Q: I do not own a car. I think I should have some type of insurance in case I drive someone else’s car. What do I do?
A: You do not NEED your own policy, but you should look at a policy designed for non-owners. Why? Because while most policies will provide coverage if you drive the owner’s car with permission, some policies do not.
For example, some policies from Mercury do not cover a driver who is not an insured under the policy. Therefore, if your friend is insured with Mercury and you drive his/her car, you would not be covered.
As a second example, some policies from Farmers provide “drop down coverage” if you are not an insured. In other words, the owner takes out a policy that has $100,000 of coverage. You are not insured under this policy and drive the car. The coverage drops down to $15,000, which is, quite frankly, not adequate for 99% of the population.
You do not need your own policy, but I strongly recommend it.