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Ieuter Insurance Group Blog

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My 16 Year Old Son Crashed My Car- Now What?

There is always that question of who is liable if a child is in an at fault accident in a vehicle, and what do I do to protect myself and my assets.

Let's use an example.  My 16 year old son drove my car and ran a stop sign causing an accident.  The other party is badly injured and has decided to sue for 1 million dollars. Who are they going to sue? Me, because I am the owner of the vehicle.  Now my policy will respond to the limits of liability I have on my policy, but what if the limits are not high enough to cover what the other party is suing for.  What can I do to help protect myself and my assets?

We highly suggest getting a personal umbrella policy to help protect you in this matter. The coverage of an umbrella starts at 1 million and can be purchased at higher amounts if needed.  Your auto policy's bodily injury limits will have to be at 500,000 for you to satisfy the requirements to have an umbrella.  So now that I have 500,000 in bodily injury on my auto policy, and a 1 million dollar umbrella, before my sons accident,  the 1 million dollar law suit is covered by my policies, and the other party is not able to take my assets.