Will Your Insurance Cover?

[weblet]

I suppose there really is a good reason to have a sun roof...


Que. driver loses again in freak airplane crash
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Font: * * * * Michelle Lalonde, CanWest News Service; Montreal Gazette
Published: Wednesday, September 20, 2006
MONTREAL - Here's another reason to hope a small plane doesn't land on your car.

Bill Mack's insurance company is demanding he pay a $1,000 deductible fee after a small plane crash landed into his SUV while he was driving last week.

Mack was driving his 82-year-old mother home from a hospital when a Piper Cherokee came in for an emergency landing right in front of him.

Mack swerved to avoid the plane, but one of its wings took out the two back windows of his Dodge Durango SUV, causing over $4,000 worth of damage to the car. The airplane was a write-off, but miraculously, no one in Mack's SUV, or the three other vehicles that were hit, was seriously injured. The pilot and a passenger escaped with bruises.

"I thought that would be the scariest thing that I would have to face last week, but then I had to call my insurance company to get my car fixed and that was even more scary," said Mack.

The insurance agent at Allstate Insurance Company of Canada explained that if Mack's car had been hit by another car, the deductible would be covered by Allstate. But, since it will take some time for Allstate to collect from the pilot's insurance company, Mack has to pay up front. He will be repaid the money "eventually" the agent told him.

Allstate spokesman Derek Tupling said in cases involving car collisions in Quebec, the "direct compensation agreement" applies, which means each insurance company pays the full cost of damages, with no deductible.

But a collision with an airplane, he said, would not fall under that agreement, so the client must pay the deductible.

"Part of the process is we evaluate who is at fault, and we would need a police report, or a report from the Transportation Safety Board in an unusual case such as this," he said.

But Mack doesn't see why he should be out of pocket while the paperwork drags on.

"It's pretty obvious it wasn't my fault. It's not like my car jumped too high or something," he said.

"I didn't do anything wrong and now I have to pay $1,000 to get my car back. Why do you pay for insurance anyway? Aren't they supposed to be there for you when something like this happens?"

Meanwhile, the Transportation Safety Board of Canada has already concluded the crash landing was due to pilot error.

The pilot apparently did not adjust his fuel selector properly and accidentally cut gas to the engine, said TSB investigator Denis Deroy.

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Montreal Gazette[/b]

[jfrenaye]

I am not sure I get the reference to the sunroof......

But, I might argue that the airplane while operating on a public highway was merely an oversized vehicle and subject to the laws and regulations of the road.

[jjjenny]

If Allstate will evenually be paid the money from the airplane's insurance company, why must the customer pay the $1000.00 deductible?

[weblet]

The sunroof.... So you can watch above you too!

The deductable... Allstate is not sure if this is a covered incident (looking for a way out since it wasn't another car/truck) and so will make the customer pay until they are forced to...

[Ned]

I think the man from Montreal has a good point. His "collision deductible" should not come into play with this accident. Since he wasn't in an accident with a car his "comprehensive coverage" is what applies. "Direct compensation agreements" only apply to collisions, as Allstate has correctly pointed out, however, since the accident didn't involve another automobile, collision insurance is not what is used.

At Allstate's own web site at Auto Insurance Comprehensive Coverage (http://www.allstate.com/auto-insurance/comprehensive-coverage.aspx) it says, in part, "Comprehensive Coverage typically covers damage to your insured car not caused by collision (a covered accident with another car). This coverage typically includes, among other things, damage caused by falling objects, fire, theft and vandalism, explosion, earthquake and more."

If this isn't an accident caused by a "falling object" I don't know what else it would be. The engine was not functioning and the plane dropped out of the sky like a brick.

Now if he has a $1,000 deductible for "comprehensive" coverage then he has to cover the first $1,000, unless and until, he or the insurance company collect that money from the plane's owner or their insurance company. If he has no deductible on the "comprehensive" coverage, then Allstate should pay the entire bill immediately.

[jfrenaye]

But Ned, they do indeed do things differently in the Great White North

[bodega]

I would file this under the list titled, "Guilty Until Proven Otherwise".

Even with the obvious, until an investigation is complete, you pay the price for the wait.

[Ned]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jfrenaye @ Sep 22 2006, 11:25 AM) 37588</div>
But Ned, they do indeed do things differently in the Great White North
[/b]
I'm well aware of that, but at the same time, I was president, for almost 15 years, of Richmond Chemical Ltd., a specialty chemical manufacturer with offices in Toronto, and manufacturing in Hamilton. I split time between Toronto and Philadelphia (home office of parent corp.). I am well aware of the many differences between US and Canadian law and of the way insurance works in the two countries. As it turns out, with regard to how auto coverage works, there's little difference between the US and our northern neighbors on this. The basic framework of coverage is essentially the same.

[REDJIM]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(weblet @ Sep 22 2006, 09:38 AM) 37568</div>
I suppose there really is a good reason to have a sun roof...
[/b]

The only thing I can say is: "Lord, save me from a plane falling on my car!" :)