Divorced parents have joint custody of their teenage son. Dad buys a car for the kid and insures it on his own policy. The agency insures mom and dad on separate PAPs with the same carrier and the CSR making the change is concerned about the rating on mom’s policy. The reality is that the…
Have you ever had an attorney or other “expert” advise one of your customers with a teen driver to place that teen on his or her own policy (usually at minimum limits)? If so, are you prepared to explain to the child’s parents why THEY might have no coverage on THEIR policy if sued?
The temperature got so cold that the vinyl flooring in an insured travel trailer cracked. Is this damage excluded by the “freezing” exclusion in the ISO Personal Auto Policy or does “freezing” only refer to the liquids in the vehicle?
An ISO PAP is issued to mom and dad for 4 autos, 3 owned by dad and 1 owned by an adult son. Mom and dad drive 2 of the autos. The adult son that owns one of the autos drives it and lives in a separate household. The 4th auto is owned by dad…
An insured backs into his wife’s car, damaging both vehicles insured under the same policy. The deductible provision says no deductible applies if an insured vehicle collides with another vehicle insured by the same carrier. The adjuster says this means an insured under a different, not the same, policy. Is that what the policy actually…
It is remarkable how many questions we get about exposures involving pulling trailers. Pulling personally-owned trailers with business-owned autos. Pulling business-owned trailers with personally-owned autos. Using trailers as music stages. And on and on. Here’s a very common one.
Although most damage waiver fees are considered outrageous, the insured is best advised to purchase the waiver for short-term rentals. This is not only in the best interest of the insured, but also the agent since an inadequately covered loss may result in the loss of an account or worse, an E&O claim.
Several years ago, I wrote an article called “”The Top 10 Reasons to Purchase the Rental Car Company’s CDW/LDW.” This article and a downloadable consumer version you can share with your clients has now been updated to include yet another reason for purchasing the CDW/LDW. It’s called “diminution of value” and it could cost your…
We had an insured call to advise that he was going on vacation and renting a car in his name. He has a 19 year old that he understands cannot drive the rental car, by the rental car company’s requirement. However, he is planning on letting the 19 year old drive the car anyway. His…
Zipcar is an innovative alternative to traditional car rental. The company describes itself as a “car sharing” company instead of a car rental company. The company currently operates in multiple metropolitan areas and hundreds of college campuses, has a fleet of thousands of cars and hundreds of thousands of members, and recently expanded internationally. If…
