What Is the Regular Use Exclusion in Auto Insurance?

The regular use exclusion limits coverage under a personal auto policy when the insured drives a vehicle that is regularly available to them but not listed on their policy. The ISO Personal Auto Policy (PP 00 01) excludes coverage for a "furnished or available for your regular use" vehicle under Part A (liability) and Part D (physical damage). The practical effect: if you regularly drive a vehicle you don’t own – a family member’s car, an employer’s vehicle, a frequently borrowed car – and that vehicle is not scheduled on your policy, the policy may not cover you when you drive it.

What "regularly available" means

Courts and insurers apply a facts-and-circumstances test. The key factors are frequency and access. A vehicle that you can use whenever you want – parked in your driveway, key in a drawer – and that you drive multiple times per week is "regularly available." A vehicle you borrow from a friend twice a year is not. The line between occasional borrowing (covered by the omnibus clause) and regular access (potentially excluded) is where disputes arise.

The exclusion is designed to prevent a policyholder from rating their insurance on one low-cost vehicle while regularly driving an unrated (and uninsured) second vehicle. The insurer only collected premium for the listed vehicle; it didn’t price in the risk of the regularly driven unlisted one.

How does the regular use exclusion affect non-owner policies?

Non-owner auto policies contain a version of the same exclusion. A non-owner policy is intended for occasional use of non-owned vehicles – renting a car, borrowing a vehicle infrequently. If a vehicle is regularly available to the policyholder (a family member’s car they drive every day), that vehicle should be added to a conventional policy, not covered through a non-owner policy. Carriers underwriting non-owner policies look for this situation and may void coverage or deny claims if the "non-owned" vehicle was actually in regular use by the insured. For example, a policyholder who parks a sibling’s car at their home address and drives it to work three days a week would likely find that non-owner coverage does not apply to those trips.

What should you do if you regularly drive a vehicle you don’t own?

If a non-owned vehicle is regularly available to you, it should be listed on your own policy as a vehicle you regularly drive. This typically requires the vehicle owner to add you as a listed driver on their policy, or the two policies to coordinate. A non-owner policy does not solve the regular-use situation – it leaves the gap in place. For example, if you drive a parent’s car each morning while your own vehicle is being repaired, your insurer may treat that pattern as regular use and decline coverage for an accident in that vehicle under your own policy.

What is a non-owner auto policy?
Does my friend’s car insurance cover me in Georgia?
A coverage review can determine whether a vehicle you regularly drive is properly covered under your current policy.