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Foreign Driver in Need of Temporary Car Insurance

Written by Michele Wilmonen. Posted in Ask An Insurance Question Last Updated: 01/01/2018

Q: I am french, temporarily visitor in CA. A friend of mine is lending his car, but as I don’t have a CA dirver’s license, I need to get a temporary car insurance; and only for January to march.

How can I do ? So far, I have been rejected everywhere…

A: Your friend’s insurance will cover you without you having to be listed on the policy as you are only a temporary driver. Always remember, insurance follows the vehicle not the driver.

As far as you getting your own temporary car insurance for your friend’s vehicle with you as the driver, just give up now, as you are trying something that is almost impossible for a number of reasons.

  1. It’s your friends vehicle, you are not the owner and have no financial interest in the vehicle. No insurance company is going to write you a policy to cover your friend’s vehicle while you are driving it.
  2. You don’t reside in the United States and you have a foreign driver’s license. I have seen insurance policies being written for those that have had foreign licenses, but they are surcharged heavily and everyone of them had just moved to the United States. Also, none of them were only here temporarily.
  3. Car insurance companies don’t write temporary car insurance policies.
  4. If you were a resident with a United States driver’s license, you could get a non-owners policy as your temporary car insurance. However, this would only provide liability coverage and I have never seen a non-owners policy be issued as a temporary car insurance policy to a foreign visitor.

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Michele Wilmonen

Michele's first introduction to insurance was working for a major insurance company as a file clerk and a mailroom supervisor in a regional office. She learned insurance directly from underwriters and claims adjusters from questions and also watching them do their job. Since then, she's earned a number of insurance certifications from the Insurance Institute of America and also a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Idaho. She blogs at Car Insurance Guidebook.

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