6.1 Personal Auto Policy Structure and Eligibility
Key Takeaways
- The ISO PAP (PP 00 01, ed. 09 18) has six parts: A Liability, B Medical Payments, C UM/UIM, D Damage to Your Auto, E Duties After Loss, F General Provisions.
- A family member is a resident relative covered in any auto, anywhere; a permissive user is an insured only while using your covered auto.
- Eligible pickups/vans need a GVWR of 10,000 lbs or less and must not deliver goods for a fee; motorcycles are excluded.
- Newly acquired autos: 14 days to report when the coverage already exists on the policy; only 4 days (with a $500 deductible) for physical damage when no auto carries it.
Personal Auto Policy Structure and Eligibility
The Personal Auto Policy (PAP), ISO form PP 00 01 09 18, is the dominant contract for insuring private passenger vehicles in the United States and a heavily tested topic on the Mississippi P&C exam. The PAP is a package policy: a single contract bundling liability, medical payments, uninsured/underinsured motorists, and physical damage into one document with shared declarations and definitions. Understanding how the document is organized is the foundation for every later auto question.
The Six Parts of the PAP
The PAP is built around a Declarations page plus six lettered parts:
- Definitions - controlling terms such as you, your, covered auto, family member, and occupying.
- Part A - Liability Coverage - third-party bodily injury and property damage the insured becomes legally liable for.
- Part B - Medical Payments Coverage - reasonable medical and funeral expenses for the insured and passengers, regardless of fault.
- Part C - Uninsured/Underinsured Motorists - damages the insured is owed by an at-fault driver who has no or insufficient insurance.
- Part D - Coverage for Damage to Your Auto - first-party physical damage (collision and other than collision).
- Part E - Duties After an Accident or Loss - the insured's post-loss obligations.
- Part F - General Provisions - territory, cancellation, legal action, and other policy-wide conditions.
Eligibility: What the PAP Will Insure
The PAP is restricted to private passenger use. A vehicle is eligible if it is a four-wheeled motor vehicle owned or leased under a contract for at least six continuous months and is not used as a public or livery conveyance. Pickups and vans rated up to 10,000 pounds GVWR qualify if they are not used to deliver or transport goods for others (incidental farm or business use and the occasional delivery are allowed).
The named insured must be an individual or a married couple residing in the same household. Vehicles owned by a corporation, partnership, or other entity are not eligible for the PAP and must be written on a commercial Business Auto policy. This individual-ownership requirement is a frequent exam distractor.
Insured Autos vs. Covered Persons
The PAP carefully separates which autos are covered from which persons are insured. Your covered auto includes:
- Any vehicle shown in the Declarations.
- A newly acquired auto (additional or replacement).
- A trailer you own.
- A temporary substitute auto used while a covered auto is out of service for repair, servicing, breakdown, or destruction.
The Newly Acquired Auto Rule
The newly acquired auto provision is a perennial test favorite. Coverage rules differ by type:
| Scenario | Coverage granted automatically | Time to report |
|---|---|---|
| Replacement vehicle | Same coverage as the replaced auto; broadest coverage if no other auto on policy | 14 days (Part D physical damage) |
| Additional vehicle (added to a multi-car policy) | Broadest coverage on any auto already insured | 14 days |
| Additional auto, want Part D when no other auto has physical damage | Must request | Within 14 days |
Exam trap: For a replacement vehicle, Part D physical damage carries over automatically, but the insured must still ask for collision/OTC within 14 days if the old car did not carry it. Different ISO editions historically used 14 or 30 days; the current PP 00 01 09 18 edition uses 14 days.
Who Is an Insured
For liability, an insured includes the named insured and any family member (a person related by blood, marriage, or adoption who is a resident of the household, including a ward or foster child), any person using your covered auto with permission, and any person or organization legally responsible for the acts of a covered person while that person uses a covered auto.
Temporary Substitute and Non-Owned Autos
Two categories extend PAP protection beyond the scheduled vehicles. A temporary substitute auto is a vehicle the insured does not own, used while a covered auto is out of normal use because of breakdown, repair, servicing, loss, or destruction; it is treated as a covered auto for both liability and physical damage.
A non-owned auto is any private passenger auto, pickup, van, or trailer not owned by or furnished for the regular use of the insured or a family member, while operated with permission. Non-owned autos receive liability and Med Pay, but Part D physical damage on a non-owned auto applies only on a limited basis under the transportation expenses/loss of use and "broadest coverage" rules.
Exam trap: A car furnished or available for the regular use of the insured (such as a company car driven daily) is not a covered "non-owned auto." The whole point of the exclusion is to stop someone from insuring one car while routinely driving an uninsured second vehicle.
Trailers and Newly Acquired Trailers
Owned trailers are automatically your covered auto for liability. For physical damage, a trailer must be scheduled, although the policy grants limited automatic coverage for a newly acquired trailer reported within the same 14-day window as autos. Recreational trailers, utility trailers, and farm wagons designed for use with a private passenger auto fit here; the exam may pair this with the deer/animal OTC distinction or a Part D total-loss computation, so keep trailer status straight when reading the fact pattern.
A Mississippi insured buys a second car and adds it to a PAP that already covers one vehicle carrying collision coverage. Before the insured reports the new car, how is the additional auto covered under Part D?
Which of the following vehicles is ELIGIBLE for coverage under the ISO Personal Auto Policy?