OAI: Va. Court Case Shows Potential Complexity of Insurance Issues
At issue in the case was whether a carpenter’s general liability or auto insurance policy should pay for damages caused by a van fire.
(EMAILWIRE.COM, February 09, 2012 ) Rancho Cucamonga, CA -- At issue in the case was whether a carpenter’s general liability or auto insurance policy should pay for damages caused by a van fire.
A recently decided Virginia court case regarding a fire that started in a van and ultimately caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to a nearby home underscores just how nuanced questions of coverage can get, according to Online Auto Insurance.
The main question in the case was whether a carpenter’s Virginia automobile insurance company or his general liability coverage provider should pay for the damages from a fire that originated in his van and spread to the house he was working on.
The carpenter, John Robins, had kept his van in the house’s driveway for about a month before the fire, which happened in 2008. He drove to the job site in a separate vehicle and used the van basically as a shed for storing tools and a power source used to power some of those tools.
It was later determined that the fire likely originated in the back of the van after equipment being stored inside malfunctioned.
After paying for the more than $292,000 worth of damages done to the home, the homeowners’ coverage provider went after Robins for the money. Robins sought coverage under his auto and commercial liability policies.
His commercial liability insurer said it should not have to cover the claim because it had a provision included in its policy that stated it would not pay for damages caused by the policyholder’s use of a car.
His auto insurer said it should not have to pay for the claim because Robins was not technically using the van at the time of the incident.
So who should pay for the claim?
According to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals—which reversed a lower court’s ruling in the case—the commercial liability policy should cover the damages, not the auto insurer.
The reasoning behind the decision was that car insurance policies only cover damages that are the result of the use of a vehicle “as a vehicle.” The court wrote in its opinion that at the time of the accident, “Robins’s van had been functioning for some time as a storage shed for his business equipment and not as a vehicle.”
Source: http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/101227.U.pdf
For more on this and other Virginia coverage issues, visit http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/virginia/ to get access to informative resources and a helpful rate-comparison generator.
About OnlineAutoInsurance.com:
OnlineAutoInsurance.com supplies informative resources for consumers seeking to understand the finer points of coverage and quote-comparison services for shoppers looking for the best rates on a policy.
Press Release Courtesy of Online PR Media: http://bit.ly/wjo24i
A recently decided Virginia court case regarding a fire that started in a van and ultimately caused hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages to a nearby home underscores just how nuanced questions of coverage can get, according to Online Auto Insurance.
The main question in the case was whether a carpenter’s Virginia automobile insurance company or his general liability coverage provider should pay for the damages from a fire that originated in his van and spread to the house he was working on.
The carpenter, John Robins, had kept his van in the house’s driveway for about a month before the fire, which happened in 2008. He drove to the job site in a separate vehicle and used the van basically as a shed for storing tools and a power source used to power some of those tools.
It was later determined that the fire likely originated in the back of the van after equipment being stored inside malfunctioned.
After paying for the more than $292,000 worth of damages done to the home, the homeowners’ coverage provider went after Robins for the money. Robins sought coverage under his auto and commercial liability policies.
His commercial liability insurer said it should not have to cover the claim because it had a provision included in its policy that stated it would not pay for damages caused by the policyholder’s use of a car.
His auto insurer said it should not have to pay for the claim because Robins was not technically using the van at the time of the incident.
So who should pay for the claim?
According to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals—which reversed a lower court’s ruling in the case—the commercial liability policy should cover the damages, not the auto insurer.
The reasoning behind the decision was that car insurance policies only cover damages that are the result of the use of a vehicle “as a vehicle.” The court wrote in its opinion that at the time of the accident, “Robins’s van had been functioning for some time as a storage shed for his business equipment and not as a vehicle.”
Source: http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/101227.U.pdf
For more on this and other Virginia coverage issues, visit http://www.onlineautoinsurance.com/virginia/ to get access to informative resources and a helpful rate-comparison generator.
About OnlineAutoInsurance.com:
OnlineAutoInsurance.com supplies informative resources for consumers seeking to understand the finer points of coverage and quote-comparison services for shoppers looking for the best rates on a policy.
Press Release Courtesy of Online PR Media: http://bit.ly/wjo24i
Contact Information:
Online Auto Insurance,LLC
Robert Silverman
Tel: (909) 784-2475
Email us
This is a press release. Press release distribution and press release services by EmailWire.Com: http://www.emailwire.com/us-press-release-distribution.php.
Online Auto Insurance,LLC
Robert Silverman
Tel: (909) 784-2475
Email us
This is a press release. Press release distribution and press release services by EmailWire.Com: http://www.emailwire.com/us-press-release-distribution.php.
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