Legal Question in Insurance Law in Iowa

Re: Car Insurance

I think this is one of the wisest questions a parent can ask. I too asked it when my children were just learning to drive. Here is what I did. I purchased a car for them with the understanding they had to pay me back and to insure and maintain it. Rather than put my name on the title, because I didn�t want the liability exposure, I titled the car in their name and placed a lien on the title in my name. They signed a loan repayment agreement that included language giving me the right to repossess without notice if they failed to maintain insurance or place the collateral at risk. Placing the collateral at risk could include driving while under the influence of alcohol. I kept the extra set of keys.

Your situation may be a little different than mine. I own sizeable assets and didn�t want to place them at risk. You may not have that challenge and simply want to have a large insurance policy in place to protect the child. Remember placing a car in your name, makes you the owner and under Iowa law the owner is legally responsible for the permissive driver�s negligence, which may include drivers your son gives permission to operate the car or truck. I didn�t want that kind of exposure or hassle with trying to control who drives the car. With their being at school and away from home it�s tough for us to really know what is going on.

The umbrella insurance policy you have at $1.4 million may or may not be enough coverage. Here is what I mean by that. The umbrella policy may or may not include a provision to extend the underlying car insurance coverage for underinsured and uninsured motorist coverage. Read the policy and see if it does. I also write blogs on the Des Moines market for Injuryboard and on my law firm website blog, The Verdict, and have covered this subject just recently on talk radio. If you write to me I can provide the links. I hope this answers your questions, if not write to me again.