[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/blog\/what-is-liability-coverage-and-who-does-it-cover\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/blog\/what-is-liability-coverage-and-who-does-it-cover\/","headline":"What Is Liability Coverage and Who Does It Cover?","name":"What Is Liability Coverage and Who Does It Cover?","description":"Liability coverage provides compensation to victims of a car accident from the at-fault party\u2019s liability insurance policy. Liability coverage insures the named insured on the policy, the spouse and any family members of the named insured so long as they reside at the named insured\u2019s residence, and any person using the vehicle listed on the […]","datePublished":"2021-10-27","dateModified":"2022-04-30","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/blog\/author\/wardblacklaw\/#Person","name":"Ward Black Law","url":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/blog\/author\/wardblacklaw\/","identifier":10,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed4d0accdb5c5876562d59b144de2311865aa36149afe6028b75bd28f5a44cb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ed4d0accdb5c5876562d59b144de2311865aa36149afe6028b75bd28f5a44cb3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Ward Black Law","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo.png","url":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/logo.png","width":116,"height":119}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/liability-insurance-money-risk-form-document-concept-scaled-1.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/liability-insurance-money-risk-form-document-concept-scaled-1.jpg","height":1764,"width":2560},"url":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/blog\/what-is-liability-coverage-and-who-does-it-cover\/","about":["Auto Accidents"],"wordCount":714,"articleBody":"Liability coverage provides compensation to victims of a car accident from the at-fault party\u2019s liability insurance policy. Liability coverage insures the named insured on the policy, the spouse and any family members of the named insured so long as they reside at the named insured\u2019s residence, and any person using the vehicle listed on the policy with the express or implied permission of the named insured or a person in lawful possession of the vehicle.Named InsuredThe named insured is the person listed on the policy as the policyholder. If you wonder where this information is located, look at the Declarations page. This is also commonly referred to as the \u201cdec page.\u201dFamily MemberUnder the current standard North Carolina automobile insurance policy, a family member is defined as \u201ca person related to you by blood, marriage or adoption who is a resident of your household. This includes a ward or foster child.\u201d Common examples of \u201cfamily members\u201d include, brothers, sisters, mothers, fathers, and children.Resident of Your HouseholdWhether a person related to you resides within your home is a fact-specific inquiry. The facts that courts have considered are, mailing address, where the person sleeps, how often the person visits the residency, items left at the residency by the person, and other factors which would leave a court to conclude that the person calls the residence, \u201chome.\u201d A person can reside at more than one location entitling that person to coverage. In one North Carolina case, a minor who lived with the mother part-time and the father part-time, evidenced by court paperwork, was considered a resident of both parents\u2019 homes.Because \u201cresident\u201d is not defined within the insurance policy, courts apply the plain meaning of the word. Many times, the court resorts to the dictionary definition. Further, when a policy does not define a word, courts read the broadest interpretation to allow coverage. As a result, whether a person is a resident of a location is sometimes against what one might consider the usual \u201ceveryday home you come to sleep at every night.\u201dCoverage for a Resident Related to the Named InsuredIf the person is a family member and resident of the named insured, then liability coverage will apply to that family member even if that family member is not listed on the insurance policy and not driving the vehicle listed on the policy. As an example, a father and mother of a home have a 16-year-old son who just got his license. The son is still in school and resides within the home every day of the week. A friend of the son brings his new Jeep and allows the son to drive it. While test driving the jeep, the son gets into a collision that is his fault. In this situation, the parents\u2019 liability insurance will cover the damages from the accident.There are exceptions to that rule, however. If the family member is driving a vehicle of the named insured but that vehicle is not listed on the liability policy, then liability coverage will not apply. In addition, if the vehicle driven by the family member is furnished to the family member for \u201cregular use\u201d then the liability insurance of the named insured will not cover any losses from an accident involving that vehicle even if the person driving is a family member and a resident of the named insured\u2019s household. The rationale behind the exceptions is to prevent insurance companies from being forced to cover automobiles that it does not know about and are being used regularly by the insured and family members.Permission to Use the VehicleAny person who the named insured permits to use the vehicle listed in the auto policy is covered under its liability coverage. Commonly, a named insured would allow a friend to use their vehicle as a courtesy. If the friend is in an accident while driving the named insured\u2019s vehicle with his permission, the named insured\u2019s liability policy would apply and cover the damages. However, if the named insured\u2019s vehicle is stolen and later in an accident, the named insured\u2019s liability coverage would not pay the damages because the thief did not have the named insured\u2019s permission to use the vehicle."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Blog","item":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/blog\/#breadcrumbitem"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"What Is Liability Coverage and Who Does It Cover?","item":"https:\/\/www.wardblacklaw.com\/blog\/what-is-liability-coverage-and-who-does-it-cover\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]