Hi Ted,
What does your granddaughter's car insurance policy say about coverage if she's driving another person's car?
Which State is she located in?
The Insurance Law Service provides a great
Information Sheet "I’ve had a car accident and I’m uninsured!" - which sets out that generally, any driver who is negligent (does not take reasonable care) is at fault and can be made to pay for any damage caused. However, she will need to work out whether the other driver was also at fault. The Information Sheet gives a good example if:
You and the other driver are both at fault (and can be made to pay for any damage you caused to the extent you were at fault – for example if you contributed 50/50 to the accident you can only be made to pay for 50% of the damage, and can claim 50% of the cost of repairs to your car).Remember that the value of the cars will determine the outcome of an apportionment of liability i.e. if your car is not worth as much as the other car you may still lose, for example, you hit 2007 BMW in your 1994 Ford laser. The damage to your Laser is assessed at $2,600 and the damage to the BMW at $12,500. 50% of $ 12,500 = $6,250;50% of $ 2,600 = $1,300. Therefore you owe $6,250-1,300 = $4950, in addition to paying to get your own car fixed!
Hope that helps.