We are required to have auto liability insurance and I understand the reasoning for that and we do have it. In fact, in this litigious age in which we live, we have an excess coverage/umbrella policy. We’ve been with Liberty Mutual for years. They give a decent discount to Georgia Tech grads. I wish we could go with USAA but we don’t qualify.
We’ve received our auto insurance policy renewal info today and I’m one of those who reads every work of the policy and was surprised to see this change:
“Only persons listed within the Drivers section of your Personal Liability Protection Policy Declarations Page and who have a valid driver’s license are covered for motor vehicle liability.
“Your policy no longer provides motor vehicle liability to drivers operating your vehicle with your permission unless those drivers are listed on your Policy Declarations Page. This means if you let someone else use your motor vehicle and they are not listed on your Policy Declarations Page, they would not be covered.“
This means that if my friend and I are driving halfway across the country to a quilting or knitting retreat and I want her to drive across a scary bridge, I would have no liability coverage while she’s driving. It means if Nicole and I are driving back to Texas for her to help me pack and she drives for a while, I would have no liability coverage. Chances are (1) the other driver’s coverage would provide coverage and (2) there wouldn’t be an accident so it wouldn’t matter but, for what we pay for insurance, and it’s always been that anyone with permission to drive our cars is covered, I’m not happy about it and we’ve already gotten a quote from State Farm.
The problem is, in my opinion, if this flies with Liberty Mutual, other companies will soon do the same thing.
I called Liberty Mutual and they sent me this email.
“Thank you for contacting Liberty Mutual for more information about the Auto policy referenced above.
Coverage on this policy automatically extends to a licensed driver, as long as that driver has <your/your husband> permission to drive the insured vehicle.“
I’m not an attorney, I’m not giving legal advice (not even to myself), but my understanding is that the policy language always prevails and what this email says is totally opposite from what the policy says.
I called our agent and he seemed blindsided by it, asked me to send him the new language as he hasn’t heard about that.
Why do we have to watch every single thing and fight so hard to get these companies to do what’s best for us? I think about how many people don’t even read the policy language and would also be blindsided by something like this which, unfortunately, would not even probably be recognized til after an accident and the coverage was denied.
With the packing and everything else going on, I did not need to spend over an hour dealing with this (so . . why did I spend half an hour writing a blog post about it?) 🙂
vivoaks says
Thanks for the update!! We, too, have Libery Mutual, and I’ve been unhappy for several years now with how much we pay – especially for homeowners… We, however, ARE eligible for USAA (hubby and I are both Army vets) and I’m going to make time this week to give them a call. I will admit that I am one of those people who never read insurance policies and would have really been upset to see this. So I really appreciate the fact that you read this and let us know. You didn’t waste half an hour writing the blog post! You’ve helped someone else make a decision based on your post!! Thanks so much!!!
Judy Laquidara says
The USAA people were very nice on the phone but their prices for us were more than Liberty Mutual.
Marcille says
Because you wanted to make an important Public Service Announcement. I have never checked my policy (with USAA) to see if they have changed that, but you can bet that I am going to take a look now.
Judy Laquidara says
Don’t waste your time . . it was only applicable to my umbrella and not my underlying coverage but since all our policies are together, it was hard to figure that out and even our agent had to do some digging to get to the bottom of it.
Pamela says
So this isn’t for your regular policy, just the umbrella? I just sent this to my husband to check our policy to see what it says.
Judy Laquidara says
Yes – just for the umbrella. Regular policy still covers anyone who has our permission to drive our car.
Teri says
Thank you for reading it and letting us all know.
Anne Greene says
I have never had an issue with this as I never let anyone but my mechanic drive my car. That might be different if my children lived close by. I have had State Farm for many years, I don’t think I’ve ever read the policies!!
I would guess that they are counting on folks like you to add people temporarily to their policies for a small amount of money! (do that 2 million times and you’ve made a lot of money!) In this crazy world one must be so careful, you can bet I’ll read my policy real soon!!
Linda Enneking says
I wouldn’t have insurance with Liberty Mutual unless they were the only company out there. I get so tired of their advertisements on tv, to the point that I immediately change the channel when one comes on, even if I have to walk across the room to do it. Saturday we got a letter from them in the mail. They could spend a lot less on advertizing and still make their presence known in the marketplace. Maybe if the ad budget was cut a bit, or a lot, they wouldn’t have to make cuts to your coverage.
Judy Laquidara says
They cost anywhere between 30% less and 50% less that any other insurance we’ve checked on and we’ve had great coverage and service from them. I’d give up the TV before I’d give up less expensive insurance. 🙂
Marcie says
Really Useful Information, Judy! Thank you for alerting us to this!
Judy Laquidara says
It is anyone – resident or not but our agent did a bit of digging and it’s only the umbrella that’s affected by that new language.
Paula Philpot says
I need to check my policy thanks Paula in KY
Nelle Coursey says
You did it because you needed to vent and this is a good place to do it! We can all sympathize with you on this because at one time or the other we have all had a problem with insurance companies or some other company. You can bet unless you catch them, you are correct, they would go by the wording of the policy and you would be out of luck. I think there is no company around who cares for the policy holder, all they want is for you to send the money to them. Then when you have a claim, they may or may not pay all of it.
Susan Nixon says
I’ll have to check GEICO. They’ve always covered everyone for everything, since I was an 18-year-old car owner. Weird.