Q. Is my cousin/friend/son covered to drive my car?

A. Any licensed driver living in your household should be listed as a driver on your policy. If they’re not, there could be a problem if they drive your car and have an accident. Anyone not living in your household who has a valid drivers license and has your permission to drive your car is covered, assuming they are not otherwise excluded, and that their diving your car is an occasional thing. However, our advice is to limit, if not prohibit, other people driving your car. If they have an accident, the claim will be on your policy and you’re the one who will pay the extra premium for the next three years.

Q. Am I covered to drive my cousin’s/friend’s/son’s car?

A. The insurance on the car is primary. Your insurance would be secondary. So if you have an accident while driving someone else’s car, the claim would be filed on their policy. If for some reason their policy doesn’t cover you, the claim would fall back to your insurance. The potential problem there is that, while your insurance goes with you to a "temporary substitute" vehicle, the coverage you have on your policy would be the coverage that you would have on that borrowed car. So if you only have liability on your vehicle, that’s all you’d have on a borrowed vehicle.

Q. I’m flying to (fill in the city of your choice) and renting a car. Does my insurance cover me on the rental car, or do I need to buy the loss damage waiver through the rental car company?

A. We have a detailed discussion on rental car insurance on our website. If you’re planning on renting a car, click here.

Q. My bill says my policy will cancel at 12:01 AM on Jan. 15 if I don’t pay my premium before then. If I pay the premium on Jan 15th, will I be okay?

A. No. 12:01 AM on Jan 15th is 1 minute after midnight on Jan. 14th. So if you make the payment on Jan. 15th at 9:00, your coverage actually lapsed 9 hours earlier. To prevent a lapse, get it postmarked or take it to your agent no later than the day before the cancellation date.

If you have an insurance question, please email it to us and we'll try to include it on this page.