Could You Be Liable If Your Babysitter Causes a Car Accident?

It’s fall, school’s back in session, and that means our kids’ after-school activities are back in full swing as well. If you have a babysitter or a nanny that you rely on for picking up your child from school and maybe taking him or her to practice, you could be facing a liability risk that you are not aware of. For example, let’s say the person that is picking up your child at school has a $25,000 liability insurance policy. The lowest amount allowed under Georgia law. And let’s say your babysitter causes a bad wreck on the way to taking your child to practice. Well, if that claim is worth, say, $200,000, your babysitter’s $25,000 of car insurance is going to pay up first, but you could be on the hook for that extra $175,000. Worse still, your car insurance may not apply to that $175,000 liability you now face. One thing that you may want to consider is if you have somebody transporting your kids to and from different places that you’re paying for, you may want to consider allowing them to use your vehicle to pick up your child from school and to take them to different places. Because if you allow them to use your vehicle, you’ll have the benefit of all the extra insurance that you yourself have purchased.