hunsfutz

As you may already know

paS2K

bummer

paS2K

Helen- Did you directly ask your insurance agent about this? It may be that only claims that were your fault (under collision coverage, etc) would void the "bonus" provision. It seems that the repairs for this incident would be paid under the "uninsured motorist" part of your policy....just a tree falling on the S would be covered by "comprehensive" part. The is no "fault" of yours involved in either of these types of claims. Let us know the full story when you find out....

Chazmo

I thought the driver of the other vehicle (and his/her insurance) is responsible for this Helen. I don't know what kind of BS insurance policy Luzerne has, but this should not cost you any money. You have every right to be steamed up.

ralper

Are you sure that the county doesn't self insure?

I would think that you'd have to put the claim in through your insurance company and your insurance company would recover the money from Luzerne County's insurance carrier or from Luzerne County itself. Regardless of what the agent claimes, Luzerne County is responsible for damage done by its employees.

Think about this for a moment. What if one of the employees, while on duty, was driving a county owned vehicle and struck and killed a pedestrian. Would the county only have to pay $500 deductable? Of course not. The victims attorney would sue and the county would be liable, whether or not they carried the appropriate insurance. Whether or not they carried the proper insurance would only determine who had to pay, not whether there was a libility. This is the case with your car. Your insurance company will pay to repair the damages and then collect the money from the county. I highly doubt that your insurance carrier would be willing to pay for the damages and not collect from the parties that were clearly to blame.

I doubt that your carrier will hold this against you.

Did you check with your carrier yet?

Blair Morrow

[QUOTE=ralper,Aug 15 2004, 02:33 PM] Are you sure that the county doesn't self insure?

I would think that you'd have to put the claim in through your insurance company and your insurance company would recover the money from Luzerne County's insurance carrier or from Luzerne County itself.

Legal Bill

I'm not your lawyer, I don't practice law in your state, I haven't researcehd the question, this isn't legal advice, you'ld be a fool to follow my advice, you should consult with a liscensed attorney in your area. This is just a few thought I had while reading your original post and I am sharing these thoughts with my buddies on the board.

I am assuming you are with a Mutual company and not a Stock company. You need to read the agreement and see if it spells out a distinction between claims paid by the company that are your fault or claims paid by the company that are not 100% recoverable. Just because the county is responsible doen't mean the damages are recoverable. They may have 100% soverign immunity in your state. In Mass, soverign immunity is altered by statute that allows injured folks to recover up to a certain dollar amount. Anything over that amount (used to be 25,000) is non recoverable. If your state has no such statute, or a lesser recoverable amount, you may be out of luck on a third party recovery action.

A mutual company is one where the policy holders are the company owners. Your policy makes you a member. Mutual companies often have a "profit sharing" type plan where the members get money back. Usually, this is based on how well the company performed that year, but I suppose you could have a plan based on dollars paid out to the policyholders in claims.

This issue isn't really about coverage. As you know, you are covered for you loss. This seems to be a seperate issue and may be part of a seperate agreement. I would find the exact wording and bring it to a lawyer if you have any questions. You may want to ask a lawyer anyway to see if the agreement is legal in the first place.

jankemi

I guy that works for me had a similar thing happen here in MN. He took the county to small claims court & won.

--Mike

Jim Sutherland

Legal Bill is right. Most states have waived sovereign immunity for states government agencies. Most state require written notice within a certain period of time. In Oregon, it 180 days. If the county was at fault, they should pay. Make a written claim. Most state also have a provision that if the claim is small, you can, after written demand get attorney fees. In Oregon, the amount is $5,000

Nickfromny

Self insured Counties often try this ruse in only offering to pay your deductable. Take County to Court. To any insurance Company an incident weather at fault or not is an incident. Someone filled out a claim form and it goes into the record book. If you have not filed the claim with cairred then you won't lose your rebates. Even though rebates are illegal in all states. Insurance rebating of premiums is illegal. Paying dividends back to policy holders after 18 to 36 months is a allowable and a standard practice on commercial policies. Sounds like you are in a dividend plan based on Company experience over a time period. You are bumped out of the divend caculation only if you have an incident. Promised amounts prior to the declartion of the dividend is illegal and false advertising, only estimates may be used. Good luck with those self insured Government Agencies. Agent is just a buffer. Small claims court is cheapest way to sue the county and I would go that route today. You need your estimate and $5 or $10 bucks to file in small claims court. Good luck.