I Have a Babysitter Who Drives My Car with the Kids. Should I Put My Babysitter on My Auto Insurance Policy?

Auto insurance is designed to follow the car, which means that the coverage you purchased for your vehicle will cover the car regardless of who’s driving it.

That said, in order to be fully covered by your policy (under what’s called the non-owned auto provision), your babysitter must have permission (verbal or written) to drive your insured vehicle.

Under the above provision, your babysitter must be an occasional driver only, not a regular driver or user of the vehicle. If, however, your babysitter is a regular driver of your car, you may want to talk to your Allstate agent about adding your sitter to your policy as a non-principal operator of your vehicle.

If your sitter gets into an accident while driving your car (and considering s/he had your permission to drive the car at the time of the accident), your auto insurance will be considered the primary coverage in any accident-related claim that’s made. Your sitter’s insurance coverage (if s/he’s covered under his or her own policy, or that of a parent) will be considered a secondary coverage, and will only activate if damage claims exceed the limits of your own policy.