Title: Understanding Liability and Insurance: What Happens When You’re Hit by a Loaner Car?
A few months ago, my wife was involved in an unfortunate accident where another driver, operating a loaner vehicle from a dealership, rear-ended her. After gathering the necessary insurance details from the other driver, who was insured with Geico, we promptly filed a claim with our own insurance company and reported the incident as required.
However, the process of seeking reimbursement for our totaled vehicle proved to be more complicated than anticipated. Our insurance team has faced challenges in locating the other driver’s correct information, ultimately escalating their efforts to a third-party agency for further assistance.
Fast forward to last night when we received a rather perplexing letter. It revealed that the driver was not, in fact, covered by Geico as initially believed. Instead, his insurance was through Nation General Insurance Company. To our dismay, Nation General is denying our claim for the property damage on the basis that the vehicle in question was not the driver’s personal property. They specified, “Applying the facts of loss to the policy language, there is no property damage coverage for this matter because at the time of the loss the loaner vehicle did not have documentation created to obtain the vehicle. This loaner vehicle did not have coverage at the time of the loss.”
This raises several questions. How is it possible for a driver to operate a dealership’s loaner car without any insurance coverage? Doesn’t the dealership need to maintain some form of insurance that would apply in such situations? Furthermore, does this leave us with no options to recover our deductible except for pursuing legal action?
Update: After engaging with the community for support, it seems prudent to let my insurance company continue their pursuit for repayment. Given that our deductible is only $500, it likely wouldn’t be worthwhile for us to initiate legal proceedings. In the end, it appears that sometimes, it’s best to let the professionals handle the complexities of insurance claims.
