I get a lot of questions and this week was exceptional. Here a mother wrote to me because he son was involved in an intersection collision with another high schooled. Progressive insured the other driver and apparently is claiming he is a non-permissive driver and they will not provide insurance coverage. 

If that young driver's parents are claiming he didn't have permission to avoid paying they are likely making a big mistake. Here's why.

My first question will be whether they turned junior in to the police as the driver of a stolen vehicle. If he didn't have permission to be driving then he stole the vehicle and should be charged criminally. So next time a parent wants to teach a kid how to avoid responsibility think it through and exactly what you're teaching your son.

You can't have it both ways, you can't avoid financial responsibility for negligence by claiming the driver wasn't given permission to use the car and avoid criminal sanctions for theft. That Participation Trophy won't be handed out in real life; only on the soccer field.