Legal Question in Personal Injury in California

You are legally liable for the accident because you let your roommate drive your car. An owner is liable for any accident involving his/her car. Changing insurance companies does not change anything that happened in the past. You are smart to get a higher limit policy and smart to have been insured and listed your roommate as an additional insured but the decision to let others drive your car was dangerous. You must trust the person you lend the car to be a safe driver and a responsible individual. Anything that happens with your car will involve you and insurance does not always cover all the damages.

Changing insurance companies or policies does not change the claim in any way, as long as you as the owner were insured and the driver was insured at the time of the accident. An individual may be liable for an accident caused by others who are driving their vehicle, with their direct or implied permission. Both the owner and the driver of a vehicle may be named in a lawsuit under the theory of �vicarious liability�. The legal definition of vicarious liability is when one person is liable for the negligent actions of another person, even if the first person was not directly responsible for the injury. The owner of a motor vehicle can be held liable for injuries caused by the driver of their car, even though they are neither driving nor at the accident scene. This is due to the basis of their ownership and their grant of permission for the at-fault driver to user their vehicle. In most jurisdictions will treat the car owner as sharing liability for any accident caused by the borrower. The owner�s liability may be predicated on statute, or on common law principles such as negligent entrustment.

In California, Vehicle Code section 17150 provides: "Every owner of a motor vehicle is liable and responsible for death or injury to person or property resulting from a negligent or wrongful act or omission in the operation of the motor vehicle, in the business of the owner or otherwise, by any person using or operating the same with the permission, express or implied, of the owner." So if a car is lent, then the owner can be held responsible for the accident. This is called �permissive use�. Permissive users that get in accidents when using someone�s car do not render the owner liable for unlimited damages. There are limitations of liability to the owner of a vehicle for the negligence of the driver of the vehicle in certain circumstances. If the driver is acting for herself when the automobile accident occurs, the owner�s liability is limited to $15,000 for injury or death from an auto accident causing injury to one persons and $30,000 if the accident causes injuries to more than one person. Vehicle Code section 17151(a) provides, in part: "The liability of an owner . . . is limited to the amount of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) for the death of or injury to one person . . . and . . . to the amount of thirty thousand dollars ($30,000) for the death of or injury to more than one person � Also, property damage liability is limited to five thousand dollars ($5,000).

Unless you lent your vehicle to an unlicensed or drunk driver, your liability would be limited by the statute above. Your insurance should take car of it. Based upon the facts you described, I believe you, as the owner of the vehicle, have nothing to worry about.

I agree with the previous answers. Just to clarify, auto insurance policies are "occurance" policies, meaning they cover based on when the claim occurred. You can cancel the policy the next day after an accident and the insurance remains in effect for claims arising out of that accident.