So the question is: does the insured's direct primary coverage automatically make him liable for the damages, regardless of the claimant's duty to check the oil when the light comes on? Does our insured have coverage for the claim?

Georgia Subscriber

The GKLL coverage is not going to apply at all in this instance. That coverage is for damage done to a customer's car while in the care, custody, and control of the insured. The actual damage occurred 2 months later which means this is a completed operations claim. You have to look at the garage liability section of the policy to see if coverage applies.

This coverage depends on the insured being liable for the PD and we cannot answer that question since it is a legal issue that only a judge or jury can answer. But, if the insured is liable for the PD because of his work, you have to check the work you performed exclusion. That exclusion applies to PD to the work that the named insured performed but not to damage that the work caused to other parts of the car. So in this instance, the insured's work was the changing of the oil; he did not work on the engine itself. Therefore, since exclusions have to be read narrowly so as to give the insured as much coverage as is reasonable, the damage to the engine would be covered. This is of course based on the insured being liable for the damage. Also note that the policy calls for deducting $100 in any accident resulting from PD to an auto as a result of the work performed by the insured on that auto.