Before joining QuinStreet, John was a deputy editor at The Wall Street Journal and had been an editor and reporter at a number of other media outlets where he covered insurance, personal finance, and technology.
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Leslie Kasperowicz
Managing Editor
Leslie Kasperowicz is an insurance educator and content creation professional with nearly two decades of experience first directly in the insurance industry at Farmers Insurance and then as a writer, researcher, and educator for insurance shoppers writing for sites like ExpertInsuranceReviews.com and InsuranceHotline.com and managing content, now at CarInsurance.com.
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Nupur Gambhir
Managing Editor
Nupur Gambhir is a content editor and licensed life, health, and disability insurance expert. She has extensive experience bringing brands to life and has built award-nominated campaigns for travel and tech. Her insurance expertise has been featured in Bloomberg News, Forbes Advisor, CNET, Fortune, Slate, Real Simple, Lifehacker, The Financial Gym, and the end-of-life planning service.
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Shivani Gite is a personal finance and insurance writer with a degree in journalism and mass communication. She is passionate about making insurance topics easy to understand for people and helping them make better financial decisions. When not writing, you can find her reading a book or watching anime.