A vehicle service contract is written with a particular driver and use in mind. When a spouse, a teen, a roommate, or a borrower starts using the vehicle regularly, the contract's permitted-user terms may decide whether the coverage still applies. Check those terms before the change, not after a repair is needed.
Find who the contract names
Look for any clause that lists authorized drivers, permitted users, or the people the contract considers the owner's household. Note whether the names are written into the contract or whether the contract only describes a type of person. A written list is easier to check than a general phrase.
Ask about use that changes the vehicle's work
Some contracts contain terms about commercial use, delivery work, or driving for hire. Ask whether any such use is excluded and how the contract defines it. Ask whether using the vehicle for a side business, even occasionally, would count under the wording you are given.
Ask what happens when a new person drives
Ask in writing whether a new regular driver must be added to the contract, whether the seller must be told, and by what method. Ask whether a driver who is not named could affect a future claim. Keep the seller's answer with the signed contract.
Check the state rules before you rely on a verbal answer
Who may be named on a contract, and how that is recorded, can depend on the state. The state pages on this site name the statute or program that governs each state and restate the rules where they have been read. Use the state page for your state to confirm what the rules say, then compare them with the contract's own words.
What this guide has not read
This guide does not read any particular contract's permitted-user terms and does not say how any named company handles a new driver. Where a state page does not restate a rule on this subject, this guide has not read that rule.