Other losses from car accident | Are they covered?

by Janet Smith
(Clarksburg, WV)

We were involved in an auto accident 3 hours from where we live.

We were enroute to a show in Baltimore Maryland. The other driver ran a stop sign and we crashed. We were stranded in Frederick Maryland for 4 hours with no vehicle.couldn't find a rental vehicle and had to have someone drive 2 1/2 hours to come get us.

Our removable GPS Garmin was smashed in the crash a necklace was torn from my neck chain broken, lost our hotel reservations (already paid for) and the tickets to the show in addition to the car probably being totaled... not sure on that yet...

Is the faulted driver responsible for the hotel loss, tickets, necklace & Garmin as well?


Answer:

Yes. The at fault driver would be responsible for all damages that are causality related to the accident. Casually related is the keyword there.

Garmin. You have the burden of showing your damages (we know, this is unfair because you are the victim, but it is the law). If you can show that you owned the Garmin (you have a receipt) and that it was damaged in the collision (and not somewhere else, you are entitled to it).

The hotel reservations can also be covered if you can show that you could not cancel with hotel reservation without a penalty. In other words, they were already outside the cancellation. Remember, you have a duty to mitigate damages, please see: http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/Mitigation-of-Damages.html

so if you still had time to cancel, the insurance company can give you problems. In addition, if the reservation penalty was less than the actual cost of the room, you will only get your actual loss.

The tickets. This other losses can also give you some problems. Depending on all facts, why did you not go to the event? If you did not go because of the damages to your car, there is a chance that the insurance company claim that you could have gone (take a rental car there), but did not. If you can show that because you had to wait several hours, you would have been late or the cost of having a rental car or taxi to take you there would have been higher, then you are owed the tickets.

You have to show that there was no way you could have made it there. If you argue that you were not in the mood, that the accident ruined your day, or something to that effect, the duty to mitigate damages impose on you might bar your recovery. Note, this does not apply if you were injured and had to seek some kind of medical attention. Other losses caused by injury are easier to show (you had to go to the emergency room and not the concert).

Necklace. Again, this will be a problem of proof. It is possible that the insurance company will simply pay it, however, you have to show that you had it with you and that it was broken. IF that is the case, they might only pay to fix it. If it is lost, then you will have to show that you had it and its actual market value. Assuming that you have it on you, you show them the broken pieces and then see if they pay it.

Good Luck,
http://www.auto-insurance-claim-advice.com/
Other losses from car accident | Are they covered?