Automobile Insurance
Personal auto policy structure
Six parts: A Liability; B Medical Payments; C Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists; D Coverage for Damage to Your Auto (collision and other than collision); E Duties After an Accident; F General Provisions. Definitions drive the questions: 'covered auto' includes newly acquired autos for a limited period, and 'who is an insured' is broader under Part A than under Parts B, C, and D.
Exclusions to watch
Intentional damage, racing, using a vehicle as a public livery, vehicles furnished for the insured's regular use, and business use of a pickup or van. Part D does not respond for a nonowned auto, but Part A liability generally does.
Limits and financial responsibility
Split limits such as 25/50/25 mean per-person bodily injury / per-occurrence bodily injury / property damage. A combined single limit merges them. Financial responsibility laws require proof of ability to pay after an accident; compulsory laws require coverage before registration. In the District of Columbia, liability coverage and personal injury protection are required to register a vehicle.
No-fault
No-fault systems pay first-party PIP benefits and restrict tort claims by a verbal or monetary threshold. DC is a tort (add-on) jurisdiction: it mandates PIP but does not shut down lawsuits the way a pure no-fault state does. That distinction is a favorite trap.
Commercial auto
Business auto symbols: 1 any auto, 8 hired autos, 9 nonowned autos. An employee driving a personal car on errands needs symbol 9 for liability.
Rule of thumb
If the vehicle is available for the insured's regular use, it is not 'nonowned.'