<p>Is it illegal to drive an uninsured car if you have car insurance and the car is not in your name? Could a person with a driver’s permit with the car in his name drive the uninsured car with a licensed driver (with his own insurance) in the car? This involves travel throughout several states. My licensed driver son is driving his younger brother home from college. Someone threw out the boxes younger son had that contained the paperwork for the title. Supposedly the title paperwork has been filed with the state, my son just doesn’t have proof of it. He did not get insuracne, maybe because of the lack of proof of title to send to the insurance company. He has not been driving the car. He wants to get home and take care of it here. If the younger son can drive some legally in the presence of older licensed brother, he can spell brother on a very long trip. Thank you for reading this far.</p>
<p>My understanding is that YOU don’t have car insurance; your CAR has car insurance. So if the car is uninsured, the car is uninsured. </p>
<p>Whenever we get a new car, we can’t drive it until it is specifically added to our coverage.</p>
<p>I’d recommend talking with your insurance agent and/ or checking the details of your policy. I know, for example anyone named on our policy is insured to drive any vehicle and that temporary cover is provided for newly purchased vehicle - but policies differ so I’d talk with your agent.</p>
<p>Insurance rests with the car not the driver. No one should be driving this car if it isn’t insured.</p>
<p>Bad idea to drive an uninsured car, with no proof of title either. Does the car have valid tags? Where is it registered?</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers. When big brother agreed to fly up and help little brother drive his car home, he was under the impression that all this would be taken care of before he got there. They need to get back home so older brother can get back to work. I do not handle things in this manner, and just pray neither one gets a ticket. The younger brother is known for being irresponsible, and as much as we love him, I guess he hasn’t matured as much as we had hoped.</p>
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<p>Hmmm…VeryHappy…I think ALL drivers in CT who plan to drive MUST have insurance.</p>
<p>If involved in a traffic accident in NY, the driver /owner will face one year loss of license. Before either son drives, each may wish to research the penalties in every state they’ll be passing through.</p>
<p>How does he have valid plates if he has no liability insurance and why didn’t he simply request a new title from the state DMV? I think they’re taking a big risk here as a simple traffic stop could leave him with a hefty fine to pay (someone told me recently that it’s in excess of $1K where I live). If the younger one is that irresponsible, maybe he should leave the car where it is and learn his lesson…that’s what I would do!</p>
<p>Lovestheheat, it isn’t a ticket that should be your biggest worry, it’s the possibility that they could be in an accident and responsible for bodily injury and property damage to others, and not have insurance to cover it! It’s absolutely irresponsible to be driving a car that is not insured.</p>
<p>Not carrying collision insurance is one thing, but driving without liability insurance is a very poor choice. You should be able to call whomever and get a copy of the title and then call your insurance agent and set up a policy effective today. ( Do you need the title in order to get insurance?)</p>
<p>I realize that your son is the irresponsible one, but you need to do the best thing right now to protect him and you from a liability law suit should he get in an accident.</p>
<p>Thanks for your help everyone. I just got my son’s car added to our insurance policy effective immediately. I was concerned about liability in case of an accident as well. I’m sure we will help him figure out what to do about the rest of it when he gets here, but the insurance is the big one. He insists the car title was transferred to his name. He left some stuff in the dorm and someone threw it all out, including his passport and the paper work saying the car was transferred to his name (paper when he filed at the court house?). I don’t know if a new title came in the mail or not (it would of course have been mailed to his address in the other state). Life is never dull with this young man around.</p>
<p>In Texas at least, both the driver and the car should have insurance. That is, the insurance will cover driver-car combinations. I have been screwed once when my parked vehicle was hit, and while the driver had insurance, it did not include the car that he was driving.</p>
<p>Good idea. You can always cancel it once they are both home and younger son gets the title, and his act, together. ;). I have a younger one that can be, well, challenging.</p>
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<p>Although insurance on the car is the primary insurance, insurance of the driver is secondary. We were hit once by a person who was driving his friend’s uninsured car. We were paid off by the insurance company of the driver, since the car was uninsured.</p>
<p>I would be concerned if he “legally” owns the car. It sounds like he bought the car at school and plans to register it at home. The lost paperwork is the signed title showing him as the buyer and the sellers signing off he did sell it. The normal process is to take the signed title to your local DMV to complete the transfer process and get local plates. </p>
<p>I’m guessing he’ll have problems registering the car without a signed title. It’s possible they may treat it as a stolen vehicle until you can prove ownership. I’d suggest he talk to the original owner and get a signed notarized statement that he purchased the car. Better yet, get the owner to go to DMV to get a replacement title and sign off on it.</p>
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<p>If the transfer paperwork has been filed with the state, then the state’s DMV will be sending the new title in your S’s name to him directly. The old seller has no standing to get a replacement title. Can your S get a temporary title from the DMV?</p>
<p>Update:</p>
<p>Both boys got home safely and with no accidents, tickets, etc. The college found his passport and actual title to the car and are mailing it here. Younger son said he and big brother researched the insurance issue online on the GEICO site (not even our insurance provider) and thought since younger son only has a permit he couldn’t buy car insurance. I explained to him about being under his parents insurance. Hopefully he will pass his driver’s test soon. What is it about boys and not asking their parents for helpful informed info? Anyway, they are great young men and I am glad to have them back home with no problems occurring along the way. In case you missed it, I did get younger son on our policy about 15 hours into the trip.</p>