Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with insurance and liability

Public Liability Insurance

ninazer0 — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:46:57 -0800

I need public liability insurance for a 1 day stall at a country church fete. Is there any Australian insurer who does this? The shortest term I can find is 3 months at $110 via AAMI. I have been given the run around all day and I'm at the end of my tether. All that I seem to have done today is write complaint letters about being given wrong info.

Any suggestions? $110 to run a jam stall at a tiny Church Fete seems utterly ridiculous. What are they going to do? Put an eye out with an exceptionally sharp marmalade?

Any suggestions? Because at this rate I'm ready to throw in the towel.

I Wanna Be Protected!

fourcheesemac — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:52:15 -0800

Can one buy a personal auto liability policy for rental cars that replaces or supplements LDW or liability supplement coverage offered by the rental agency? I travel constantly, and rent cars 20+ times per year as a result. However, I live in New York City and do not own a car, and hence possess no personal auto policy. Prior to moving here, I owned cars and trucks for 15 years, and have an extensive and good driving record across multiple states. I am, of course, licensed to drive in New York.

My credit card (Visa) covers the collision damage liability for the rental car itself as primary insurance in this situation, so I typically decline the CDW. In any case, it wouldn't break me to pay cash to replace the economy or compact cars I usually rent. So to be clear, this is not a question about coverage for damage to the rental vehicle itself. As far as I know, credit cards do not offer liability coverage at all (and many people are misinformed about this, in my experience, including some rental agents).

In some states in which I rent, the rental agency claims not to carry any liability insurance (in Indiana, Alamo and National have told me they are exempt from state minimums and that, in essence, a renter is required to either possess an auto liability policy or buy their liability supplement). In other cases, even where there is some liability coverage (ie, for damage done to other people and property in a hypothetical accident in which I was at fault), it's pathetically low given the risks one takes by pulling out of the airport parking area. So I usually buy whatever additional liability coverage is offered by the agency (still not great -- usually a 100K-200K overall limit). Tends to run 12-15 bucks per rental day. Usually you have to persist in asking for the liability coverage alone, and not as part of a package with the CDW and veterinary coverage for the family pet and every other little ripoff option.

I would like to buy my own policy that would simply cover me in any rental car in the US to the tune of half a million to a million bucks. Does such a policy exist? I've heard about general personal liability policies, but that seems like overkill to me.

I am having a devil of a time searching for this on the net because any combination of keywords pulls up endless bitching about the CDW/LDW policies of the various rental agencies.

Even when I travel on business and supp. insurance is covered by my employer, I'd love to have a personal policy for increased protection. Like I said, it's pretty easy to imagine doing 100K worth of hurt backing into someone's outside wall, for crying out loud.

Seems like an obvious product for business travelers, no?

Rental Car Accident filter

spacefire — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 06:43:10 -0800

Hertz fender bender, do I need to file police report, and am I covered? I backing up out of my parents driveway, I hit my mom's car with the rear of my Hertz rental car. Dents and scratches , but no other damage. I have Liability Insurance supplement but no Loss Damage Waiver as that should be taken care of by Visa since I rented using my Visa card. Should we file a police report?

Another question, related: The liability protection states, quote:
Within the limits stated in this subparagraph, hertz will indemnify, hold harmless....which by definition EXCLUDES ANY OF YOUR OR ANY AUTHORIZED OPERATOR'S FAMILY MEMBERS...RESIDING WITH YOU OR THEM..."
I don't live with my parents, I was just visiting, will the liability thing cover the damage to my mother's car?

Am I Liable for this Accident?

Anonymous — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 21:36:15 -0800

Liability filter: I was involved in accident and need to know if I will be held liable. I was sitting in a taxi in heavy traffic, but was very close to my destination. I told the driver I would just get out then and there. He said ok. I paid him, then opened the door and WHAM a bicyclist went flying through the air. He may have broken an arm, possibly dislocated a shoulder, and his bike was damaged. But he was conscious, and I don't think he'll require surgery. I saw no blood. An ambulance came. I gave his brother, who was riding with him, $80 for the ambulance, as well as my drivers license number and phone number. I want to help, but I also want to know where I stand: if I am liable, if I can have a claim filed against me, if I can be sued, etc. Presumably the cab company might be liable instead of me? I don't have insurance.

How to manage two consecutive car accidents?

fermion — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 16:03:28 -0800

My parked car got hit by a truck. Then, before I could get it fixed, it got hit by another truck. How do I handle two claims at once? The first accident was a couple of months ago--a truck hit my parked car and ripped my rear bumper halfway off. The wheels of paperwork have been grinding slowly, partly just because I've been busy, so I'm still working things out with that insurance company and hadn't fixed the damage yet. This morning, a garbage truck hit my (again, parked--I haven't driven it at all for a few months) car and did some damage to the door and mirrors, as well as taking my bumper the rest of the way off.

What do I tell the garbage truck's insurance company about this most recent incident? I don't want to get compensated for the same damages twice, but I also don't want to give them an excuse to claim all the damage was pre-existing. I know that the appropriate actions in situations like this can be counter-intuitive, so I'm hoping you folks can give me some advice.

Potentially relevant info: I'm in Washington State, and my insurance is liability-only (it's an old car) so I'm dealing with the other insurance companies directly rather than through my own insurer.

cheap auto liability insurance

lgyre — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 15:35:17 -0800

Where can I get cheap auto liability insurance for an older vehicle? I want the minimum auto insurance required by law in PA, which is liability. We used to have Esurance, which I was happy with, but they seem to only cover cars made since 1981, and our new vehicle is a 1980. I know I can get quotes online, but I'm not sure where to start. Do you know a company with cheap rates that offers just liability coverage on a vehicle that old?

Freelance liability insurance is making my head hurt.

Stacey — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:52:39 -0800

I'm a small freelance business owner, with a new client whose standard contract requires me to carry general liability insurance. Probably not a bad idea, so I could use some tips for what to look for in this type of insurance, and any good carriers. But in the meanwhile, for this specific contract, I'd like to get that clause waived. Has anyone had any success having a clause like this waived, and how did you do it? I run a small copy-editing business part-time. Liability insurance hasn't been an issue up until now. Clients aren't on my property, I'm not on theirs, no one's traveling anywhere, they make all final decisions on whether to accept my suggestions...it just hasn't been a high priority and no one's asked about it before. But my new client is so happy with the job I just did that he wants to get me signed up as a contractor at his university so he can hire me again. Which is great, but there's this boilerplate language in the contract about how I need to carry all sorts of insurance - the general liability, plus workers' comp, employer's liability, and automobile liability.

Ultimately, if I can afford it, it's probably not a bad idea to have this sort of insurance. I'd like to start looking into it, and would gladly accept suggestions for companies that might have a reasonably-priced insurance policy for this sort of business. (I've looked around a little so far and the policies I'm finding seem to assume full-time employees, property, and 6-figure revenues, which is all way out of my league right now.)

In the short-term, I'd like to get paid for the job I've already done (which was originally supposed to be a one-off and thus not require all of this), and have time to look around for good insurance rather than jumping into the first thing I find just so I can satisfy this contract. A little Googling led me to some stories of editors who were able to have clauses like this waived after pointing out they don't really apply to businesses like mine. I'd like to try that tack and am looking for advice on how to proceed. Has anyone successfully had something like this waived in a contract? If so, what arguments were persuasive?

Insurance claim against other driver denied. So what now?

Anonymous — Sun, 18 May 2008 17:18:30 -0800

Insurance claim against other driver denied. So what now? Two weeks ago my step daughter was involved in a collision. She was turning left at a four way stop, and was hit in the passenger side rear door by someone going straight on. She said she had let someone else through, then was taking her turn when he hit her.

The other driver said he was taking his turn, and she pulled in front of him. He also said that he was traveling at less than 5mph when he hit her. The police officer obviously didn't agree, asked him twice if he was sure of that, and suggested he look at our car before answering. One look at the damage made it obvious he was going a lot faster. (This is a fairly large intersection, so it is possible to build up speed, especially from a rolling stop).

He was ticketed, my step daughter was not.

Now his insurance company (Farmers) has denied our claim, saying he has a witness (who my stepdaughter never saw, and who did not talk to the police), who says that he had the right of way.

Our insurance company are now saying that they might pay his claim against her, and are no help for our claim as we had 3rd party insurance.

So now we have a written off car, a bill for towing and storage that is growing rapidly, and face future higher premiums.

So what do we do now?
Do I pay the $600 storage to get the lien off the car, sell it to a junkyard?
Sue Farmers?
Go to the other driver's court date?

(Oh, this is in Oregon)

what do we ask a contractor and how do we ask it?

amfea — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:53:02 -0800

What kind of things do you need to ask a home remodeling contractor, like about liability insurance, bonding and all that? How do you approach this with them? Do you take their word for it or demand proof? My roommate is planning to have some remodeling done on the house (which she owns). Until now, her dad has been able to do all the fixin' up here, but this is a total bathroom replacement and more than he'd be able to do. So we need to find a contractor.

I don't think we'll have any problems finding people through referrals (most of our friends have had work done on their houses and most have been happy with it). But what sort of questions do we need to ask to make sure things will go smoothly, and most importantly, to make sure she's (or we?) is/are covered against damages and lawsuits?

Any advice about

Tiny Accident, They're Claiming Injuries, How Screwed Am I?

jimmyjimjim — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 08:38:50 -0800

Tiny Accident, They're Claiming Injuries, How Screwed Am I? Last week, I had an accident. I was waiting to turn right behind a van, also waiting to turn. He went, then jammed on brakes. I braked, but couldn't avoid hitting him. Minimal damage for him, none for me. It was maybe at 5-10 mph. The guys in the van - who spoke no English - kept pointing accusingly at their necks and backs...while walking around freely, comfortably, and without any evident pain (and, no, they didn't need an ambulance). I, stupidly, did not photograph the back of their van, and the police report does not go into any description of how minimal he damage was to their van. I have on my to-do list purchase of an umbrella policy, but currently have $100K in insurance. So....if these guys do a number on their van to blow up the size of the accident, and manage to produce doctor's reports testifying to their utter paralysis, is there a chance this could go over $100K? I'm guessing they'll wind up settling, and that's usually $10-20K, right? I need to note that if there was even the remotest chance they were legitimately injured, I'd be really upset about it. But, no, these guys are just opportunists. I'm expecting a hugely overblown medical report.

This isn't the kind og turkey I had in mind.

4ster — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 12:01:11 -0800

A guy driving his son's car backs into my wife's van, while my wife's dad is driving it. The guy admits fault, then changes his mind and his story. My in-laws never thought to file a police report or get contact information from the witness. Now we think that the vehicle that hit us may be uninsured. It all happened on private property. Help. This all takes place in Virginia. My inlaws are in the minivan, bringing it home to us from the mechanic. There is an accident on the interstate, so they pull off the interstate onto a back road, where in a vacant lot, they see two guys, each in a pickup, talking out the window.

One of the pickup guys leaves and my father-in-law pulls into the spot where he was (alongside the other pickup) to ask the guy in the other pickup for directions. While he is doing this, the first guy decides he wants to tell his budy something else, so he throws it into reverse and backs into our van, despite the fact that my father-in-law is laying on the horn.

He breaks the hood and the grill, and is falling all over himself apologizing and admitting fault. Yet, my in-laws don't file a police report.

They call the guy's insurance, who calls the guy, who admits fault. Then, about five minutes later, he decides its his word against ours, so he calls and files a separate claim, saying my father-in-law hit him. His insurance company has told us that he did this.

Now, he refuses to give us any information on how to contact his son, the vehicle's owner, and he says he is really the victim here. To make matters worse, his insurance company is now saying that his son's vehicle isn't on the policy.

It looks like my only option is to go through my insurance company, but I really don't want to do this, if I can avoid it.

So, MeFites, please put on your IANAL outfits and help me out. Thanks as always.

Event Liability Insurance Recommendations

curse — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 13:08:48 -0800

Wedding liability insurance. We're hosting a ceremony at a local school, and they require liability insurance for the day of the event at $100K. When I look online, it seems like some insurance companies will offer a one day policy option add-on for around $50 -- unfortunately my insurance company (Allstate) doesn't seem to offer that option. I've seen companies like Wedsafe mentioned tangentially in other questions, and it looks like their offering is $1,000,000 in coverage for about $195. There seems to be a ton of people offering this kind of insurance online, though, so I was wondering if anyone has had experience working with one of these companies, and if there might be a better deal out there, perhaps customized to the actual liability amount I need.

Does being a dependent on someone else's tax filings make them liable for your actions?

jbb7 — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 21:55:26 -0800

Legal liability and auto insurance questions (fun!): Is there any reason I should purchase more than the minimum insurance coverage in my state (California)? Does being a dependent on my parents' tax filings make them liable for damages in court if I, say, caused an automobile accident? The situation is like this: They have car insurance back in our home state, but I want to get a cheap policy for a cheap car where I'm living in CA. I got a Geico quote with the minimum legal coverage on everything, and my mom says I can't get that, since they would be personally liable for any damages I cause should they exceed what the insurance covers.

The reason she gave was that since I am a dependent on their tax forms, they are legally liable for my actions. (Even though I am 18 and not living at, or anywhere near, home.) Is this true?

Bonus question: Since they claim me as a dependent, I can't take the standard tax deduction on my decent-sized income. This makes my tax bills quite high as a percentage of my total income. They do not financially support me beyond extending their health insurance to me, which they say is only allowed by the insurance provider because they are claiming me as a dependent. Is this generally the way that parents of people 18 through 22 do it? (I am working this year but will be attending college for 4 years after that, during which I plan to have decent income.) I don't think my parents are trying to rip me off, I just think they don't really have time to figure out all of this and so they just stick with the status quo.

is legal insurance a good idea or is it not worth the money?

krautland — Fri, 18 Aug 2006 14:21:17 -0800

is legal insurance a good idea or is it not worth the money? this is a question about legal insurance plans. you might have seen them around, aragdirect.com offers what they call comprehensive coverage, so does hyatt legal plans and a few others. but are they worth the $400 annually (or $35 per month)?

let's face it, we do live in a litigation happy country. I myself would be happy to retain council every time I felt wronged (I am especially thinking of all the cable and phone companies in this world) but retaining council involves considerable cost and effort, which is why I never do. I feel it's only a matter of time until someone swipes my photos off flickr or sues me because of something in my blog and I would like to be prepared to respond without having to come up with ten grand out of nowhere in no time. having just dealt with id-theft myself, the idea of having someone on standby is even more intriguing. but do these plans work or are they another empty promise?

How to keep people from suing my start-up business

acoutu — Fri, 23 Sep 2005 11:08:20 -0800

BusinessLiabilityFilter -- Do we need product liability insurance for our start-up mail order business that sells repackaged craft supplies to kids? My husband and I are looking at starting a business that offers craft kits for kids by subscription. We'd take basic supplies -- a few pipecleaners, string, paper, stickers, sandpaper, whatever -- and provide instructions for making a craft. These supplies can be purchased at any craft or dollar store or even Wal-Mart. We wonder if we create a liability for ourselves, such as if a kid stabs herself with a pipecleaner. We were planning to include a note that says parents are best able to determine age appropriateness of crafts -- and we're gearing our kits to four- to eight-year-olds. If we are potentially liable, we want to know the best way to protect ourselves -- incorporation, insurance or something else. We're in Canada, but would sell 90%+ to US customers, if that helps. Thanks.

We need insurance for our non-profit organization.

F Mackenzie — Wed, 19 Jan 2005 20:26:19 -0800

Does anyone have experience with non-profit liability insurance policies? We're looking at a general liability policy for our small non-profit, plus liability coverage for individual board members.

Help me salvage this situation...

knave — Mon, 03 Jan 2005 13:49:25 -0800

My car was broken into two nights ago, while we ate dinner at a restaurant. There is extensive damage, and I only have liability insurance on my car. Is there any way I can get compensation? The thoughtful felon who broke into the car smashed the passenger window. However, he apparently missed on his first swing because he put a hole in the door too. Estimated $800 to fix the door and window.

The stereo was forceably removed ($150 CD player), CDs were stolen, and about $200 worth of interior trim was destroyed in the process. So, I'm looking at a total of $1200 worth of damage, and I can't really afford this!

Does the restaurant possibly have insurance to cover such events? Does the fact that I am a homeowner, with insurance, help? I know for a fact that my car insurance provider will not help.