Florida car accident | is the other guys insurance going to pay?

What insurance law factors determine if coverage is available in a multiple liability situation when you have been involved in a Palm Beach County car accident?

First, the most important factors used when determining if coverage is available emanate from insurance law. However, in practice cases can sometimes be decided by other legal factors that seem to stray from insurance law. Marriot Corp. v. Travelers Indemnity Co., 473 So.2d 281 (Fla. 1st DCA 1985). When there is an actively negligent party that is not insured by the carrier insuring the owner of the vehicle, the owner’s insurer may be able to invoke an escape clause. A good example of what an applicable escape clause may look like was presented in Maryland Casualty Co. v. Reliance Ins. Co., 478 So. 2d 1068 (Fla. 1985), which read:

II. Persons Insured

Each of the following is an insured under this insurance to the extent set forth below:

(ii) any other person while operating with the permission of the named insured any such equipment registered in the name of the named insured and any person or organization legally responsible for such operation, but only if there is no other valid and collectible insurance available, either on a primary or excess basis, to such person or organization.

When that accident occurred, the negligent driver had another insurance policy available to cover him which did not include an escape clause. The primary insurance carrier was able to pass liability to the negligent driver’s insurer. This was only accomplished after the court decided that the Financial Responsibility law mandated that the lessor’s insurer was only liable for the first $10,000 in damages under Florida Statute. Florida law also allows a party that is merely vicariously liable to follow the insurer of the negligent party, provided that the vicariously liable insurer does not also insure a joint tortfeasor or actively negligent party as an additional insured. Allstate Insurance Co. v. Fowler, 480 So.2d 1287 (Fla. 1986). Almost all insurance policies insure people other than the person whose name is on the declaration page of the policy. Named insured typically included the spouse of the person named on the declaration page, whom insurance coverage is also provided for. Resident relatives are also usually extended coverage. The automobile liability policy will usually provide coverage for primary insured as to scheduled automobiles and for using certain non-owned automobiles. However, you should make sure that your Palm Beach County accident attorney has ensured that a specific person has not been excluded from coverage when you have been involved in a car accident. A policy may exclude coverage for a specific person who has a bad driving record. Insurance Co. of North America v. Coates, 318 So.2d 474 (Fla. 2d DCA 1975). Also important for your Palm Beach County accident attorney to discover is whether the policy was issued as proof of financial responsibility, which has two primary requirements:

1) Requires policy to insure not only the owner who is named in the policy but any other permissive user of the scheduled vehicle.
2) The policy insurer the named insured for loss arising out of the use of non-owned vehicles to the same extent as the coverage for owned vehicles

A knowledgeable Palm Beach County accident attorney will be able to gain some additional liability insurance for you with an understanding of nuances like these in a policy.