Uninsured brother driving husbands car was in accident. Claims she hit him. Is my husband liable for damages in Washington State?

More info is needed to give a specific answer to this question. For example, why was the car in the brother's possession. Was it sold or given to the brother? Was the auto insured by the husband? Generally, the owner of an auto is not responsible for an accident caused by a permissive driver. In other words, the brother would be solely responsible for an accident that was his fault. There are a couple of exceptions to this rule. One would be if the brother was know to be a bad driver. This is called "negligent entrustment". The other would be if the auto was a "family car". Family Car Doctrine requires that the car is owned, provided, or maintained by the owner as the customary conveyance of family members, and at the time of the collision, is being driven by a member of the family with the express or implied consent of the parent.  Cameron v. Downs, 32 Wn. App. 875, 650 P.2d 260 (1982). Kaynor v. Farline, 117 Wn.App 575 (2003). If the auto was insured by the husband, and the brother had permission to drive the car, the husband's insurance company would be responsible for defending the brother and paying any damages he might be responsible for. This response is general in nature and is not legal advice. No attorney client relationship is formed by it. Further, the response does not represent the opinions or views of LexisNexis or its affiliated companies.