With the holiday season upon us being driven around in a car by a family member raises the question of whether you can sue or bring an insurance settlement claim against a member of your own family. The driver could be your wife, husband, child, parent or cousin.

In Oregon and Washington states you can certainly get injury settlement money to compensate you for pain and suffering (if you are injured by a family member) unless the applicable insurance auto policy excludes tort claims under the family member exclusion doctrine. Historically the law generally prohibited insurance or tort claims against your wife or husband because of something the courts called spousal immunity.

Because spousal immunity has been so eroded over the years it now comes down to whether the insurance policy excludes these claims. If the car auto insurance policy is silent about whether you can sue family members for injury money then because of the family exclusion absence then you are free to pursue an injury.