Use of privately owned, leased, or rented vehicles is undertaken at the vehicle owner, and all passengers' , own risk - even in curricular environments, or while on university directed business.  GVSU's insurance does not respond to first-party physical damage.  And, GVSU's liability coverage is limited, and might respond only after the vehicle owner's personal auto liability limits are fully exhausted.

Therefore, Risk Management strongly recommends using a university owned, leased, or rented vehicle rather than a personal auto for business use, whenever possible.

GVSU carries Auto Liability and Physical Damage insurance on any vehicle owned, leased, or rented by the University, while being driven within the United States.  

University vehicle use is limited to curricular, experiential, or business purposes only; unless specifically pre-approved in writing.

Note on International Travel:  If a University owned vehicle is going to be driven into Canada, please notify Risk Management [email protected] at least 10 days prior to travel, for some additional paperwork.

GVSU drivers involved in any accident or incident involving a vehicle owned, leased, or rented by GVSU; must complete the Motor Vehicle Accident form and return it to [email protected] within 24 hours of the incident.

Third Party insurance adjusters or rental agencies, please contact Risk Management at [email protected] or 616-331-9517 to begin a file and ensure a smooth claim resolution.

GVSU faculty & staff can find additional details regarding the automobile claim process, under the Resource Library tab of this website.

This section provides information on Permitted Drivers of vehicles owned, leased, or rented by GVSU.

GVSU employees (faculty & staff) are permitted drivers; unless otherwise notified in writing.   The University reserves the right to require Motor Vehicle Record updates at any time, as a prerequisite to driving a university vehicle, whether job related or not.

Students are permitted drivers of university vehicles only after succesful completion of the appropriate Driver Authorization Process:

• Curricular or Student Employment Driver Authorization Process
• Registered Student Organization Driver Authorization Process
• Club & Intramural Sports Student Driver Authorization Process

Volunteers, Third Party Vendors, Family Members, or other stakeholders are not encouraged to drive University vehicles.  However, if a university Department wishes to sponsor a non-university stakeholder for driving permissions, authorization is subject to succesful completion of the Driver Authorization process.

Note on International Travel: Only faculty and staff have permission to drive university owned, leased, or rented vehicles while outside of the United States. 

Domestic rentals are fully insured by GVSU's insurance program.  We encourage anyone renting a vehicle on university related travel to maintain a complete copy of the Auto Insurance Packet in either digital or hard copy.

International rentals are not covered by GVSU's insurance program, and full coverage should be purchased at the time of the rental.  International rental insurance costs are an approved expense item.

GVSU's Auto Insurance coverages extend to university vehicles that are assigned to individual employees. Only assigned drivers are permitted to use university vehicles for both personal and university-related purposes.  

GVSU's insurance coverages contemplate:

• It is acceptable for assigned drivers to permit the use of the university-assigned vehicle to current GVSU faculty & staff and/or properly vetted students, for business use.
• It is not encouraged for assigned drivers to permit use of the university-assigned vehicle to anyone, for personal use  - whether the proposed other driver is a member of the household, or not. 
  • The insurance products are structured to contemplate that situations happen, and there might be occasional (special circumstances) use of an assigned vehicle by someone other than the assigned driver.  Those situations should be a) infrequent, b) reasonably explained, and c) strictly limited to drivers who are over the age of 25.
• Assigned vehicles should always be driven lawfully
• Assigned vehicles should stay inside of the United States (unless Risk Management is notified in advance).

Rules regarding vehicle assignments/eligibility; taxes; mileage; record keeping; gas; and maintenance are outside of the parameters of the insurance conversation, and questions on those topics should be directed  to the relevant Department.