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Truck Damage while on Company property

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rld2007

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? California

I'm trying to find what my rights are, and were I stand from a legal standpoint.

Here is an excerpt of an email with my employer and his reply which is very close to asking me to file a unethical insurance claim.

(His question)
Trying to get this all sorted out, my first question is will your insurance cover any of this without adversely effecting the rates?

(My reply)
No
My policy will not cover this.
I know you just heard about this last week due to the inaction of the terminal, but on January 24th I parked my truck in the parking area near the computer trailer inside the yard at Howard. When I left for the day the left rear quarter panel was damaged and who ever hit it did not report it(Hit & Run). I reported it to the terminal and nearly 3 weeks (20 days) later I'm still being asked about my insurance covering something that happened on company property to my truck not by my truck.
I reported the incident to the terminal and it took them over two weeks and a lot of prodding to decide they (Chris Hurley) don't want this to go against his "Profit Center".
Well my profit center says that it will take me over a months pay(5 weeks) to repair the damage on my truck that happened while I was in the computer trailer doing my job.


(His reply)
I understand your frustration and I am trying to get this straightened out. As you note below I just heard about this at the end of last week and have not been privy to your discussions with other people so I might cover some ground that has already been covered.

The question about your insurance is completely justified in my mind because most policies do in fact cover instances like this and if this was the case and it wasn't going to affect your rates long term, the logical thing would be for you report it your insurance company and then Tideworks would pick up any costs not covered by your insurance company. Since this is apparently not the case we will have to deal with it another way.
 


Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I dunno - seems like a fair compromise to me. You have no proof that the company or any of it's vehicles actually did the damage. You can file under your comp/collision policy (Mo will let us know if I picked the wrong coverage to file under), then the company repays you for any deductible.
Now, did you not have comp/collision?
 

moburkes

Senior Member
I dunno - seems like a fair compromise to me. You have no proof that the company or any of it's vehicles actually did the damage. You can file under your comp/collision policy (Mo will let us know if I picked the wrong coverage to file under), then the company repays you for any deductible.
Now, did you not have comp/collision?
Well, OP hasn't really asked a question, or explained much. But, it appears that his vehicle was legally parked at work, and when he went to go home (or whatever), there was damage. He can't hold his employer responsible. That's like having your vehicle hit at the mall, and expecting the mall owners to pay for it, or it being hit on the street, and expecting the city to pay for it. Unless the business/mall/city damaged the vehicle (and he will never be able to prove that they did, since he didn't witness the accident, and no one is claiming to have witnessed it or done it), they aren't responsible. There isn't any negligence.

This is covered under collision. Since the vehicle was parked, it will be considered a not at fault accident. Most insurance company do not raise premiums for a not at fault accident. The OP will be responsible for his deductible. If his employer is willing to pay his out of pocket costs, as the email seems to indicate, that is an OVERLY NICE gesture on their part, since they didn't cause the damage. I'd take that and run, because, in a court of law, or in getting their insurance company involvded, this claim will be denied immediately.
 

rld2007

Junior Member
Even if the vehicle was parked in a secured area? This happened on a Shipping Container Port that is secured and regulated by the customs & border patrol. Unlike a MALL where consumers would be the likely source. This would be strickly company vehicles that have access to this area?
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
OP - you STILL haven't said if you have comp/collision for your vehicle...
 

xylene

Senior Member
Your situation would have been much more working in your favor if you had filed a police report. Did you?

Clearly this was a situation where there was a crime commited (hit and run) and a limited suspect pool.

It seems a bit late for meaningful investigation now...
 

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