If a friend crashes your car, both your policy and the friend’s policy may need to be examined. The familiar saying that insurance follows the car does not answer whether the driver is covered, which coverage applies, or which insurer pays first.
For an ordinary loan of a vehicle, Louisiana has a specific rule for certain coverage under the borrower’s policy. It depends on permission and whether the car was available for regular use. A rental or temporary substitute vehicle can follow a different priority rule.
How was the car being used?
Start with the arrangement between the owner and driver. Was this a one-time errand, a weekend loan, or a car the driver used whenever needed? Who gave permission, and were there limits on the trip? Did the driver live with the owner or use the car for work?
Save the full text-message exchange about the loan, not just the sentence giving permission. Keep any information about who normally used the car and where it was kept. These facts may become important when an insurer asks whether the vehicle was available to the borrower regularly.
For example, a friend lending you a car for a single afternoon presents a different coverage question from a relative letting you drive the same car to work every day. Neither arrangement should be classified from the owner’s description of the car as “borrowed” alone.
What Louisiana’s non-owned vehicle statute says
R.S. 22:1296.1 addresses automobile liability, uninsured and underinsured motorist, and medical-payments coverage under the insured driver’s policy. Its protection requires that the coverage be in force, that the owner gave express or implied permission, and that the vehicle was not furnished or available to the insured on a regular basis.
Coverage supplied by that statute is secondary to the owner’s insurance. But the statute expressly defers to R.S. 22:1296 when the coverage also falls under the temporary-substitute or rental-vehicle rule. That is why an ordinary loan and a replacement car while yours is being repaired should not automatically receive the same answer. Our rental-car accident guide discusses the additional paperwork those situations can involve.
The statute does not eliminate the need to read the owner’s policy. Whether the driver is an insured person, whether a named-driver exclusion exists, and what endorsements were in effect can be disputed. Ask for both complete policies for the crash date, including declarations and endorsements.
Which loss are you asking the insurer to pay?
A statement that “the car is insured” is incomplete. Liability coverage concerns covered claims against a legally responsible insured. Collision coverage concerns covered vehicle damage. Medical-payments coverage and UM bodily injury coverage address other losses under their own terms.
If a passenger was injured by an uninsured or underinsured motorist, identify the occupied vehicle’s coverage and any other potentially applicable policies. R.S. 22:1295 has separate UM selection and priority provisions. Do not add every policy limit together or assume the liability priority answers the UM question. The uninsured-driver claim guide explains why the coverage documents and proof of the other driver’s insurance matter.
Damage to the borrowed car should be addressed separately from the injury claim. Ask which policy provision covers that damage, what deductible applies, and whether a proposed payment releases anything beyond the vehicle claim.
When the insurers point to each other
Give prompt notice to potentially relevant insurers and keep the claim numbers. Request each company’s coverage position in writing, with the policy provisions and facts it relies on. “It was not our insured’s car” or “the driver was not listed” should lead to an explanation that can be checked against the policy and the applicable statute.
Meanwhile, preserve the crash photographs, witness contacts, medical records, and damaged vehicle evidence. A disagreement about which insurer pays first does not resolve who caused the wreck, and negotiations do not themselves protect the deadline to sue.
Our Baton Rouge car accident practice can review the loan arrangement and both policies. If you need help, contact Babcock Injury Lawyers or call (225) 500-5000. Start with the insurance information and messages you have; you do not need to settle the carriers’ dispute before calling.
Editorial & Legal Accuracy Notice (Louisiana)
This article provides general Louisiana legal information, not advice about an individual case. Event dates, policy language, responsible parties, and the evidence may change the analysis.