What happens if a reckless or incapacitated driver crashes into your house?

[ewalling]

I'm prompted to ask this by the recent crash of actress Anne Heche, but this is not an uncommon occurrence here in Miami. I've often wondered what happens to the resident(s). Does the driver's insurance pay for the damage to the house? In some cases, I've heard that intransigent council authorities take that stance where they declare a property uninhabitable and that the resident cannot live there even if they wanted to. Anyway, it seems a really awful thing to be on the receiving end of.

P.S. In this specific case, poor Anne Heche seems badly hurt, and I do hope it's not too serious. She seems to have experienced a lot of bad luck since coming out years ago about her relationship with Ellen DeGeneres.

[rmp]

I know someone this happened to.

In that case, they could not stay at the house, as the car went thru the front door, and took out some of the exterior support of the house.

while the repairs were done, they were put in temporary housing, that was paid for by the insurance company of the driver as well as the house repairs.

They hired a public assessor who represented them throughout the ordeal, and it still was a battle to get the proper settlement.

then, the repairs took months. it was a he!!-u-vah thing

after they moved back home, they put the house on the market, and bought a place out in the sticks with a driveway that set them well off the road.

Lesson learned!

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by rmp

I know someone this happened to.

In that case, they could not stay at the house, as the car went thru the front door, and took out some of the exterior support of the house.

while the repairs were done, they were put in temporary housing, that was paid for by the insurance company of the driver as well as the house repairs.

They hired a public assessor who represented them throughout the ordeal, and it still was a battle to get the proper settlement.

then, the repairs took months. it was a he!!-u-vah thing

after they moved back home, they put the house on the market, and bought a place out in the sticks with a driveway that set them well off the road.

Lesson learned!

Wow, what a story!

[Mandobart]

My experience in a different accident taught me that the higher the number of insurance companies involved, the worse it is.

My daughter (13 at the time) was struck by an automobile operator while she was riding her bicycle home from school. Fortunately, and most importantly, she was not badly or permanently injured.

The driver's auto insurance was involved of course. Our health care insurance was involved. Oddly enough our auto insurance also was involved. What did all these companies have in common? The shared goal to pay out as little as possible.

My daughter was in her 20's before all the wonderful medical care providers were paid for their work.

Drivers colliding with stationary buildings that didn't get out of the way is a fairly common occurrence in my area. I'd say beware and keep copies of EVERYTHING if it happens to you, and have the contact info for a good lawyer and your state insurance commissioner handy.

[Jeff Scott]

I've got a dandy of a story regarding a resident of our city. It is pretty involved and I don't have the time at the moment to post it. It is a mess as the cause of it involves a police chase...

[Nymuso]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

I've got a dandy of a story regarding a resident of our city. It is pretty involved and I don't have the time at the moment to post it. It is a mess as the cause of it involves a police chase...

Which brings up an interesting point: What if the car is stolen? Is the owners insurance company still liable?

[ewalling]

I'd like to think that no matter what, the house owner would be looked after every step of the way. However, I've always had a sneakin' suspicion that this wouldn't be so!

[Jeff Scott]

Originally Posted by Jeff Scott

I've got a dandy of a story regarding a resident of our city. It is pretty involved and I don't have the time at the moment to post it. It is a mess as the cause of it involves a police chase...

Originally Posted by Nymuso

Which brings up an interesting point: What if the car is stolen? Is the owners insurance company still liable?

Originally Posted by ewalling

I'd like to think that no matter what, the house owner would be looked after every step of the way. However, I've always had a sneakin' suspicion that this wouldn't be so!

So fas as I know, the home owner is still on the short end of the stick, at this point. And, it gets worse.

[MrDB]

Originally Posted by Nymuso

Which brings up an interesting point: What if the car is stolen? Is the owners insurance company still liable?

No. The car owner would not be liable for that.

[MrDB]

Also the home owners insurance would be secondary to the driver's car insurance. Would only come into play if the driver's insurance wasn't sufficient to cover the damages.

[Bob Womack]

My home town is built on a collection of steep hills. There is a road down one of the steep ridges that ends in a stoplight at a tee-junction. Directly across the junction is a house with a small front yard. My home state doesn't require auto inspections or auto insurance to drive a car on the road. The law is quite different there: you are required to have a functioning car and insurance if you are involved in an accident! There's an interesting situation that developed from this.

4024 Sutherland Avenue

The house in question is the brick house. Peoples' brakes tended to fail on the hill visible opposite of it. Before interstate expansions, the road was a major thoroughfare over the ridge and across a bridge to the north. Anyone whose brakes failed coming south down from the ridge transited the intersection and front yard and perfectly intersected the left front corner of the house. I came across the morning-afters at this location more than once. First it was a truck stuck a good ten feet into the front bedroom. The wife was shoved aside while in bed but was unhurt. It took a few months to get it resolved and rebuilt, during which they relocated the master bedroom to the back of the house. Once repaired, it lasted about four months. Then I came by and saw a car sticking out the front of the house. Once again it took out the corner from foundation to eaves. Once this one was repaired, the family moved out. There was an article in the paper about it. "I can't get a good night's sleep around here." The next folks built up the front yard and put up a cinderblock retaining wall. Soon after, I left the area to pursue my career.

Bob

[buddyhu]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

My experience in a different accident taught me that the higher the number of insurance companies involved, the worse it is.

Sad but true. There are two dynamics that make this true:

1. In any given year, an insurance company probably pays out more than it takes in (a friend in the industry once told me this company averaged 106% payouts vs income). So the only way an insurance company makes money is by holding the money they take in for a while, and making money on investment of that money. So insurance companies benefit from delays in paying a claim.
2. If more than one insurance company is involved, they usually devote a lot of time and energy to quibbling about what percentage of the claim each company should pay…and since a 10% difference in what is paid can be a significant sum (when added across thousands or millions of claims), and since the criteria for making such determinations are extremely vague whenever it involves determining responsibility for things other than simple situations, things slow to a crawl when more than one insurance company is involved (which benefits all the companies involved).

Insurance is good. For profit insurance companies are very much a mixed bag.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by buddyhu

Sad but true. There are two dynamics that make this true:

1. In any given year, an insurance company probably pays out more than it takes in (a friend in the industry once told me this company averaged 106% payouts vs income). So the only way an insurance company makes money is by holding the money they take in for a while, and making money on investment of that money. So insurance companies benefit from delays in paying a claim.
2. If more than one insurance company is involved, they usually devote a lot of time and energy to quibbling about what percentage of the claim each company should pay…and since a 10% difference in what is paid can be a significant sum (when added across thousands or millions of claims), and since the criteria for making such determinations are extremely vague whenever it involves determining responsibility for things other than simple situations, things slow to a crawl when more than one insurance company is involved (which benefits all the companies involved).

Insurance is good. For profit insurance companies are very much a mixed bag.

Off on a tangent, I wonder how people who work with this 'stuff' (polite word there!) in insurance companies feel at retirement after a lifetime's work. They can hardly look back on a life well spent, at least professionally speaking!

[Mandobart]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Off on a tangent, I wonder how people who work with this 'stuff' (polite word there!) in insurance companies feel at retirement after a lifetime's work. They can hardly look back on a life well spent, at least professionally speaking!

That may be a broad brush. There are probably some folks in the business who can feel good about helping some people recover from a loss. But I feel there are also some for whom the shoe fits.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Mandobart

That may be a broad brush. There are probably some folks in the business who can feel good about helping some people recover from a loss. But I feel there are also some for whom the shoe fits.

Insurance is an institution that encourages people to gamble on their likelihood of pain, the mission being that they lose out on the wager and end up doing nothing more than emptying their pockets into the company coffers. I doubt there are too many bonuses or promotions for employees who take pride in helping claimants recover from their loss with payouts.