Auto Insurance Question

"sonicgabe" (gabeloewenberg) 11/18/2019 at 18:32 • Filed to: question

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Ok Oppo. Real question here. Important and timely. Any help is greatly appreciated. The sweet Porsche is unrelated to said question, sorry. But enjoy the picture.

So here is the question: Collision vs. comprehensive coverage. My mother-in-law hit a bicycle. On the interstate. Going about 60/65 mph. It fell off a bike rack two cars ahead and two lanes over. It hit the car in the lane next her and then got knocked into her car. Shitty.

So the insurance claims guy says because it was a moving object, it is covered under comprehensive coverage, which has a deductible that is $1000 more than collision. Basically he said if the bike would have been stationary in the road, it would have been covered under collision. I don’t see the difference. The bike shouldn’t have been there either way. She hit it. She had no way to avoid it.

As far as I knew, comprehensive covered things like vandalism, trees falling on your car, and such. But she hit something while driving that was in the road. I say collision should cover it as it was a collision.

For the record, the vehicle the bike fell off of and the other car it hit did not stop. She pulled over and a state trooper came but did not write up a report. And this is in Florida if that makes any difference.

So if you have expert knowledge about this, please let me know what you think in the comments or I can be emailed at my screen name at the gmail. Many thanks. Trying to save her $1000 here, so kinda important. Thanks.

wafflesnfalafel > sonicgabe 11/18/2019 at 18:57

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T hat sounds like there might be a hiccup in the communication. You are absolutely correct, comp is w/s dings, animal hits, etc. The one item that it might fall under is “missiles” which basically means any falling obtject, but it sounds like it hit the ground first before coming into contact with the car, (which is why a w/s ding is comp, but hitting a rock in the road is coll.) Additionally - typically the coll deductible is larger. Maybe the adj said coll rather than comp and the info is flipped?

And... that f’n sucks rocks....secure your load folks.

Montalvo > sonicgabe 11/18/2019 at 19:00

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My a unt has been working for State Farm for decades. However she is in PA. I am guessing the whole leagalese can change between states and policies. If I find out anything I will pass it along.

CarsofFortLangley - Oppo Forever > sonicgabe 11/18/2019 at 19:05

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Its comprehensive

CompactLuxuryFan > sonicgabe 11/18/2019 at 19:09

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I wasn’t aware of this distinction but based on this, it sounds like the guy might be right. The “no way to avoid it” component actually pushes towards comprehensive rather than collision.   https://jlis.com/what-should-i-do-if-i-hit-an-object-on-the-road/

However, it also sounds like generally comprehensive is more favorable to the insured because the deductible is lower and it’s no-fault (your insurance won’t go up). It sounds like your MIL has a higher deductible for comprehensive, but she should weigh whether an at-fault on her record would affect her rates that much. Really sucks any way you slice it. I would say she can probably argue it either way depending on what’s going to be best for her. Not sure how “object was ‘flying’” is determined, but I’m guessing it’s probably “if you saw it fall off then it was flying”. It’s not like deer are always moving when you hit them.

ShrimpHappens, née WJalopy > sonicgabe 11/18/2019 at 19:12

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My agent once told me that hitting a deer is comprehensive, so this makes sense, I suppose.

sonicgabe > sonicgabe 11/18/2019 at 20:22

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Thanks everyone. Looks like this one is gonna be costly up front. 

Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo > sonicgabe 11/18/2019 at 23:09

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Well it is designed to fuck you out of your money one way or another. Don't forget your UI motorists insurance on the next renewal!

sonicgabe > Dr. Zoidberg - RIP Oppo 11/18/2019 at 23:29

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UI only covers, at least in Florida, injuries when there is an at-fault driver . Not applicable in this case.

FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com > sonicgabe 11/18/2019 at 23:54

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The way I’ve always understood it is collision is impacts with other motorized vehicles and comprehensive is everything else. I think the claims person did a bad job explaining it but comprehensive is what I would expect this to be. Please have her consider lowering her comprehensive deductible - it usually isn’t that expensive. I lowered mine from $500 to $0 not too long ago when I moved to a gravely desert where broken windshields are  a near certainty and it increased my premium about $18 per 6 months for each car. Helps avoid a big upfront cost when a freak thing occurs.

sonicgabe > FTTOHG Has Moved to https://opposite-lock.com 11/19/2019 at 00:56

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Unfortunately, because of several other incidents (none that were her fault, but there were several), there isn’t an inexpensive option. I shit you not, the people at the shop cringe when I walk through the door (I usually get roped into dealing with the dropping off and picking up of the car). Seriously, the car is fucking magnet for shit. There are no words.

Two other cars have it. A real estate yard sign (the 4x4 cross posts) fell out of a truck in front of her. There was the large piece of concrete in the middle of the road in a construction zone where they had taken out a street light to do the work. And a large round orange cooler (think dumping the Gatorade on the coach-type cooler) that the truck in front of her ran over which then shot straight out the back of the truck and into her car. And the windshield from whatever hit it. This has been in less than two years. It’s a fucking magnet.

LimitedTimeOnly @ opposite-lock.com > sonicgabe 11/19/2019 at 07:29

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Yup, the insurance person told you right. When I ran over a retread tire three years ago it was very important to them whether it was moving or stationary. I felt that it should make no difference, it appeared from under the box truck in front of me and I had nowhere to go due to traffic.

Rusty Vandura - www.tinyurl.com/keepoppo > sonicgabe 11/23/2019 at 08:10

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There’s your problem: Florida.