18y/o on our car insurance - lawsuit risk?

[stevethewaldner]

Hi all, thanks in advance. I'm in Florida.

My fiance, myself, and her 18yo (graduated) son live together. 4 cars... 2 in my name, 1 in her name, and 1 in both our names. He drives two of them.

All are all under her USAA insurance policy.

If he is in a bad crash with injuries that lead to a major lawsuit, fiance is worried we could be sued and lose our house/savings. He drives ALOT and she really stressed that we are at high risk. Isn't this something that every family with a young driver would be at risk for? Can an insured party sue the parents of a driver if he lives with them and is under their insurance?

If we wanted to mitigate this risk, would it even be an option to have him get his own insurance (would have to transfer car ownership to him too)? If he's still living under our roof, but he has the car in his name and his insurance, could a party still sue us parents for damages caused by him?

If this belongs more on a lawyer sub please let me know. Thanks!!!

 

[raphacam]

@stevethewaldner If he's living with you he needs to be listed or excluded on your policy if your state allows. Buy an umbrella.

 

[stevethewaldner]

@raphacam Looking into that, thanks!!

 

[resjudicata]

@stevethewaldner Came here to say buy an umbrella. They’re ridiculously cheap for the coverage/limits of liability you get.

 

[karl947]

@stevethewaldner Yeah a decent umbrella policy with high limits should alleviate any concern s

 

[danderson247]

@raphacam Adding to those you should make sure you have adequate coverage regardless of if an 18 year old is on your insurance. A 45 year old driver who's never had an accident can still mess up one time and cause a million dollars worth of injuries. You may not even mess up, your car may malfunction catastrophically and cause an accident.

Everyone needs enough liability coverage to protect their personal assets.

 

[innerhouse]

@raphacam Yes! Buy an umbrella! Just make sure your son's liability limit matches the umbrella deductible.