Who's Responsible

[PhoenixRNight]

I live in Massachusetts, and I bought a car. I took possesion of the car on a sat. I called my insurance on mon to switch the insurance. My old ins was basic with liability. I got full coverage on the new car. The dealership hadnt registered the car til wed.

The problem is a tree branch fell on my roof on tues, tree trimmers were clearing the wires from a storm. When I came outside that morn i saw the damage and i was pissed. My new car, my ins company says that i didnt own the car yet, and therefor the dealership is resonsible for the damage. The Dealership tells me that i have a 7 day grace period from taking possesion of the car, that my ins will cover it. My ins company said I woulod have that grace period if my previous policy had been full coverage.

I've got $900+ worth of damage to my roof. Who is actually responsible and how do i prove that they are responsible to pay for it.

 

[Josh]

Best thing you can do is talk to an agent in your state, so you might want to pick up the phone and fine one in Massachusetts, mostly because it's a funny state and this can vary a bit. That being said:

You can't insure something that isn't yours. If the car wasn't titled to you, then you don't have an insurable interest so when you called Monday to add it, it couldn't take effect. That's a general insurance rule and is pretty consistent across state lines. For example, I can't take out a policy on my neighbors car and file a claim when he damages it because I have no insurable interest. That's probably what they're debating. The dealer most likely doesn't know jack about insurance and that's fine, it's not really their job.

That 7 day grace period is sort of a funny rule and it does change by state, but the general concept is if they titled the car to you (i.e., you owned it and therefore had insurable interest) but you didn't call your insurance company for up to 7 days after that happened, you're covered (at least as they're explaining the grace period in MA). The real question is going to come down to when you took ownership of the vehicle, which might mean as little as they gave you the keys or it might not be "legal" until they actually register the car and it gets titled to you. If I were you I'd call your insurance company and ask if they believe you had possession of the vehicle at the time. If you called Monday (now having full coverage) and Tuesday there was damage, but it wasn't really "your" car until Wednesday, you're insurance couldn't cover it.

I rephrased it a few times in there, but do you get the general concept and at least understand what the question hinges on?

 

[FedUpWithIMOs]

You do have to have an insurable interest. However, that does not necessarily mean ownership. According to contractual law, if you paid for the car (signed a bill of sale or loan agreement, made a downpayment, etc.), and the goods (car) were delivered to you, you have legal ownership. Paperwork beyond that is just a technicality. Registration does not constitute ownership. Provided the policy was issued on Monday, or at least you added the car and set a draft date for the payment, the insurance company is liable. Of course, they're going to do their due dilligence to make sure they have to pay. Or rather, make sure they can't somehow get out of paying. If they can convince you they're not liable, you'll stop trying to collect, and they win.

 

[xrac]

Who is the insurance company? Did the tree trimmers drop this limb on your car?

 

[VolAgent]

Yes, let's not forget the tree trimmers. Above and beyond who owned the car and was able to insure it, the tree trimmers have a responsibility to act in a safe manner. Odds are, they are contractors and so have no shield from liability that a government agency might have. Of course, I would think even a government agency would be liable for its actions in this case, but that is another story.

Find out who the tree trimming company was and go after its insurance as well.

 

[Insurance-Guy]

The tree trimmers or the tree trimmers insurance should cover this... they dropped the limbs on your car...right?

 

[PhoenixRNight]

I havent a clue who the trimmers were, there was an ice storm and the leaves were still on the trees so there was alot of damage to the trees, and they trimmed the trees a few days after the storms. I tried to contact city hall to see if they could tell me who was trimming my street. They said that there were contracters working for the city, the phone and the cable companies, and it was very unlikely, especially without seeing it happen myself, finding out which exact company, and which exact team was working my street that day.

Traveler's is my ins company.

I had signed the papaerwork, and also had made my down payment.

If the ins company is responsible, how do i get them to actually pay?

 

[Josh]

I'd ignore the tree trimmers. If there was a storm then the storm was probably to blame. I wouldn't make an issue of that unless the insurance company does.

Did you file a claim with travelers yet? Or did you just talk to them. If you called about it Monday and the accident happened Tuesday, then like it or not they should pay for it.

 

[djs]

This is the type of claim MANY people will get the liability wrong. Its a bit more convuluted than it sounds.

Tree trimmers - unlikely any liability here. Unless they cut the branch that fell on your car (unlikely), then how would they have any responsibility? Don't waste your time chasing them. They were working on power line stuff anyway, not branches away from the power lines.

City owns the trees, probably, still not liable. Okay, even if the tree was on private property, the owner of the property (and the tree) would not be liable. It was the wind and icestorm that caused the problem, not the owner, unless the tree was faulty, i.e., dead and not taken care of.

In essence, the fault is an act of nature. One of the things you have to bear the responsibility for yourself, or, in your case, have your insurance take care of it.

Now, you have to look at ownership of the car, since the owner is the one that suffered the loss and therefor, thier insurance company is responsible to pay the damage (subject to deductible and propery coverages being in place). If you signed the bill of sale, you own the car. Doesn't matter that the dealer did not change the registration yet. They won't do this until financing is in place anyway. If you didn't sign for the car, the dealer still owns the car and they are responsible to file the claim.

To get your insurance company to pay, simply provide them a copy of your bill of sale and if you have it, confirmation of the addition of the car to your insurance (they have this, don't sweat it). Their issue is that any claim that happens within 24 hours of adding coverage is always, always, always suspect. If you have a picture of the car from when you bought it that clearly shows the damage didn't already exist, it will help. If you have a picture (date stamped) that shows the tree branch sitting on top of the car, it will also help.

Expect your insurance company to do a bit of a coverage investigation on this claim. This will happen, it takes a few days, but because it was a new change on your policy that materially affects the payment, some computer will kick it out for a person to look at before the claim gets processed. This is standard, don't sweat it.

Dan

 

[tjeyoyo]

The problem is a tree branch fell on my roof on tues, tree trimmers were clearing the wires from a storm.

I am amazed at the responses telling you that the tree trimmer is not responsible and don't go after them.

Your statement "a tree branch fell on my roof" is definitely not specific enought to tell us if that happened while the tree trimmers were removing it. IF the tree trimmers were removing it they absolutely have the responsbility of doing so safely without causing any bodily injury or property damage. The municipality has to have records of whomever was doing the work as they are responsible for their subcontractors. If they don't have records, they should pay for your car (assuming their sub dropped the branch on your roof).