Community Chat

[mima]

On 7/18/2014 aubnwa01 said:

What would've happened if she had had a passenger riding in the car with her that was also injured? Would Bob's insurance cover that person, too, even though they'd not be listed on his policy?

Good question. You know, I've paid for insurance for years and never really paid attention to who is covered for what, etc. I just figured I had insurance and that was good enough.

[CelticCrafter]

Something to think about.....

If Mary had caused serious injury to someone else, Bob is on the hook if a lawsuit arises and would be responsible for any judgement that was higher than the policy limits.

I worked in the industry many, many years ago and saw that happen. The person that was sued had to turn their house over to the injured party.

[terrier3]

On 7/19/2014 CelticCrafter said:

Something to think about.....

If Mary had caused serious injury to someone else, Bob is on the hook if a lawsuit arises and would be responsible for any judgement that was higher than the policy limits.

I worked in the industry many, many years ago and saw that happen. The person that was sued had to turn their house over to the injured party.

You gave us all something to think about!

I have an umbrella policy for things just like this. It doesn't matter if it is someone slipping on my stairs, a car accident or anything else.

I got umbrella coverage for claims up to one million dollars - that will cover most events, IMO.

[azterry!]

On 7/19/2014 CelticCrafter said:

Something to think about.....

If Mary had caused serious injury to someone else, Bob is on the hook if a lawsuit arises and would be responsible for any judgement that was higher than the policy limits.

I worked in the industry many, many years ago and saw that happen. The person that was sued had to turn their house over to the injured party.

This would not be true in all cases. Many states have limits of liability for the non-negligent owner of a vehicle involved in an accident. Some states assign no liability at all if the owner did not negligently entrust the vehicle to another driver.

The driver is the negligent party and it is generally their assets that may be at risk if a judgment is over policy limits. In addition, the owner's policy goes first and if damages exceed that, the driver's policy would kick in.

Most states also have Homestead exemptions that prevent a party from taking the house of a party who has a judgment.