Garagekeepers Coverage for Theft of Auto and Personal Possessions
Our insured is a parking garage/valet operation. Last month, a valet attendant parked a customer's car, and inadvertently left the keys in the car with the window opened. The car was stolen. The car was a family van and was loaded with the personal belongings of the van owner. There is no question that our insured is liable for the loss, but we have questions about the coverage under the terms of the garagekeepers policy.
The van is a recent model year van and the owner was still making payments on the van with about two years left on the payment schedule. The actual cash value of the van is less than the outstanding amount due to the finance company. So, is the claimant entitled to the balance of the car loan or just the value of the van? Will the policy pay for a deposit on a new car for the claimant? And will the policy pay for the loss of the personal possessions that were in the van?
There is also one other issue. The insurer notified the claimant that it was going to stop paying for her use of a rental car even though the claim has not yet been settled. Is that proper?
Arizona Subscriber
Since this claim is covered by a garagekeepers (GKLL) liability policy, you have to see what the insuring agreement and other clauses have to say about paying for a loss.
The insuring agreement says that the insurer will pay all sums that the insured legally must pay as damages for loss to a customer's auto or the auto equipment. So, what the insurer will pay depends on what the insured is held legally liable for and in accordance with the language of the policy. As to what the insured is legally liable for, we cannot answer since that is a legal question. But, even if the insured is legally liable for everything that the customer lost, this does not mean there is coverage under the GKLL policy for everything claimed. The insuring agreement applies to loss to the customer's car and its equipment. And the policy defines a loss as direct and accidental loss and for GKLL purposes, any resulting loss of use.
This means that if the insured is held liable for the loss, the GKLL policy will pay for the loss of the car and the most that this will be, as noted in the limits of insurance clause, is the GKLL coverage limit of insurance shown in the declarations, minus the applicable deductible. So, you need to check the GKLL policy to see what limits the insured has; if he has a $25,000 limit, that is the most that the insurer will pay; if he has less than that amount, that is the limit that will be paid. And, losses are usually paid based on the actual cash value (ACV) at the time of loss. Unless the GKLL policy in this instance says something different, the insurer will pay for the lost van on an ACV basis up to the limit of GKLL insurance.
The GKLL insurer will pay for the loss of the van on an ACV basis up to the limit of GKLL insurance. However, the insurer will not pay for the deposit on a new car for the claimant since that is not a direct and accidental loss to a customer's auto. Loss under the GKLL coverage includes loss of use, so the insurer has to pay for loss of use, or car rental payments, for the customer, but these payments do not go on forever. The rental payments can possibly be limited by the policy language and you need to check that policy to see what it allows for loss of use payments; but, if no limits are shown, the amount is usually what is deemed necessary and reasonable. As for the personal items in the car at the time of loss, those are not covered by the GKLL policy. Coverage applies to loss to the auto or its equipment and not to personal items owned by the customer but having nothing to do with the auto itself.
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