By Joseph Welusz

With the cost of gas rising, a lot of people are looking for better ways of commuting more than ever, more people are starting to car pool or use public transit. Many urbanites rely only on public transit and taxis to move throughout the city; when they go on longer trips they rent vehicles. There are now at least 20 US cities where car-sharing clubs have been started. If you are a club member you can rent a club owned automobile by the hour. This gives people who seldomly need a car access to a car without having to buy, maintain or store one while living in the city.

This is great until something goes wrong. What are the consequences if someone has an accident while using one of these automobiles? Who is responsible to pay for injuries or damage?

The driver will probably think that the club has insurance to incur any charges for any accidents that occur, and it’s
possible. Although, you might not want to rely on the club’s insurance:

* You have no control if the club misses a payment and unknowingly has a lapse in coverage.
* Your particular car might not be covered under the policy if it was not on the original policy. You have no guarantee that the club’s policy will automatically cover a newly acquired vehicle.
* A policy condition might have been overlooked by the club, giving the insurance company amble reason to deny the claim.
* The policy itself might not include coverage to you for this particular type of loss.
* The policy may have low limits possibly to low to fully cover the loss.

As a car club member you most likely have no control over the amount and/or terms of the club’s insurance policy, nor will you have any say if claim arises. These same issues come up if you rent a vehicle or borrow a friends. As odd as it may sound, you should consider buying your own Discount Car Insurance policy.

You can purchase a special Non-Owner policy from most large insurance companies. This type of policy provides car coverage to specifically named individuals in the policy when they use a car they don’t personally own.

If you own a car and have a policy this coverage is already in place for you, but if you don’t own an auto you must buy this special coverage. The policy will include the following coverages for named individuals:

* Coverage for Liability (injuries or property damage)
* Coverage for Medical Payments
* Coverage for Uninsured or Underinsured Motorists

Each state offers their own coverage requirements, so make sure to ask your insurance agent when getting free insurance quotes about this coverage where you live. If you happen to buy an automobile, the policy will provide these coverages automatically for up to 2 weeks.

It’s critical that you know the insurance this policy offer only goes into effect after the vehicle owner’s coverage is exhausted. Also remember only specifically named individuals are covered not all family members unless they are specifically named on the policy. This policy does not include any coverage for damage to the automobile you are driving. When speaking to your insurance agent they can explain all the available options. Since the policy only offers limited coverage the price may be considerably inexpensive.

When you are driving a car you are always at risk, whether the driver borrows, rents or owns the Vehicle. Make sure you have the coverage in place encase of a large financial liability loss.