GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

Insurance question: My friend parked her Ford truck next to a 2002 yellow, VW beetle. The beetle caught fire with flames shooting 5 feet high and the beetle was burned up and the fire department had to put it out. The side of my friend's Ford truck was heat scorched and the cheapest estimate to repaint just that side is $1000! The VW drivers insurance said the fire was "an act of god" and they are not required to pay to repaint the Ford!! The driver said her AC had been acting weird and she had taken it to her mechanic a few days before the fire. A car catching fire is not like a bolt of lightning or a flood in my opinion.Is that right? Have any of you dealt with a similar situation.Now my friends insurance says she will have to pay a $250 deductible for the $1K repaint of her truck. My friend has a parent in the hospital and is too tired to fight this but I don't understand how her insurance company isn't going after the VW insurance. Anyway...don't park your Vibe next to any Beetles.

I would say this is an ideal situation for your friend to discuss with their insurance agent. When I've had to deal with someone else's insurance and they aren't willing to play ball, I go to my insurance agent and tell them to go to bat for me.After all, that's really the difference between the different agents/companies - who do you want to pay to fight for you.

So God is setting VW's on fire these days? Perhaps this might be covered under the VW owner's personal liability policy that is part of homeowners insurance or by an Umbrella policy. Many years ago a cart I had returned to the front of a home improvement store rolled back to the parking lot and damaged a car. I still am not sure why that was my fault but my homeowner 's policy ended up covering it. Now I just leave the darn carts in the parking lot. A good deed never goes unpunished.

To me it seems like the VW owners insurance should be paying. If not, than your friends insurance might cover the cost after deductible.

It's the after deductible that gets you. I think that situation is part of the "comprehensive" rather than collision. I used to have $50 deductible on the comprehensive. I think I upped my collision to $1,000 and comprehensive to $250 last renewal as it saved a lot of money and we don't drive much anyway.

Did your friend have full coverage on the truck? If so, then her insurance will take care of it. If she had liability only, then she has to deal with the VW's insurance. The only time you have to pay a deductible when you're not at fault is in a hit-and-run situation (because your insurance doesn't have any one to go after). Since your friend knows who did the damage, she is not required to pay a deductible.

Not sure this is one of them, but a lot of insurance and liability issues are state specific, and they certainly are policy specific. I think I have read that if your neighbor's tree falls on your house that is not necessarily the neighbor's (or his insurance company's) responsibility. Might make a difference if the tree was rotten and the neighbor did not take care of that. Or it's possible that the auto insurance co. covering the VW is not responsible but the owner of the truck is. I know my umbrella and /or home owner's policy covers things I never even thought about. But then most people probably don't have that broader umbrella insurance.