I'm regularly driving my friend's car, and I have nonowners car insurance. We live in California. Does my friend need to have insurance on the vehicle, too?

Yes, your friend should have car insurance on the vehicle to protect himself financially and to abide by state law. California requires all car owners to carry liability car insurance --at least $15,000 for injuries per person, $30,000 for injuries per accident, and $5,000 for damage to property. Liability insurance pays for damage and injuries other people suffer when a driver of the car causes an accident.

If you caused an accident driving your friend's car, your friend's insurance would pay out first up to his policy's liability limits. Then your nonowner's policy would pay out for any remaining damages.

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You're smart to have purchased a nonowners policy if you frequently borrow cars. Although your friend's policy provides coverage to anyone he lets borrow the car, his liability limits might be low. If you didn't have your own insurance and caused a wreck, the other driver could come after your assets to recover anything that exceeded your friend's liability limits.

A nonowners auto insurance policy provides liability protection and generally doesn't include optional coverage, such as collision, comprehensive, towing and rental reimbursement. Your insurance would not cover damage to your friend's vehicle if you caused an accident; it would only contribute toward liability costs if they exceeded your friend's policy limits. Your friend would need to have collision insurance to pay for repairing his car after an accident, and he'd need comprehensive insurance to cover theft and damage from vandalism, collision with an animal and natural disasters.

For more, see car insurance for drivers who don't own vehicles.