Insuring a Vehicle Garaged at an Out-of-State Secondary Residence

• By: The Big "I" Virtual University
• August 29, 2025

An agent has a high-net worth customer in Pennsylvania who has a secondary home in Oregon. The customer would like to leave one of his vehicles garaged at the secondary home to use when he visits. The vehicle would be available for use throughout the year by local family members.

Q: The agent is concerned with the extra liability the customer could incur from owning a vehicle left in Oregon and used mostly by other drivers. The customer is considering titling the car in another family member’s name and having that other family member insure the vehicle in Oregon. Is that a good idea?

Response 1: A vehicle that will be permanently garaged in Oregon must be titled and registered there, according to the Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services.

Assuming the vehicle is insured under a personal auto policy that includes the ISO PAP PP 00 01 09 18 with Amendment of Policy Provisions—Oregon PP 01 94 02 23, anyone using the vehicle is an insured for liability coverage unless they use it without a reasonable belief that they are entitled to do so.

For an unattended vehicle, that is a large number of potential insureds for the carrier to underwrite. Many carriers may be reluctant to assume this risk. For example, if the vehicle is involved in an accident that results in a lawsuit, the insurer will be obligated to defend and possibly indemnify both the named insured and the driver. I would expect the insurer to request the driving histories of everyone who would potentially use the vehicle. Given the relatively uncontrolled nature of the risk, I think a personal umbrella policy would be advisable.

The risk might become more acceptable to an underwriter if an Oregon resident re-titles and registers the vehicle and has more direct control over who can access it. One advantage of this is that your customer will have little or no exposure to a liability loss if they no longer own the vehicle.

Response 2: Getting rid of the car seems like a reasonable risk management device—risk avoidance. My experience warns me, however, that this will only work if the client cleanly divests himself of the car. A documented sale with a change of title and new coverage for the new owner should separate the client from direct liability. 

If the client divests himself, and there is a freak lawsuit arising from that vehicle, the client would have coverage as long as he doesn’t own or use the vehicle. Then there’s the non-owned auto exposure when the client uses the vehicle that he no longer owns. He’ll have coverage under his own PAP and PUP just as he would for any other non-owned auto. 

Response 3: Titling the car to a family member in Oregon may involve a sale and payment of a transaction tax for that sale. Or Oregon might consider it a gift among family members and not charge a tax. These things may vary according to the office at which the transfer of the title is attempted. Just be aware of the possibility.

If the family member maintains a good liability policy with adequate limits, then this is a good solution for the customer. I can’t say I put a lot of value in the idea that the new legal owner of the auto will always be willing to let the visiting customer use the auto. Family relationships put the “fun” in “dysfunctional.”

If everything does work according to plan, then the new owner’s liability policy would be the primary one for use of that auto by the customer, and the customer’s PAP and PUP would be secondary and tertiary in the event of a liability claim.

Response 4: The customer should register and insure the car in Oregon. I don’t know that he needs to transfer the title unless he has trouble insuring it as a non-resident. If it is used with permission, anyone should have coverage, assuming it’s an ISO-type policy. Non-ISO forms might require that specific driversbe listedon the declaration page.

Response 5: If the vehicle is garaged in Oregon, it should be registered and insured with an Oregon policy. Having a variety of family members use the vehicle becomes an underwriting nightmare. The carrier would want to list each driver and order motor vehicle records to evaluate the exposure. Drivers who are not listed might find they are not adequately covered.

Watch for policies that drop down limits for permissive users. Their own PAPs may not respond to additional limits needed since the vehicle is “available for regular use.”

Titling it in a family member’s name who is local could be a solution, especially if all the other drivers are part of the same household. Then your insured should be listed as a driver on the policy.

This question was originally submitted by an agent through the Big “I” Virtual University’s (VU) Ask an Expert service, with responses curated from multiple VU faculty members. Answers to other coverage questions are available on the VU website. If you need help accessing the website, request login information.

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