Insurance question

[Larry B]

Have any of you ever had the insurance company reject a claim because it was not work related?

While on vacation last weekend we had an employee that loaded his wife and kids into one of our vans and ran a red light hitting another car. Our insurance has rejected the claim because it was not work related and he had children and his wife in the van.

Has anyone ever had to deal with something like this?

I just got off the phone with the guy that was hit and I am going to have to fork over almost $3000 to repair his car.

 

[Scott S.]

switch insurance companies. so in otherwords they wont cover your vehicle unless its on a way or at a job. what bull shi*.

 

[Larry B]

Unless I have the guy arrested for taking the van they will not cover it because it was not work related and there was children in the van. We are not allowed to have anyone under the age of 18 inside the service vans because of the chemicals. It was a ven used by our janitorial service not a carpet van.

 

[Supersucker]

Switching insurance companies won't help. They insured a work vehicle. It's the same as insuring your personal vehicle, they always ask if you use it for work. This should be covered in your employment manual, no personal use of vehicles. Does your employee not have auto insurance? His insurance should cover it.

 

[Scott S.]

guess i was wrong on the changing insurance companies. i guess you learned a lesson though.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Larry B. Call your State insurance commisioners office. Have a copy of your policy when you do. Regulations vary GREATLY from state to state. Explain everything to them and they will tell you if you gotta eat it, or they will contact your insurance company and tell them to pay up quickly. Best of luck to you.

 

[Rex Tyus]

Unless I have the guy arrested for taking the van they will not cover it because it was not work related and there was children in the van. We are not allowed to have anyone under the age of 18 inside the service vans because of the chemicals. It was a ven used by our janitorial service not a carpet van.

It is doubtful that will be required. Possible, but not probable as I don't know your states regs but if he did NOT have permission to do what he did an in house written reprimand should suffice. You don't have to press charges against someone that wrongs you.

 

[Larry B]

[quote="Larry B":15rsph6j]Unless I have the guy arrested for taking the van they will not cover it because it was not work related and there was children in the van. We are not allowed to have anyone under the age of 18 inside the service vans because of the chemicals. It was a ven used by our janitorial service not a carpet van.

It is doubtful that will be required. Possible, but not probable as I don't know your states regs but if he did NOT have permission to do what he did an in house written reprimand should suffice. You don't have to press charges against someone that wrongs you.[/quote:15rsph6j]


Unless we make a report that the van was stolen while we were gone then they will not pay. The fact that the kid was in the van would have stopped any insurance coverage from the start. We are going to pay it and the guy has been fired.

 

[Greg Loe]

So, did he steal the truck for personal use and plan to return it before you got back? Maybe you should see your lawyer.

 

[Out of Character - 0]

If you don't already have tracking devices on your vans, maybe it's something to consider. I get emails on my cell phone whenever a van enters our shop, or any of the geo fences I've set up. If a van leaves the shop and it's not supposed to then you will know. I also set up a geofence around their homes. They are less likely to break the rules when they know your always watching.

 

[Larry B]

He was going to bring it back. He just loaded his wife and kids up and drove 30 miles south to the mall and wrecked it when leaving the mall to bring it back.

 

[Able 1]

Wasn't he sent there to do an estimate? Insurance companies suck! Get out of them what you can, anyway possible because they will take theirs no matter what!

 

[Rex Tyus]

If you haven't already, it would still be worth a shot to call your insurance commision. Sometimes adjusters misinterprete or just plain lie. Unless the driver was under 18 I don't see how that could affect the crash claim. But like I said, state regs vary GREATLY. So they may have the right. Sorry to hear about the situation. At least no one was seriously injured.

 

[Larry B]

Its all a PITA but Im glad the driver of the other car or the kids in my van didnt get hurt.

 

[XTREME1]

I'd give him a blood test :mrgreen:

 

[Larry B]

I'd give him a blood test :mrgreen:

He was just drug tested the week before and passed. When the wreck took place I was on vacation so it was 4 days later when I got back and it was to late. Has to be done within hours of the crash to count.

He dont work here anymore so I cant test him and it wouldnt do any good.

 

[RandyHilburn]

Jess E,

I don't want to hijack this important thread, but I'd be interested in learning more about the tracking devices (brand, model, price info, etc.) that you use on your trucks and how they work. If you could send me an email, I'd be appreciative. Thanks, Randy@SoutheastPros.com

 

[Larry B]

Jess E,

I don't want to hijack this important thread, but I'd be interested in learning more about the tracking devices (brand, model, price info, etc.) that you use on your trucks and how they work. If you could send me an email, I'd be appreciative. Thanks, Randy@SoutheastPros.com

I would also like more info on this.


Thanks

 

[Out of Character - 0]

There are a few options out there, but when I decided to purchase I found http://www.vehiclepath.com to be the best for my needs. They can be wired into any vehicle, require no batteries and you can put it anywhere but under the dash is easiest. It's just a little 3x2x2 box with an antenna.

You can choose to have it ping the unit every minute, every other minute and every 5 min. I like the 1 min myself and it doesn't cost much more, about $25 per month total. When it pings the vehicle you get the speed, time stopped, location, direction it's moving displayed as an icon over a map. It saves all the information for a few months for easy review. You can also toggle back and forth between a street map, satilite map (like google earth), or a hybrid satellite with street names. It also has a additional input for whatever you want, our is used to tell if the tm is on or not.

Putting these on my vans has been the best move I've ever made. It easily pays for itself every month. We didn't tell our people when we decided to install them. I was absolutely shocked by what I found. Far to often some of them would take excessively long routes to either run errand or just to kill time and run up their hours. Just this week I noticed 1 of the crews driving around each account before they parked. I figured it's to look for me + all of their times were to cosnistent. So I covertly followed them, and found that they waste 15-30minutes at each account.
FIRED

 

[Larry B]

Thanks Jess