Personal Auto Claim or Homeowners Claim

Our insured has a personal auto policy. After he completed pumping gas into his vehicle, he was returning the nozzle to the pump. While returning the nozzle to the pump, he slipped and fell, and the nozzle hit the pump causing property damage. While falling, he was also making contact with the vehicle. Would property damage coverage for this loss fall under the personal auto policy or a homeowners policy?

Ohio Subscriber

The first question to be asked is: is the insured legally responsible for the PD? Why did he slip? Was there grease at the pump or some other thing that the gas station should have cleaned up in order to prevent slips and falls? If the insured is not liable for the PD, then neither the HO policy nor the auto policy need respond.

However, if we presume the insured is somehow liable, was this an auto accident? In our opinion, the answer is no. The PD was caused by the insured slipping and falling and the actual damage was not done by an auto but by the nozzle of the gas pump. The fact that the insured was near his auto when he slipped does not in our opinion make this an auto accident. So, if the insured is liable for the PD, we would say this is a homeowners claim.

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