Son in no-fault accident using personal car to run errand

by petrofyed » Tue May 04, 2010 06:56 pm

my son was in an accident (not at fault) while using his personal vehicle to run an errand for his boss. This is not something that occurs regularly. Anyhow, his vehicle was totalled in the accident and he only had the car 3 months after putting $2500 down on it. Now, he's out his deposit even though his car has been paid off. Does his boss hold any liability for this accident or the loss of his car? To my knowledge, his boss does not have 'company' vehicles and thus i would assume that he doesn't have an insurance policy for that as it is a small business....I'm in Texas if that info is needed.

Total Comments: 2

Posted: Tue May 04, 2010 09:38 pm Post Subject:

Asking if insurance would apply is one thing. The employer would need to be liable for the damage to your son's vehicle in order for his liability insurance to apply. I don't see that as being the case. The employers collision insurance is not going to apply as he does not insure your son's vehicle. So in this case the employer's insurance would not apply... your son's insurance would be primary for the damage to his own vehicle.

Regardless, the employer or his insurance would not have any more responsibility to your son then your son's carrier. The most they would either owe is for the value of the vehicle... which is being addressed. If your son bought a vehicle that was worth $6000 and put $2500 down, he should be paid $6000. Now if he paid $8000 for a $6000 vehicle then he's going to "loose" that deposit. But this is only because he paid too much for the vehicle.

Posted: Wed May 05, 2010 08:00 pm Post Subject:

if the accident was your son's fault, employer could have some issues. also, there could be some liabilty impossed on the employer if he was injured while running a company errand, their could be additional exposure to either the general liabilty policy and/or workers comp.

since your son was not at fault, i dont see the employer coming into play. especially with no injuries. you should be able to collect all applicable damages from the at fault carrier.

i'm w/ tcope regarding the payout on your son's car. they're required to pay out what ever the car is worth, what he paid or how much he put down doesnt have anything to do with the car's value.

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