Can someone sue my parents when i let my friend borrow my car?

Sunny at Midnight

Yes they can sue your parents personally. You better hope their insurance policy covers such a lawsuit. Most likely it is and they'll settle out of court after depositions from both sides. The other party will probably end up with enough to get a new car and your parents rates will go way up.

Mommy to Lauryn and Sydney

Yeppers they can sue your parents insurance company!! Which will seriously affect your parents as in VERY high rates loosing there insurance and other personal things...

F. Perdurabo

Wow - you really messed up. What the hell were you thinking. Yes, if you are a minor your parents are responsible for you completely.

FP

littleshit50

they can sue ur parents

Nodor

Insurance follows the car not the driver, you are liable for anything and everything involving the accident.

Stephen H

They can sue. If you are under 18, they cannot sue YOU, but they can sue your parents.

LINDSEY G

They can definetely sue your parents. The insurance policy follows the car not driver. And since you are under your parents insurance policy they are responsible. You must either live with your parents or the car must be in your parents name or there would be no reason to be on their policy so yes they can and probably will sue them. If they decide they want more than the policy limits they will go after your parents assets. The driver having insurance is irrelevant, you gave him permission so he is a permissive driver under your policy. This is why when I was young, my car and insurance were in my name only, then my parents couldn't be held responsible for my mistakes....

*****

Yes, if that person gets into an accident , your parents can lose everything they have.

JeffyB

If your friend doesn't have insurance then yes, the other party will probably sue your parents -- lesson learned, I hope.

Otto

anybody can sue anyone these days. It doesn't mean it's right. But people are soooo sue happy that you can't sneeze with out offending someone. Get a lawyer.

yes_its_me

You need a lawyer immediately. yes they can sue, and depending on the limits of insurance coverage they can go after your parents assets also.
The old moral of the story, never loan anyone a car. You wouldn't loan them a loaded gun would you? Same difference.

oklatom

my car is insured under my parents name and i am under their insurance policy.

So their insurance policy will be the controlling document. If the damages were more than the limits on their policy, they can be sued personally and any assets they have attached. So your loaning your car to your irresponsible friend may cost your parents their house and retirement. Doesn't matter if your 'friend' has insurance or not, he was covered under your policy (which was your parent's policy) the moment you gave him permission to drive.

nj2pa2nc

yes they can-

Marina

They can definitely sue your parents since the insurance policy is in their name and you are covered under it. Very irresponsible of you to allow anyone to drive your car. I also assume that your parents were unaware that you were doing so. I feel badly for your parents, and I hope that you now realize that the decisions you make effect them, but that's a hell of a way to learn! Very selfish of you. You'd better beg forgiveness.

great_wiccan_god

Of course! In the USA we can sue ANYONE we want. It's the American way! As long as the suit can be justified to the courts. If a doctor refers you to another doctor and that one screws up on you, you can sue them both! It's one of the reasons doctors don't refer patients as much as they used to.

Peter C

Yes they can and will most likely sue your parents and or your insurance. Hope you have good insurance and loving parents.

JIMMY V

DEPENDS ON CERTAIN THINGS

Phydeaux

Yep - they're screwed.

Liability insurance should take care of it though...if they have it on the car or homeowners policy.

Good luck - looking at thousands most likely!

logsdodl

Yes, they sue either or both of you. Your parents will be included in lawsue so sueing party can choose who they wish to get the money from.

tessiebug

that sux

Magick

They can sue your parents.
You have a poor choice of 'friend' in that person. You should have thought before loaning you car out to someone. Sad to say but you and your friend could end up being responsible for your parents loosing their house, cars, savings, ect...

Celtic-Candy

Your car is what is insured, not the driver. If you're properly insured then the man could sue your insurance company for damages, but not you or your parents personally. At least that's how it is in Canada. Unless of course you mean to say that your friend had no license, in which case yes, they could sue you.

mbrcatz

Is it YOUR car, or your PARENTS car? If it's your car, and you're not a minor, and you don't live with them, they're not going to be able to pin any responsibility on your parents. If your PARENTS own the car, then yes, they can be held fully responsible for any damages. Likely, if your friend doesn't live there, your parent's policy will cover him as a non-regular driver.

I hope they have good insurance limits. They can sue the OWNER of the car, and the DRIVER of the car. If the owner is a minor, they can sue his parents. So it comes down to, who owns "your" car.

furmanator1957

yes for everything

Al Mac Wheel

Anyone may sue anyone for anything, whether it makes sense or not. The issues are how good a case they have for winning, and how much hassle it is to fight the case ... lawyers are expensive.

If you are a minor, your parents can be held accountable for actions you did, because they are supposed to supervise you and do a good job of raising you. Consider in California, CNN is saying that one of the fires was started by a kid playing with matches. Irrespective of whether he is charged in juvenile court or adult court, the parents can be sued by any of the people whose property got burned in that fire, which is many $ millions. However, I imagine that the parents financial capabilities are totally inadequate to reimburse those people, so they will be ruined, but the victims of the fire can't get 2 cents on the dollar recovery by going after the parents of the kid who played with matches.

For future reference, when you have a car again, be sure not to loan it to a friend just because that person is a friend. You need proof of ability to deal with consequences in case of accident. Does the firend have proper driver's license and insurance? In most states, a driver's license cannot be issued without proof that the driver has the minimum required insurance such as liability insurance.

In other words, if your friend was in most states, with a legal driver's license, your friend should have had the insurance neccessary to compensate the other people in the traffic accident, but might not have the insurance to replace your car which got totalled. Is your friend an adult or a minor?

Learning to drive is not just what it takes to get driver's license. It is one of the steps of becoming a responsible citizen. You have to learn to deal with risks of this kind of thing happening, and know how to avoid getting into messes like this.

Take a look at my answer to this earlier question explaining the different kinds of auto insurance (give me a thumbs up if you find it helpful)
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Au21sB6UrM95w8ZoXxZ579jty6IX;_ylv=3?qid=20070719151415AA3ACTP

I think that insuring YOUR car under your parent's name is a form of insurance fraud. Your car should be insured under YOUR name. Because of this fraud, you & your parents may not be able to recover as much from the insurance company as if you had not been doing the fraud in the first place.

It may be neccessary to sue your friend's parents to reimburse whatever costs are imposed on your family.

Your family & your friend's family need to have a sit down with the lawyer defending your side to figure out what you are going to do about this.

Even though your friend claims to have no insurance, it is possible that his parents have insurance that can be accessed to pay for part of what needs to be paid for.

Meowth

Well, I think that the driver of the vehicle at the time should be held responsible for all damages caused because it was them operating the car at the time of the accident and should be held liable for their actions. Not sure how the law deals with this though... lets just hope that your friend is a decent person and steps up to pay at least the majority of the bill.

Tina R

Unfortunately, your parents can be sued. This is due to the fact that the car was involved in the accident. The driver of the car does not matter. Because your friend had no insurance, your parents insurance will pay for damages.

msangiez

Yes they can go after you and your parents but most of all i hope you learn your lesson on letting other people drive your car

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