Care, Custody, or Control Exclusion and Truck Damage

Q

We insure a company that has symbol 1, any auto, on its business auto policy (BAP). This insured hired two trucks with drivers. We covered both the trucks and the owner operators for liability purposes on our insured's BAP. The insured does not carry physical damage coverage, however.

One of the trucks ran into the second truck. Would our insured's liability coverage apply to the physical damage to the second truck, or does the care, custody, or control exclusion apply?

Kansas Subscriber

A

Liability coverage should cover the damage to the second truck.

The care, custody, or control exclusion applies to the insured who has custody of the auto. In this case, the truck that was damaged (truck #2) was not in the custody of the driver (driver #1) responsible for the damage. Therefore, liability coverage would apply.

If the insurance company wanted the exclusion to apply more broadly, it could have chosen to exclude coverage for property in the care, custody, or control of “an” or “any” insured.

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