by Guest » Mon Oct 29, 2012 10:22 am
Had an accident few days ago, a minor one though. Didn't have a lot of damages, just a minor bump in the rear and scratches. However, I had my laptop in the car which fell down and was damaged. Will my auto insurance pay for it or my home insurance?
Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2012 12:44 pm Post Subject:
Auto won't cover it... home will. Deductible applies.
Posted: Wed Oct 31, 2012 01:29 am Post Subject:
You can also pursue damages from the responsible parties (i.e. the operator, owner, and liability insurance carrier for the offending vehicle)
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 09:04 am Post Subject:
home will.
Probably correct, but there can be a limit of $1000-$2000 for lost/stolen/damaged computers.
Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2012 11:36 pm Post Subject:
Homeowner policies (other than an HO5 or HO-15 endorsement) will cover your personal property on a "named perils" basis, and "vehicles" are one of the named perils. The policy states that "We (the insurer) insure for direct physical loss to the property described in Coverage C (unscheduled personal property) caused by any of the following perils unless the loss is excluded in Section I - Exclusions."
Notice that the language specifically requires that the loss be a "direct physical loss to the property." This is where the other experts (I hope) will chime in:
I don't know if I would consider this a "direct" or "indirect" loss. I feel that the direct loss is the car accident, and as a result of the accident, the computer was (indirectly) damaged.
I'm curious to know if anyone else has anything to say here?
Assuming your agent placed the homeowner coverage with replacement cost for your personal property, and they accept liability for the damage to the computer, the likelihood that your loss will exceed your deductible isn't that high, considering the cost of laptops today. Unless yours was a rocket ship or some Alienware computer (waaaay overpriced), it isn't likely that the loss value would exceed your homeowner policy deductible, which is likely $500 or $1000.
Have you priced the repair? Laptop repairs are normally expensive and it's typically cheaper to buy a new one than repair the old one....
InsTeacher 8)
Add your comment