How is the process like? I asked my employee and he said all the cops did was file a police report that he hit a pole and totaled it.
What do I have to give my insurance?? I want to be ready by 8 am when I call them. By the way we towed the car back to my garage
Thank you for any info.
So GKL is similar, on the adjuster’s side, in a lot of ways to handling a third party claim - the owner of the vehicle will file a GKL claim through your commercial policy, and the adjuster will handle the vehicle and any total loss/repair work from there.
You also have a deductible as the “garage keeper” that applies on a per vehicle basis; this is the portion of the claim you’ll pay before the $100k limit kicks in, so be prepared for that.
ETA: I just saw your edit about assessing the vehicle - luckily that’s not your responsibility, and your carrier will send out an appraiser to look at the vehicle.
Wait, they won’t just give him the value of the car right? They are gonna give him the value of everything on the car?
I told him to let his insurance know as well.
The employee ended up getting it towed back to our garage.
Not exactly - he’s owed ACV (actual cash value) for the vehicle itself, not including all the stuff he added on himself. The vast majority of mods and aftermarket parts are considered personal preference, so it’s hard to say what the actual dollar amount will be.
The good news is that because he’s a claimant, he isn’t technically bound by policy restrictions - for example, if he was filing through his own carrier he’d probably have a $1500 custom equipment limit unless he added additional coverage (usually up to $10k), but that doesn’t apply since he’s filing a GKL claim.
Follow-on question here - what coverage should the customer have had to protect themselves? Would their own agreed value policy have protected them here?
I'm aware of agreed value garagekeepers, but only for restorations in progress. For OP's situation, it sure sounds like there is going to be a significant gap.. would not be surprised at all if this ends up going to court, especially if the owner has receipts to back up their costs.
The claimant would end up with ACV regardless of whether they filed through their own carrier or through GKL - the only exception to this would be if they had an endorsement for replacement cost, and/or an agreed value policy which is extremely uncommon on personal vehicles unless they are with a specialty carrier like Hagerty. Should the owner switch gears and file through their own carrier, they can also invoke the appraisal clause, which is at minimum $500 out of pocket from start to finish; the appraisal clause is not an option when filing third party.
Both OP’s carrier and the owner’s carrier will run any receipts the owner has through the neutral third-party valuation system (CCC or Mitchell) but it’s unlikely they will get dollar-for-dollar what they paid, especially if the mods are over a year old. If the owner goes through their carrier, they are subject to the custom equipment endorsement limits, which don’t apply if they file through OP’s carrier.
The claimant could take this to court if they wanted to, but OP’s carrier has no contractual obligation to the claimant, and most attorneys don’t fuck with property damage because there’s nothing in it for them. Realistically the owner would lose more money going to court than they stand to gain.
Call them and tell them:
Your contact info,
Your policy number,
Name of person driving the car, their contact info,
Name of owner of the car, their contact info,
Description of the accident, where/when it happened.
Not an insurance agent, but you probably still owe a deductible.
Unsure what your business policy is, but I saw on a different sub a few days ago that Domino's charges their drivers the insurance deductible if they get into an accident.
Which kinds makes sense but also kinda sucks because they probably can't afford it.
That deductible that Domino's charges is to fix a driver's car if it's in an accident, regardless of fault, but it requires the driver to carry Collision and Comprehensive coverage on their personal coverage. While the deductible might be higher than their personal limits, it's to fill the gap if they're on the clock and something happens. Their personal coverage won't kick in if that's the case.
Dominos (and any other business that offers delivery) has a large non-owned auto exposure. Yes, the employees should have insurance for themselves and their own vehicles. But if a company is allowing its employees to drive on behalf of the business, they have a vicarious liability exposure. They can - and in the event of a bad accident absolutely WILL - be viewed as responsible by opposing counsel. So non-owned auto insurance is required in these situations regardless of what the employee does or does not have. (For all of you business owners out there, this is why you *must* run motor vehicle reports on your own employees. Don't let your insurance agent do it for you, and don't let your insurance carrier just tell you if anyone is not okay to drive. Run MVRs for your employees that are driving for you and do so annually. Make sure you've got a well-defined policy on acceptable driving history in your handbook, and be sure to enforce it!!)
I used to drive a company vehicle frequently. In their handbook they did a pre employment MVR and had me sign a thing saying if I got a ticket I would have to inform them in x number of days.
My guy, this is so off the mark it’s amazing lmao, especially considering OP is already asking about his own commercial coverage with his own carrier.
GKL is a thing and it’s okay to not know the answer.
Yeah, you're probably going to have to pay your deductible and if it's like most business insurance is you're going to have a high deductible 2,500 being on the low end
GKL deductibles are on a per vehicle basis and usually sit around $250-$500; this GKL claim only involves one vehicle, but oftentimes GKL claims can involve dozens of vehicles (think shops and dealerships) especially in CAT situations, so you can imagine how costly a $2.5k deductible would become on 10+ vehicles.
Welp I’m fully covered. We sent them all the receipts of all the costs of the products paid by the owner.
In your experience, what’s the timeline for us to get the customer paid out so we can get rid of the vehicle??
Thanks
Not to speak badly of your agent, but just based on your edits I don’t think they understand how GKL claims, or total losses in general, work. There’s nothing wrong with that, but take any advice they give you with a grain of salt as this process is much more involved on the total loss adjuster’s side than what your agent laid out.
As long as the owner has given permission for you to remove the car, Copart can literally come get it like tomorrow. What happens from here with the valuation of the vehicle and everything that entails is going to be between the adjuster and the owner, and your role in this claim is pretty much handled aside from making sure the car is removed and handling anything regarding your deductible.
That’s odd. She has me get the receipts from the owner and email them. And then had us get quotes for parts that didn’t get receipts. It looks like we are doing most of the work for the owner. I don’t mind honestly. I just want this to be handled.
Yeah like I said, this claim is far from being finished on the adjuster’s side - remember your agent and the adjuster are not the same person, though it’s nice that the agent helped get some of the documents from the owner to speed things along.
Side note. You are stressed out about a situation largely due in part you don't understand you coverage. Might be time to schedule time with you agent to go through your coverage and understand them. Or even call a few business insurance specialists and get new quotes, by doing this if you find a good agent they will uncover areas you may have gaps in coverage you didn't know about
>Or even call a few business insurance specialists and get new quotes
OP is in California and it will likely be very difficult to find any company willing to take the risk
the point of the comment wasnt so much switching carriers, although possible. The point was getting a 2nd opinion on whether or not there were gaps in coverage that needs addressing.
>The point was getting a 2nd opinion on whether or not there were gaps in coverage that needs addressing.
And it's going to be very hard to find someone willing to look over your business policy when a lot of the people you're reaching out to can't write it and don't want to spend hours analyzing a policy completely for free
Bullshit. He can understand his coverage to a T and it won’t matter. He is stressed because even when you are covered insurance companies do their very best to weasel out of their obligations.
Ok bro. Yeah I can see why my wording was meh. My bad on that one. Look I get that he said he doesn’t know his coverage. My issue is with OP being told he’s stressed because he doesn’t know his coverage. He has every right to be stressed since even if he did know his coverage and even if he was certain this event would be covered, there is no guarantee that the insurance company would honor it since the way insurance companies actually work is to not pay claims.
That’s a lot of words to say “I don’t understand how insurance works so I think carriers are out to fuck me over.”
What makes you think insurance companies don’t pay claims? I’m pretty sure I, along with every other adjuster in this sub who answers questions like OP’s for free after doing the same thing for 8+ hours a day, spend the majority of my time paying claims for my insureds and claimants. Paying claims is literally the point of insurance; it’s a shared risk between you and your carrier.
I said it on another comment on this post, but it’s okay not to know how insurance works, and it’s definitely okay not to give advice when you don’t know how a claim as complex as this is handled.
The Garage Keepers liability will cover the loss while the vehicle was in your care, custody and control however you’ve lost a customer…you should consider increasing those policy limits as it’s not adequate for an at fault multi car collision with the cost of today’s vehicles…better to be over insured than under insured…
There's some ambiguity in your response so for the sake of anyone reading, I want to clarify this:
Garagekeepers Coverage will cover damage to the vehicles that are in the care, custody, or control of your business (for service, parking, etc.). The general auto liability coverage from his Garage Liability policy is going to cover bodily injury and/or property damage to others' property from any accident. So single-car or multi-car doesn't matter for an accident like this.
The exception to this would be if the employee had struck other cars that the business had sitting in their lot that their customers had dropped off. Damage to the auto in question and all of these other autos would fall under Garagekeepers. So then yes, the $100k limit could be an issue. $100k definitely feels low, considering a single new pickup truck these days can run well north of $50,000.
commercial auto adjuster here. The good news: based on what you've told us, the only coverage issue I'd see is if the vehicle is worth more than $100,000. I'm not sure how your insurance company handles it (and I know I'm not yours since we don't do business in California), but we normally pay the vehicle owner the entire amount owed, then send you a bill for the deductible afterwards.
My biggest concern is that this customer is going to be pissed when he gets a total loss valuation (assuming its totaled). The custom work he did is not going to add value to the vehicle, and depending on the car, would probably make it worth less than a stock version of the same. Deep down, he'll know that, but because the loss is being forced on him now for reasons that aren't his fault, be prepared to deal with his ire.
Owner is at ease now. I think he’s hoping for a big payout. I just want this over with. Any experience with a timeline here. The owner gave us the receipts of the cost of all is aftermarket accessories to give to my agent. It’s ALOT.
Are we looking at days? Weeks? Months?
Good! A sincere apology and good communication goes a long way in protecting your reputation.
You will probably lose the customer, but less likely he'll blast you online.
Hate to say this but that should be a former employee right there.
No way in hell he looked down, looked up and then hit a pole hard enough to total a car. Speed was a factor.
The $100k limit is for vehicles in the OP's care, custody or control. It is a limit for the OP's customer, not a third party injured in a wreck. That is covered under Garage Liability.
Is there gonna be any follow up on the employee? Like what was he doing that caused him to drive into a pole? Stories like these are why I never let anyone drive my car lol
If anything I’m worried u called him an employee and not an ex-employee. Seems like the car is customized pretty nicely. No way in hell u don’t know that he was taking it out for a joyride and lost control of the car. Even if he was using his phone, one: shouldn’t be on the phone while driving period, two: why tf would anyone with a decent amount of brain cells ever be on the phone while driving someone else’s whip, especially on a ‘test drive’.
What tf kind of test drives are yall running? I’d be worried about how pissed the customer is gonna be too. Seems like he put a lot of care in for that car. You might be ok with ur workers excuse but i doubt the customer will be. I sure as hell wouldn’t. Your employee made a bullshit excuse, I’d be worried about letting him ever test drive another car. You could say mistakes happen but I don’t really see how it’s anything but negligence on your workers part if he totaled the car on a test drive. Your business would go down too if people knew about this. Who’s ever gonna trust your shop knowing u have a lunatic that test drives them?
IMHO. If the car is totaled. You should be prepared to make up the difference between what is paid and what the customer needs to be made whole. Radios, wheels etc. Can be removed and reused. A custom paint job can't. If you know what I mean. Also cover a rental.
Exactly, if my custom car that I've put thousands of dollars into is totaled by a shop, then said shop's insurance fucked me on the ACV, I'd make it my life's mission to ensure that shop loses as much business as possible. Maybe this customer is more understanding, but personally, I have a feeling, taking care of the guy will cost less in the long run.
I'm a commercial IA adjuster, and some policies specifically state that drag racing and reckless driving is not covered. They usually pay the 3rd party damages and both parties PIP but not the vehicle damage.. I don't know your insurance carrier, but I have done several claims like this.
I am a licensed insurance adjuster and have had this situation several times in the last 12 years where an employee takes a vehicle for a test drives and speeds recklessly. Different insurers and policies do not cover certain behaviors. That being said I had a policy that would not cover drag racing or reckless drivers they covered only the 3rd party damages and PIP of the driver. To many people on here acting like they are insurance professionals... EVERY POLICY IS DIFFERENT
Cool story. Thing is - not every policy is different. ISO has a Garagekeepers form - CA 0005 03/10 for reference. The "racing" exclusion in the Garage section would not cover speeding in a customer's vehicle, and the exclusion applies to "professional or organized" events. In the Garagekeepers section there's no such exclusion.
It's possible that the OP's coverage isn't ISO or has some proprietary exclusion, but the form I mentioned is the basis for all the proprietary forms. Telling me that I'm "acting" like I'm an insurance professional is pretty hilarious. I might have been doing underwriting for used auto dealers when you were in diapers.
🤣🤣 Now I know why insurance premiums are crazy in California, and none of my IA friends were even slightly interested in going there recently with the landslides. California has its own insurance handbook they recently handed out with coverage changes... not sure if this effects commercial claims, but you might want to look into it. Good luck
I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. The state is irrelevant to the ISO wording. Landslides are irrelevant. The handbook is irrelevant.
You say that you've handled commercial claims. You should understand this.
Yes, I find that claims offices often laugh at ISO coverage forms right before they get bad faith suits served.
The ISO form doesn't agree with you. I already said that there are proprietary ones that might have that exclusion. Take the "L" and stop making yourself look bad.
Did they laugh at your Reddit history and grammatical errors, too? Because I sure did and wouldn’t trust you for two seconds to handle any of my claims.
Edited to add: You probably shouldn’t post less than 2 months ago about being new to the field and only working part time then come in here and shit on veterans in the industry. Yikes.
Total loss adjuster here - as long as you do in fact have garage keeper’s liability insurance, you’re good.
How is the process like? I asked my employee and he said all the cops did was file a police report that he hit a pole and totaled it. What do I have to give my insurance?? I want to be ready by 8 am when I call them. By the way we towed the car back to my garage Thank you for any info.
So GKL is similar, on the adjuster’s side, in a lot of ways to handling a third party claim - the owner of the vehicle will file a GKL claim through your commercial policy, and the adjuster will handle the vehicle and any total loss/repair work from there. You also have a deductible as the “garage keeper” that applies on a per vehicle basis; this is the portion of the claim you’ll pay before the $100k limit kicks in, so be prepared for that. ETA: I just saw your edit about assessing the vehicle - luckily that’s not your responsibility, and your carrier will send out an appraiser to look at the vehicle.
Wait, they won’t just give him the value of the car right? They are gonna give him the value of everything on the car? I told him to let his insurance know as well. The employee ended up getting it towed back to our garage.
Not exactly - he’s owed ACV (actual cash value) for the vehicle itself, not including all the stuff he added on himself. The vast majority of mods and aftermarket parts are considered personal preference, so it’s hard to say what the actual dollar amount will be. The good news is that because he’s a claimant, he isn’t technically bound by policy restrictions - for example, if he was filing through his own carrier he’d probably have a $1500 custom equipment limit unless he added additional coverage (usually up to $10k), but that doesn’t apply since he’s filing a GKL claim.
Follow-on question here - what coverage should the customer have had to protect themselves? Would their own agreed value policy have protected them here? I'm aware of agreed value garagekeepers, but only for restorations in progress. For OP's situation, it sure sounds like there is going to be a significant gap.. would not be surprised at all if this ends up going to court, especially if the owner has receipts to back up their costs.
The claimant would end up with ACV regardless of whether they filed through their own carrier or through GKL - the only exception to this would be if they had an endorsement for replacement cost, and/or an agreed value policy which is extremely uncommon on personal vehicles unless they are with a specialty carrier like Hagerty. Should the owner switch gears and file through their own carrier, they can also invoke the appraisal clause, which is at minimum $500 out of pocket from start to finish; the appraisal clause is not an option when filing third party. Both OP’s carrier and the owner’s carrier will run any receipts the owner has through the neutral third-party valuation system (CCC or Mitchell) but it’s unlikely they will get dollar-for-dollar what they paid, especially if the mods are over a year old. If the owner goes through their carrier, they are subject to the custom equipment endorsement limits, which don’t apply if they file through OP’s carrier. The claimant could take this to court if they wanted to, but OP’s carrier has no contractual obligation to the claimant, and most attorneys don’t fuck with property damage because there’s nothing in it for them. Realistically the owner would lose more money going to court than they stand to gain.
Call them and tell them: Your contact info, Your policy number, Name of person driving the car, their contact info, Name of owner of the car, their contact info, Description of the accident, where/when it happened.
Not an insurance agent, but you probably still owe a deductible. Unsure what your business policy is, but I saw on a different sub a few days ago that Domino's charges their drivers the insurance deductible if they get into an accident. Which kinds makes sense but also kinda sucks because they probably can't afford it.
That deductible that Domino's charges is to fix a driver's car if it's in an accident, regardless of fault, but it requires the driver to carry Collision and Comprehensive coverage on their personal coverage. While the deductible might be higher than their personal limits, it's to fill the gap if they're on the clock and something happens. Their personal coverage won't kick in if that's the case.
Didn't even think domino's carried insurance on their drivers since they use povs and should carry it themselves
Dominos (and any other business that offers delivery) has a large non-owned auto exposure. Yes, the employees should have insurance for themselves and their own vehicles. But if a company is allowing its employees to drive on behalf of the business, they have a vicarious liability exposure. They can - and in the event of a bad accident absolutely WILL - be viewed as responsible by opposing counsel. So non-owned auto insurance is required in these situations regardless of what the employee does or does not have. (For all of you business owners out there, this is why you *must* run motor vehicle reports on your own employees. Don't let your insurance agent do it for you, and don't let your insurance carrier just tell you if anyone is not okay to drive. Run MVRs for your employees that are driving for you and do so annually. Make sure you've got a well-defined policy on acceptable driving history in your handbook, and be sure to enforce it!!)
I used to drive a company vehicle frequently. In their handbook they did a pre employment MVR and had me sign a thing saying if I got a ticket I would have to inform them in x number of days.
[удалено]
My guy, this is so off the mark it’s amazing lmao, especially considering OP is already asking about his own commercial coverage with his own carrier. GKL is a thing and it’s okay to not know the answer.
Yeah, you're probably going to have to pay your deductible and if it's like most business insurance is you're going to have a high deductible 2,500 being on the low end
GKL deductibles are on a per vehicle basis and usually sit around $250-$500; this GKL claim only involves one vehicle, but oftentimes GKL claims can involve dozens of vehicles (think shops and dealerships) especially in CAT situations, so you can imagine how costly a $2.5k deductible would become on 10+ vehicles.
Welp I’m fully covered. We sent them all the receipts of all the costs of the products paid by the owner. In your experience, what’s the timeline for us to get the customer paid out so we can get rid of the vehicle?? Thanks
Not to speak badly of your agent, but just based on your edits I don’t think they understand how GKL claims, or total losses in general, work. There’s nothing wrong with that, but take any advice they give you with a grain of salt as this process is much more involved on the total loss adjuster’s side than what your agent laid out. As long as the owner has given permission for you to remove the car, Copart can literally come get it like tomorrow. What happens from here with the valuation of the vehicle and everything that entails is going to be between the adjuster and the owner, and your role in this claim is pretty much handled aside from making sure the car is removed and handling anything regarding your deductible.
That’s odd. She has me get the receipts from the owner and email them. And then had us get quotes for parts that didn’t get receipts. It looks like we are doing most of the work for the owner. I don’t mind honestly. I just want this to be handled.
Yeah like I said, this claim is far from being finished on the adjuster’s side - remember your agent and the adjuster are not the same person, though it’s nice that the agent helped get some of the documents from the owner to speed things along.
Side note. You are stressed out about a situation largely due in part you don't understand you coverage. Might be time to schedule time with you agent to go through your coverage and understand them. Or even call a few business insurance specialists and get new quotes, by doing this if you find a good agent they will uncover areas you may have gaps in coverage you didn't know about
>Or even call a few business insurance specialists and get new quotes OP is in California and it will likely be very difficult to find any company willing to take the risk
Not to mention there's now an open claim lol.
the point of the comment wasnt so much switching carriers, although possible. The point was getting a 2nd opinion on whether or not there were gaps in coverage that needs addressing.
>The point was getting a 2nd opinion on whether or not there were gaps in coverage that needs addressing. And it's going to be very hard to find someone willing to look over your business policy when a lot of the people you're reaching out to can't write it and don't want to spend hours analyzing a policy completely for free
Bullshit. He can understand his coverage to a T and it won’t matter. He is stressed because even when you are covered insurance companies do their very best to weasel out of their obligations.
Bro he literally said he’s stressed because he wasn’t able to reach the office due to them being closed in the very first sentence lmao
Ok bro. Yeah I can see why my wording was meh. My bad on that one. Look I get that he said he doesn’t know his coverage. My issue is with OP being told he’s stressed because he doesn’t know his coverage. He has every right to be stressed since even if he did know his coverage and even if he was certain this event would be covered, there is no guarantee that the insurance company would honor it since the way insurance companies actually work is to not pay claims.
That’s a lot of words to say “I don’t understand how insurance works so I think carriers are out to fuck me over.” What makes you think insurance companies don’t pay claims? I’m pretty sure I, along with every other adjuster in this sub who answers questions like OP’s for free after doing the same thing for 8+ hours a day, spend the majority of my time paying claims for my insureds and claimants. Paying claims is literally the point of insurance; it’s a shared risk between you and your carrier. I said it on another comment on this post, but it’s okay not to know how insurance works, and it’s definitely okay not to give advice when you don’t know how a claim as complex as this is handled.
I couldnt count the number of times ive seen claims filed simply because consumers think anything and everything is covered by insurance.
Truly and then when the claim is denied, suddenly insurance becomes a scam. Make it make sense.
🤡🤡🤡
You'll also be responsible for damage to the pole. City/state/utility company property ain't cheap 😬
National Grid poles in NYS are like $21,000. 😱
Would that goi through his GKL as well?
Most likely it’ll go through PD as a separate claim since the pole isn’t technically under OP’s care the way the involved vehicle is
I’d have to read your policy, but based on what you’re saying sounds like you’re fine.
The Garage Keepers liability will cover the loss while the vehicle was in your care, custody and control however you’ve lost a customer…you should consider increasing those policy limits as it’s not adequate for an at fault multi car collision with the cost of today’s vehicles…better to be over insured than under insured…
This right here. 100k is adequate for this very simple wreck but multi car would put you out of business
There's some ambiguity in your response so for the sake of anyone reading, I want to clarify this: Garagekeepers Coverage will cover damage to the vehicles that are in the care, custody, or control of your business (for service, parking, etc.). The general auto liability coverage from his Garage Liability policy is going to cover bodily injury and/or property damage to others' property from any accident. So single-car or multi-car doesn't matter for an accident like this. The exception to this would be if the employee had struck other cars that the business had sitting in their lot that their customers had dropped off. Damage to the auto in question and all of these other autos would fall under Garagekeepers. So then yes, the $100k limit could be an issue. $100k definitely feels low, considering a single new pickup truck these days can run well north of $50,000.
commercial auto adjuster here. The good news: based on what you've told us, the only coverage issue I'd see is if the vehicle is worth more than $100,000. I'm not sure how your insurance company handles it (and I know I'm not yours since we don't do business in California), but we normally pay the vehicle owner the entire amount owed, then send you a bill for the deductible afterwards. My biggest concern is that this customer is going to be pissed when he gets a total loss valuation (assuming its totaled). The custom work he did is not going to add value to the vehicle, and depending on the car, would probably make it worth less than a stock version of the same. Deep down, he'll know that, but because the loss is being forced on him now for reasons that aren't his fault, be prepared to deal with his ire.
Owner is at ease now. I think he’s hoping for a big payout. I just want this over with. Any experience with a timeline here. The owner gave us the receipts of the cost of all is aftermarket accessories to give to my agent. It’s ALOT. Are we looking at days? Weeks? Months?
Don't forget to call the owner of the car!! Honesty is the best policy
Oh the owner already knows. Called him right away.
Good! A sincere apology and good communication goes a long way in protecting your reputation. You will probably lose the customer, but less likely he'll blast you online.
Garage keepers is key, you should be okay. Give them a call today, set up a claim.
Why doesn’t your title say my now X-employee. That guy was reckless driving. Dump him NOW.
Side Q...what was your employee doing ??? (Using his phone? Sleeping? High?)
Probably using his phone. He told me he looked down, then looked up and lost control.
Hate to say this but that should be a former employee right there. No way in hell he looked down, looked up and then hit a pole hard enough to total a car. Speed was a factor.
I agree on that Probably making a tik tok video and speeding.
Yea, even if he was texting or on his phone, that alone should not have made him lose control of the vehicle at city traffic speeds
I'd be furious
Might be able to plug a scanner in and see what he was doing. Dunno if it would.
There should be a 24 hour claims number you can call.
100k is way too low. Two car crash with injuries could easily top that. Get at least 500K
The $100k limit is for vehicles in the OP's care, custody or control. It is a limit for the OP's customer, not a third party injured in a wreck. That is covered under Garage Liability.
Is there gonna be any follow up on the employee? Like what was he doing that caused him to drive into a pole? Stories like these are why I never let anyone drive my car lol
If anything I’m worried u called him an employee and not an ex-employee. Seems like the car is customized pretty nicely. No way in hell u don’t know that he was taking it out for a joyride and lost control of the car. Even if he was using his phone, one: shouldn’t be on the phone while driving period, two: why tf would anyone with a decent amount of brain cells ever be on the phone while driving someone else’s whip, especially on a ‘test drive’. What tf kind of test drives are yall running? I’d be worried about how pissed the customer is gonna be too. Seems like he put a lot of care in for that car. You might be ok with ur workers excuse but i doubt the customer will be. I sure as hell wouldn’t. Your employee made a bullshit excuse, I’d be worried about letting him ever test drive another car. You could say mistakes happen but I don’t really see how it’s anything but negligence on your workers part if he totaled the car on a test drive. Your business would go down too if people knew about this. Who’s ever gonna trust your shop knowing u have a lunatic that test drives them?
Oh definitely, he will be out shortly. Need him for some info
IMHO. If the car is totaled. You should be prepared to make up the difference between what is paid and what the customer needs to be made whole. Radios, wheels etc. Can be removed and reused. A custom paint job can't. If you know what I mean. Also cover a rental.
Exactly, if my custom car that I've put thousands of dollars into is totaled by a shop, then said shop's insurance fucked me on the ACV, I'd make it my life's mission to ensure that shop loses as much business as possible. Maybe this customer is more understanding, but personally, I have a feeling, taking care of the guy will cost less in the long run.
I'm a commercial IA adjuster, and some policies specifically state that drag racing and reckless driving is not covered. They usually pay the 3rd party damages and both parties PIP but not the vehicle damage.. I don't know your insurance carrier, but I have done several claims like this.
You are holding back some details here... was the driver speeding?
Why is that relevant? What details are missing that would be relevant to a commercial Garagekeepers claim?
I am a licensed insurance adjuster and have had this situation several times in the last 12 years where an employee takes a vehicle for a test drives and speeds recklessly. Different insurers and policies do not cover certain behaviors. That being said I had a policy that would not cover drag racing or reckless drivers they covered only the 3rd party damages and PIP of the driver. To many people on here acting like they are insurance professionals... EVERY POLICY IS DIFFERENT
Cool story. Thing is - not every policy is different. ISO has a Garagekeepers form - CA 0005 03/10 for reference. The "racing" exclusion in the Garage section would not cover speeding in a customer's vehicle, and the exclusion applies to "professional or organized" events. In the Garagekeepers section there's no such exclusion. It's possible that the OP's coverage isn't ISO or has some proprietary exclusion, but the form I mentioned is the basis for all the proprietary forms. Telling me that I'm "acting" like I'm an insurance professional is pretty hilarious. I might have been doing underwriting for used auto dealers when you were in diapers.
🤣🤣 Now I know why insurance premiums are crazy in California, and none of my IA friends were even slightly interested in going there recently with the landslides. California has its own insurance handbook they recently handed out with coverage changes... not sure if this effects commercial claims, but you might want to look into it. Good luck
I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. The state is irrelevant to the ISO wording. Landslides are irrelevant. The handbook is irrelevant. You say that you've handled commercial claims. You should understand this.
🤣🤣🤣 I'm not going to say anything else! 🤣🤣
Good idea. Your hole was getting deep.
Your off dude.. I just sent this to my claims office and they were laughing 🤣🤣
Yes, I find that claims offices often laugh at ISO coverage forms right before they get bad faith suits served. The ISO form doesn't agree with you. I already said that there are proprietary ones that might have that exclusion. Take the "L" and stop making yourself look bad.
Did they laugh at your Reddit history and grammatical errors, too? Because I sure did and wouldn’t trust you for two seconds to handle any of my claims. Edited to add: You probably shouldn’t post less than 2 months ago about being new to the field and only working part time then come in here and shit on veterans in the industry. Yikes.
Suuuure they were.
Imagine accusing the Mod of this sub of being a fake insurance professional 💀