Lending your car seems like a small favour until it results in a claim. Permissive use is the doctrine that decides whose insurance responds.
The short version: insurance generally follows the car, not the driver. Your policy is usually primary even though you were not behind the wheel.
The exceptions — implied permission and excluded drivers — are where the real disputes happen. See our FAQ on someone else driving your car for the practical consequences.
Express permission is straightforward: you handed over the keys and said yes.
Implied permission is broader and is where coverage fights arise. It can be inferred from a pattern of past use — a household member who has regularly driven the car without objection may have implied permission even without asking on a given day.
Insurers scrutinise this because it determines whether they owe coverage at all. The history between the parties usually decides it.
Where a permissive driver causes a crash, the vehicle owner’s liability policy is generally primary — it responds first, up to its limits.
The driver’s own policy, if any, typically sits secondary and may respond to damages exceeding the owner’s limits, depending on its terms.
This is why ‘I wasn’t driving’ does not remove your policy from the claim, and why a claim paid under your policy generally attaches to your loss history.
Excluded drivers. Many policies name specific individuals as excluded, often a household member with a poor record. Letting an excluded driver take the car can leave a crash uncovered entirely — the single most expensive version of this problem.
Non-permissive use. Genuine theft generally falls outside coverage, but proving it usually requires more than saying so. A police report documenting the theft is the strongest evidence.
Exceeding the scope of permission. Permission given for one purpose and used for a materially different one can be contested, though Georgia courts vary in how strictly this is applied.
Generally yours, as the primary policy, because coverage follows the vehicle. The borrower’s own policy typically sits behind yours and may respond above your limits, depending on its terms.
Permission inferred from circumstances rather than expressly given — commonly a household member who has regularly driven the vehicle without objection. Insurers examine the history closely because it determines whether coverage applies.
Often yes. The claim is paid under your policy and generally attaches to your loss history, regardless of who was driving. That is a direct consequence of insurance following the car.
Then letting that person drive can leave the crash uncovered entirely. It is worth knowing who, if anyone, is excluded on your policy before lending the car rather than discovering it afterwards.
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