Author Topic: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car/motorcycle insurance  (Read 2315 times)

kms

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This might be a simple one but I can't find any info on this online: I live in the US and have both, a car and a motorcycle. A very good friend of mine from Germany is coming over to visit for three weeks and I would like to add him to both insurance plans so he can drive both vehicles while he's here, and then take him off the plan again after he's left.

Does anyone know if this is even possible? Both my car and motorcycle insurance are with Geico. I know I could simply call them to ask and I'm going to but I like to have some background info before I call insurance companies.
« Last Edit: March 21, 2017, 01:30:36 PM by kms »

runewell

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car's/motorcycle's insurance
« Reply #1 on: March 21, 2017, 12:06:21 PM »
The simplest route is to just call GEICO.  Nobody here is likely to have a better answer.  Why guess about something like this when you can know for sure?

inline five

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car's/motorcycle's insurance
« Reply #2 on: March 21, 2017, 12:06:48 PM »
Check your policy but you should be covered without doing anything different. Generally you purchase insurance based on the car not the person driving it.

Rosy

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car's/motorcycle's insurance
« Reply #3 on: March 21, 2017, 12:39:24 PM »
LOL - my situation exactly. Friend coming from Germany with an International Driver's License and I am insured with Geico - guess it's time to make the call to Geico.
I'd guess it is a simple matter of adding them onto my policy while they are staying in the same household. I am also wondering if their car insurance in Germany might not extend to driving here ...?


patchyfacialhair

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car's/motorcycle's insurance
« Reply #4 on: March 21, 2017, 12:42:04 PM »
In general, for auto policies, "permissive use" would cover your friend in this scenario.

I am not knowledgeable enough to say the same regarding the motorcycle policy.

Please call customer service to confirm "permissive use" applies for both policies.

runewell

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car's/motorcycle's insurance
« Reply #5 on: March 21, 2017, 12:55:15 PM »
Check your policy but you should be covered without doing anything different. Generally you purchase insurance based on the car not the person driving it.

Physical damage follows the car, liability follows the driver. 
If he smashes up your car and you have physical damage coverage, you should be covered.
If he kills someone with it, it is probably his concern. 

merula

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car's/motorcycle's insurance
« Reply #6 on: March 21, 2017, 01:01:07 PM »
If you are allowing him to use your vehicle, he's covered under "permissive use", you don't need to add him. Plus, if you call to add him, they're going to want his Drivers License number so they can run his MVR, but he doesn't *have* an MVR, so there's a lot of ways this could go sideways.

Before you call, I'd suggest reading your policy, specifically under "Who Is An Insured" to see if that answers your question.

Source: I work in Property/Casualty insurance, 10+ years experience

Seadog

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car's/motorcycle's insurance
« Reply #7 on: March 21, 2017, 01:38:13 PM »
Check your policy but you should be covered without doing anything different. Generally you purchase insurance based on the car not the person driving it.

Physical damage follows the car, liability follows the driver. 
If he smashes up your car and you have physical damage coverage, you should be covered.
If he kills someone with it, it is probably his concern.

Not sure this is correct. I was under the impression it follows the vehicle, period. Otherwise a situation would frequently arise that the vehicle is being operated without insurance whenever another driver without their own policy is driving. Sort of like with rental cars, while they always try and pitch their own overpriced insurance on you, as the vehicle owner, they're required by law to at least have minimum coverage.

kms

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car/motorcycle insurance
« Reply #8 on: March 21, 2017, 02:17:33 PM »
Rosy, that is hilarious! You're either me or I have split personality, but the voices in my head disagree with that notion... If you do call Geico and find out what to do it'd be very helpful if you could contact me, or post it in here. I know, however, that the car insurance in Germany won't cover them over here because in Germany, car insurance is always purchased for the car itself and not the driver.

Either way, thanks everybody for the very helpful feedback so far. I've looked into my policy document but truth be told it's all a bunch of gibberish to me. Didn't find anything regarding "Who is an insured" or permissive use. I found this here on Geico's website, which wasn't very helpful either because everybody always automatically assumes Americans only mingle with other Americans, and there's no world outside of this country. Except of course Canada and Mexico, which it says not to drive to because you might not be covered outside of the US...
« Last Edit: March 21, 2017, 02:19:23 PM by kms »

kms

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car/motorcycle insurance
« Reply #9 on: March 21, 2017, 02:28:15 PM »
Wait, I may just have found something in my motorcycle policy contract.

Under definitions, it says:

Quote
1. Covered person as used in this section means:
 a. You and any family member while using your owned motorcycle or a non-owned motorcycle.
 b. Any other person while using your owned motorcycle with your expressed or implied permission.
 c. For any owned motorcycle or trailer, any person or organization but only with respect to legal responsibility for
    acts or omissions of you or any family member for whom coverage is afforded under this Section. This
    provision applies only if the person or organization does not own or hire the owned motorcycle or trailer.

Similarly, my auto policy contract says:

Quote
1. Covered person as used in this section means:
 a. You or any family member for the ownership, maintenance or use of any auto or trailer.
 b. Any person using your covered auto.
 c. For your covered auto, any person or organization but only with respect to legal responsibility for acts or
    omissions of a person for whom coverage is afforded under this Section.
 d. For any auto or trailer, other than your covered auto, any person or organization but only with respect to legal
    responsibility for acts or omissions of you or any family member for whom coverage is afforded under this
    Section. This provision applies only if the person or organization does not own or hire the auto or trailer.

If I understand this correctly I can let others use my car and motorcycle and they're considered a "covered person" by definition. Nowhere in the policy does it mention the person needs to be in possession of a valid US driver's license.

patchyfacialhair

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car/motorcycle insurance
« Reply #10 on: March 21, 2017, 02:43:38 PM »
Sounds like your policy definitely covers this person.

The fact that your friend does not have a US license is irrelevant to the insurance company. Basically, it's built into the premiums that you pay that "permissive users" are covered to drive your vehicle.

As far as their international license, they should be fine with this as well. This is based on my Mexican family's experiences renting a car in the US. They have no problem displaying a passport and their Mexican license if needed and have never had a problem driving on US roads.

If anyone else has more concrete evidence agreeing with me, I'm sure OP would appreciate it.

merula

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Re: Adding a friend (not US resident) to my car/motorcycle insurance
« Reply #11 on: March 21, 2017, 02:45:14 PM »
If I understand this correctly I can let others use my car and motorcycle and they're considered a "covered person" by definition. Nowhere in the policy does it mention the person needs to be in possession of a valid US driver's license.

You are correct. Provision b. in both definitions would include your friend.

The reason that the link is more restrictive is because it is in Geico's best interest to deter you from lending your car to bad drivers. But if you read closely, they're not telling you you CAN'T:

Does the borrower have a good driving record? If they have a history of fender benders and you keep your vehicle in pristine condition, it’s OK to not hand over the keys.

"It's OK to not" implies "don't", but they can't actually say "don't". You are under no obligation to review anyone's driving record before loaning them your car.