Non owner’s auto insurance is something that has been around for quite sometime now. It started out as rental insurance but later branched out as a separate entity.
What is non owner’s auto insurance?
Non owner’s auto insurance is necessary for people who drive a car that is not owned by them. This may or may not mean that he or she does not own a car. But this is not the point in question. The fact is that the person is driving a car and may get into an accident.
Now normally any car will have insurance which will cover for accidents no matter who is at the wheel. But there are some insurance policies which will cover for damages only in cases where the person at the wheel is the owner of the vehicle. That is the insurance policy is attached both to the car and the policy holders name. in such situations, you will have to pay for any damages or injuries sustained as a result of your actions when you are driving such a vehicle.
There is no way to say what sort of insurance policy the vehicle is under without looking at the policy. And doing that will take time and will need the owners time also. When you are going to be frequently borrowing someone else’s car, this doesn’t make sense. It is better if you have your own coverage for the car that you are driving.
So what are the situations in which you might drive someone else’s vehicle?
You might be visiting your relatives in the country and might have to drive their vehicle. Now there might not be time to look at the type of policy that they own. And no one will actually bother doing things like that on any normal day. And at least they will not do such things during vacation!
You might have to drive your office vehicle on a regular basis. This can by unofficial and hence the car might not have a full non owner specific coverage. In such cases, your office might need to take out a policy in your name.
The good thing is that non owners insurance is not as expensive as normal car insurance. It depends a lot on the frequency of you commandeering a vehicle. If you do not drive often, it can be almost a negligible amount. But you need to show proof to that account. On the other hand, if you are going to be driving your office or service vehicle regularly, then you will have to pay a lot more.
The best way to shop for non owners insurance is to look for it online. Or else contact your insurance company and ask them about this additional policy. If you already own an insurance policy for the car that you own, you can ask for this policy to be added as a benefit. Since you already own a car and are paying for its insurance, you can very easily be covered for an occasional drive on someone else’s car. The only reason why they might charge you more is because you will not be familiar with a new car and the new surroundings and hence might be at a greater chance of meeting with an accident.
