FREE CASE EVALUATION
  • Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
FREE CASE EVALUATION
telephone Call
contact Contact
testimonials Reviews

Patterson Law Group

Accident attorneys serving Fort Worth, Texas

Call / Text : 817.784.2000
Available 24/7, Se Habla Español
testimonials Over 200 5 Star Reviews!
No Cost Unless We Win
FREE CASE EVALUATION
  • Home
  • About
    • Attorneys
      • W. Travis Patterson
      • Anna Hodges Patterson
      • Michael H. Patterson
      • Tennessee W. Walker
      • Greg McCarthy
      • Kolter Jennings
      • Courtney Hanson
      • Chris Mazzola
      • Riley Waters
      • Allison Dickson
    • Staff
    • Case Results
    • Scholarship
    • Lawyer Referrals
    • COVID-19 Update
  • Locations
    • Fort Worth
    • San Antonio
    • Arlington
    • El Paso
    • Lubbock
    • Plano
    • Laredo
  • Practice Areas
    • Personal Injury
    • Car Accidents
      • Hit and Run Accidents
    • Truck Accidents
    • Wrongful Death
    • Motorcycle Accidents
    • Bicycle Accidents
    • Pedestrian Accidents
    • Slip And Falls
  • Reviews
  • Injuries
    • Head And Brain
      • Traumatic Brain Injury
    • Neck and Back
    • Chest
    • Pelvic and Abdominal
    • Leg and Knee
    • Foot
    • Psychological
  • Resources
    • Blog
    • News
    • Videos
    • Fort Worth Bike Map
    • Distracted Driving Game
    • Texas Car Accident Statistics
    • Fort Worth Accident Map
    • Tarrant County Accident Map
    • Texas DWI Statistics
    • Texas Route Risk Calculator
  • Español
  • Contact
  • Case File

What Happens If Someone Else Is Driving My Car & Gets in an Accident in Texas?

Table of Contents

  • 3 Answers to Your Questions If Someone Else Is Driving Your Car & Gets in an Accident in Texas
    • Can I Sue My Friend for Crashing My Car?
    • Am I Liable if My Name Is On a Car Title?
    • Can Someone Drive My Car & Be Covered On My Insurance?
  • Talk to a Fort Worth, Texas Car Accident Lawyer for Free
    • Schedule Your FREE Case Evaluation
    • Travis Patterson

We have all been there when a friend or family member needs to borrow our car for a quick errand or maybe even a day or two. For whatever reason, they don’t have a car and are in a bind. You hand your keys over and assume all will be okay – but that’s not always the case. If someone else is using your car and gets into an accident, a few different factors would typically come together to cover the damages and injuries. Here we’ll be able to address these scenarios and answer your questions; in short – it’s not as unique or difficult as insurance carriers would like you to believe.

If you or a loved one has been injured in a car accident call us today for a free consultation.

3 Answers to Your Questions If Someone Else Is Driving Your Car & Gets in an Accident in Texas

While the majority of insurance carriers are perfectly content with letting people believe that making a claim on a borrowed car is a difficult or complicated process, we’re here to provide you with the knowledge necessary to take control of your claim or just to give you peace of mind in understanding the process while we assist you. Unless every driver and car is uninsured in an accident, there is almost always at least one policy to help cover the damages. Our attorneys can and will investigate every policy available to make sure you, our client, are taken care of first and foremost.

Can I Sue My Friend for Crashing My Car?

This is where it can confuse those who don’t understand the fine print of insurance and car accident laws in Texas. There are essentially two major factors to consider when asked: does your friend have your permission to borrow your car, and does your friend have their own auto insurance? If your friend is at fault but also has permission to borrow your car, your insurance, as the owner, would generally be the first to cover the claim. If your friend is not at fault and has permission to borrow your car, the at-fault driver’s insurance would be the first policy to kick in. Alternatively, if you did not grant verbal, written, or implied permission to your friend to drive your car, it could be considered a stolen vehicle, and their insurance would be held liable to cover the accident. If your friend is at fault and there is no insurance on your car, and your friend is also uninsured, suing them is not an option. In this instance, there is no insurance policy to cover the cost of the claim; therefore, there would be no money to pay you for any settlement, and the accident essentially becomes financially unrecoverable.

Am I Liable if My Name Is On a Car Title?

Simply put, there is just not one specific answer to this question. As the car owner, your insurance will be the first in line to cover the accident if your friend is at fault. Additionally, car owners are expected to keep their vehicles in safe, working order and are legally required to keep auto insurance on their vehicles – failure to keep your vehicle in working condition (i.e., bad tires, faulty brakes, etc.) that leads to an accident would mean you would be held liable. There is also the Negligent Entrustment law to consider, meaning you could be liable for knowingly handing your keys to someone with a bad driving record, is drunk or using drugs, is underage, doesn’t have a driver’s license, and/or is poorly trained or untrained in how to operate the vehicle. Another way you could be held liable is under the “Family Purpose Doctrine,” meaning that if a parent loans their vehicle to their minor child and the child causes an accident, you – the parent and vehicle owner, would be held responsible.

Can Someone Drive My Car & Be Covered On My Insurance?

Most standard insurance policies will cover a driver that’s not listed on your policy but has permission to drive your car. The only way to know for sure is to read your policy closely and speak to your agent or allow us to assist you with your claim so we can examine your policy for you. In the event that you specifically name someone on your policy as an excluded driver, your policy will not cover them at all. This is an important distinction and means you should never let an excluded driver operate your car.

Call us today for a free, no obligation consultation

Talk to a Fort Worth, Texas Car Accident Lawyer for Free

At Patterson Law Group, our staff and attorneys understand that accidents happen after all our careers are built around helping those who have been wronged due to someone else’s negligence. We’re always here and ready to answer any insurance questions you may have and will even answer them for free – that’s how much we love to help those who need it.

Schedule Your FREE Case Evaluation

Filed Under: Auto Accidents

Free Case
Evaluation

Recent Posts

  • What Does Yielding the Right of Way Mean?
  • Can You Get a Concussion Without Hitting Your Head?
  • How Are Personal Injury Settlements Paid Out in Texas?

Categories

  • Auto Accidents
  • Bike Accidents
  • Bus Accidents
  • Car Wreck
  • Distracted Driving
  • Driver Safety
  • Drunk Driving
  • Firm News
  • Injuries
  • Injury Lawyer
  • Motorcycle Accidents
  • Pedestrian Accidents
  • Personal Injury
  • Rideshare Accidents
  • Self Driving
  • Spanish
  • Truck Accidents
  • Wrongful Death

Practice Areas


Personal Injury
Car Accident
Truck Accident
Wrongful Death
Motorcycle Accident
Bicycle Accident
Pedestrian Accident
Slip And Fall

Service Areas


Arlington
Bedford
Bexar County
Blue Mound
Crowley
Edgecliff Village
Euless
Everman
Flower Mound
Forest Hill
Fort Worth
Grand Prairie
Haslet
Hurst
San Antonio
Tarrant County
Subscribe To Our Newsletter
  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

FORT WORTH

2409 Forest Park Blvd.
Fort Worth, Texas 76110
Phone: 817-784-2000

ARLINGTON

2310 W. Interstate 20, Ste. 100
Arlington, TX 76017
Phone: 817-784-2002

SAN ANTONIO

200 Concord Plaza Drive
Suite #750
San Antonio, Texas 78216
Phone: 210-874-2424

Blog & Social Media

  • What Does Yielding the Right of Way Mean?
  • Can You Get a Concussion Without Hitting Your Head?
  • How Are Personal Injury Settlements Paid Out in Texas?

Sitemap· Copyright © 2023 · Patterson Law Group