Question about jibaiseki hoken (mandatory liability car insurance) and tourist drivers

Hey – just a hypothetical question about jibaiseki hoken

( I swear this is actually hypothetical lol… i have some friends coming to visit for the winter and am trying to figure out what could be "worst case" scenario if i let them borrow a car to drive )

If, lets say I have a really low value kei car and its not insured besides the payment during shaken, and i let a visiting friend (tourist) drive it and they are at fault in a crash:

  1. Would jibaiseki hoken cover the property damage to the third party?
  2. If not, would I be on the hook for the property damage or would my tourist friend be?
  3. If my tourist friend decided to skip town and not pay, am i ultimately on the hook for it?
  4. Lets say the third party's medical expenses exceeded the limits of the insurance, then who would be on the hook for it?
  5. In other countries (like the US), if i was ultimately responsible for the monetary damages, i could get sued and have my house taken. Does the same logic apply here in japan?

Im questioning this because i recall 5 years ago, when i visited japan, i had a friend who was very chill and let me roadtrip his low value Kei car around and didnt seem bothered by the fact that i could get into a crash… he simply told me if i crashed it, just to pay for the value of his car (which was like 150,000 yen or something)

by saibalter

3 comments
  1. I don’t know the answers to your questions because I have supplemental car insurance and I know who and what it covers, but if you don’t 100% understand your risk when they come around, consider short-term insurance that they should be able to get at a konbini.

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