Let’s imagine… You take out an insurance policy for your car but you are not going to drive it regularly. Shortly after, the person who drives it suffers an accident (serious, with victims, to put us in the worst) and, for some reason (later we review what the causes may be), the company does not take responsibility. Who is then responsible, the policyholder or the driver?
We know that insurance companies admit that the owner of the vehicle, policyholder and driver are not the same person without this meaning paying more; yes, as long as the regular driver meets the established requirements, usually in terms of age and years of driving license.
When the driver and policyholder are not the same person, both the insurer and the DGT recommend identifying the person who regularly drives the vehicle. In this way it will be easier to manage the fines that may arrive or any other procedure.
Policy holder or driver, who is responsible in an accident?
Infractions such as speeding, using a mobile phone while driving or not wearing a seat belt are the responsibility of the driver. But the DGT does not know who is driving at all times, so it processes the sanctions in the name of the owner of the vehicle. This must identify the driver so that he is the one who assumes the consequences.
The same happens if instead of an infraction what occurs is an accident. The responsibility will be of the driver but if he has not breached any of the conditions established in the policy, it will be the insurer who deals with the expenses, compensation…
Now, what happens when the insurer can evade liability?
“The driver will always be responsible in the first place at the level of criminal responsibilities; and at the level of compensation if the insurance does not take charge, the driver will be responsible, and in the event that he is insolvent, he will be the owner of the vehicle that may or may not coincide with the policyholder”, they explain from Dvuelta.
The experts at Pyramid Consulting agree with this statement, adding that the company will have to pay compensation to the victims, but in the event that the driver has breached any clause (for example, that at the time of the accident he was driving under the influence of alcohol ) “will be able to request the amounts that he has had to pay, to the driver, to the owner of the vehicle and to the insured”.
“In that claim, the non-driver owner may allege that he is not linked as a parent, guardian, employer, or that he did not authorize said driving in order to avoid that repetition action against them”, so that in this way all the responsibility falls on the driver.
