Protect Your Officers with ‘Drive Other Car’ Coverage

Linda is a junior partner in a law firm and drives a car that the firm owns and insures. The firm’s auto insurance covers her as a partner and she doesn’t own another car, so she sees no need to have her own policy.

Most of the time, this is not a problem. However, spring break comes and she takes her kids to DisneyWorld. She rents a car at the Orlando airport and never gives a thought to whether her firm’s insurance will cover her if she has an accident with the rental.

But in this case, a phone conversation with the firm’s insurance agent would have been a great idea.

While driving to her hotel one night, Linda rear-ends a new Lexus. The damage to the other car is extensive; she looks to her firm’s auto liability coverage for the cost of repairing it.

The ISO Business Auto Policy covers the person or organization shown in the Policy Declarations (the information page at the beginning.) In this case, the name shown is that of Linda’s law firm.

The policy goes on to say that, for liability insurance, the firm is an insured and so is anyone else using, with the firm’s permission, a covered auto the firm owns, hires or borrows, with some exceptions.

Unfortunately for Linda, the firm didn’t rent the car; she did … in her own name. Consequently, the firm’s insurance will not cover her liability for this accident. She will be forced to pay for it out of her own funds.

However, there are a couple of policy endorsements that her firm could have purchased that would have solved the junior partner’s problem.

‘Drive Other Car’ Coverage — Broadened Coverage for Named Individuals

The insurance company will require the insured to list the names of one or more individuals on the endorsement.

The change extends several of the policy’s coverages so that they apply to the listed individuals and their resident spouses. This Drive Other Car endorsement comes with some significant limitations:

• It extends to the listed individuals’ coverages that the policy already provides; it does not add coverages not provided. If the firm’s policy does not provide collision coverage on its vehicles, Linda would not have collision coverage on a car she rents.

• It covers the named individual’s spouse if they live together. If Linda is married to Jim, he automatically has coverage for a car he rents in his name.

• The only family member it automatically covers is the resident spouse. It will not cover any other family members in the household unless the endorsement specifically lists their names.

Individual Named Insured

An alternative to the above endorsement is to list individuals’ names in the Policy Declarations along with the firm’s name and attach an endorsement called Individual Named Insured.

This endorsement covers the individual listed in the declarations and automatically covers the person’s resident spouse and family members. It also covers these individuals should they injure another of the policyholder’s employees.

These policy changes affect several coverages, including liability, uninsured motorist, medical payments and physical damage.

If you are considering this type of extended  coverage, you should consult with us to discuss the endorsements’ details and identify the one that will best insure the concerned individual(s).

With the right coverage in place, Linda would have been able to enjoy her vacation without having to worry about who would pay for the fender-bender.