Theft in driveway

[Accountable]

What is the name of your state? Texas

My brother quit a job in Arizona and moved back to Texas. He will be staying with me until he secures his next contract (he's a contract archaeologist). On the night he arrived it was downpouring and he was tired from his long drive and didn't feel like unloading his car right away, so he pulled his LandRover loaded with his belongings into my drive up to the garage door and I parked behind him. The next day we discovered that his car had been burglarized. The creeps shattered the passenger side front window and removed his portable t.v., printer, his power drill, his tool bag and, from the glove box, his check book.

His auto insurance will cover the broken window, but said he will have to claim his lost contents against my homeowners' policy. I haven't call my agent yet (but will when I get to the office this morning), but, typically, is this a covered loss that is subject to my deductible (which is $1400) or since he was my guest is it a loss that is not subject to my deductible that should be paid by the insurance company to him? He has changed his checking account since then and most of the items lost were of little value....except his tools which were specialty tools for his trade. valued at approx $500.

 

[tammy8]

I doubt that your homeowner's would cover it anyway. I doubt his insurance company realized that he did not have his own policy.

1) Do you want a claim showing up on your policy?
2) Lose is subject to deductible (if it is covered at all)

I would recommend that you call your agent and tell them you need to ask a hyphotetical question and not tell them who you are. Some insurance companies are required to report any loses inregardless of whether there is coverage or not.

 

[alnorth]

Your deductible will apply. If it is more than the value of the stolen items, you are not going to get anything but a claim on your record.

 

[JETX]

His auto insurance will cover the broken window, but said he will have to claim his lost contents against my homeowners' policy.

And why did they deny his property loss claim??
Does he have FULL coverage??

 

[tammy8]

Your deductible will apply. If it is more than the value of the stolen items, you are not going to get anything but a claim on your record.

Contents/personal property is excluded on an auto policy.

 

[JETX]

Contents/personal property is excluded on an auto policy.

Gee... I guess you never heard of auto comprehensive insurance.
http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/insurance/test4/

And you better not tell my insurance company of erroneous 'opinion'... since they compensated me under my comprehensive coverage when my personal property was stolen from my vehicle.... and the other 1000 or so that were also compensated.

 

[tammy8]

Mum is the word.

Comp would cover attached devices such as radios or speakers. That is how it is written in my state anyway!

 

[moburkes]

JETX, Tammy and I are both licensed agents, and I also happen to be licensed in OPs state (as well as Tammy's). Comprehenisve coverage covers the vehicle, and things permanently attached to the vehicle. Personal property is covered by homeowner's (or renters) insurance. In insurance, specific items are only covered by 1 policy. So, regardless of the fact that that the items were inside the vehicle at the time, HO policy covers it. The ONLY thing that I can think of, is that some adjusters MAY cover an incidental amount of personal property loss, when they know that it doesn't even make sense to file an HO claim.

The great majority of insurance companies follow ISO (see www.iso.com)'s policy models. ISO states that personal property is covered by HO insurance regardless of where/how the loss occurred.

It is specifically written into an auto insurance policy that personal property is excluded. The ONLY time it wouldn't be excluded is when the at fault party's insurance company is paying a property damage claim, and the not-at-fault party's personal property was damaged. The at fault party's insurance company (or the at fault party) will pay for that damage because they caused the damage/loss.

 

[JETX]

With all due respect.... what might apply in YOUR state doesn't apply everywhere.

My wife was out shopping when someone broke into her car (passenger side rear window). They took everything they could find, including her computer, PDA, CD's, etc. They required that we send them a copy of the police report and receipts to prove ownership and value. We had to pay the deductible (expected) but they sent us a check for the difference.

 

[moburkes]

It is not state specific. It is policy specific. The vast majority of insurance companies follow the ISO model. There are very, very, very, very few companies that do not. I haven't come across an auto insurance policy that doesn't exclude personal property coverage. Either your company is one of the very few (I'm going to estimate that less than 2% of companies don't follow the ISO model) that doesn't follow ISO, OR, your adjuster paid a claim for a specifically excluded coverage.

Just open your policy. Look for comprehensive coverage. Look for the exclusions. That's where the answer is.

However, when OPs agent or adjuster told them to go to the homeowner's coverage, this is why.

 

[alnorth]

The only other exception I've seen is when an insurance company writes and sells an optional endorsement. I have heard of an optional endorsement where you could cover some music CD's with a small $XXX limit. Obviously that was uncommon and very narrowly-written to only cover a specific type of personal property.

 

[moburkes]

The only other exception I've seen is when an insurance company writes and sells an optional endorsement. I have heard of an optional endorsement where you could cover some music CD's with a small $XXX limit. Obviously that was uncommon and very narrowly-written to only cover a specific type of personal property.

I hadn't even heard of that. Thanks for the info.

 

[Accountable]

Yep....most of you were right. My agent told me that the homeowner's policy would only cover his stolen items if they consider him a resident of my home, which is a possibility only because he uses my address as his permanent mailing address since he travels so much. However, the loss would be subject to my deductible which is greater than the value of the stolen items, so it would be senseless to make a claim. Furthermore, the agent warned me that a theft claim is a "big deal" and could adversely affect me come renewal time.

Needless to say, I didn't file a claim.

 

[JustAPal00]

Gee... I guess you never heard of auto comprehensive insurance.
http://www.iii.org/media/hottopics/insurance/test4/

And you better not tell my insurance company of erroneous 'opinion'... since they compensated me under my comprehensive coverage when my personal property was stolen from my vehicle.... and the other 1000 or so that were also compensated.

GEE I read your link and didn't see anything that said that comp insurance would pay for personal belongings. I also had a break in while at a casino in Niagra Falls. I was working in the area, so I decided to stop and gamble a little. My car insurance covered the damage to the car as well as all items in the car that would be associated with the use of the car. Such as a portable GPS, CD's, stereo, radar detector, and cell phone accesories. I had to file a seperate homeowners claim for my personal belongings such as clothing, camera, laptop computer, and my work boots. Yes I had changed clothes in the car while parked in the parking garage of the casino, and the guy stole my dirty pants and old workboots. The worst part about the whole thing was they caught the guy the next day and recovered about half of my items. By then I was already on my way home, which is 6 hours away. I had to return to Niagra Falls the next week to identify and collect my belongings. I received no compensation for my return trip.