Maria opened her home to two medical students and even provided transportation to and from the hospital where they all worked. She drove them home one day, parked her car in the attached garage, and closed the garage door as the car continued to run. The two students suffered serious neurological damage due to carbon monoxide poisoning and other injuries as Maria dragged them out of the house after discovering them in distress.

Maria turned to her homeowners carrier for coverage when the two students filed suit. Coverage was denied because of the automobile exclusion.

Click here to see how the courts ruled.

Insurance companies design their policies to keep auto-related losses in one type of coverage form or policy. All other policies exclude auto-related liability and physical damage. This method works well most of the time because it keeps all losses and premium associated with those kinds of losses in a single pool that allows developing accurate loss costs. This is accomplished through exclusions in both policies.

Click here to review the PF&M analysis of the Motor Vehicle Liability exclusion in the ISO Homeowners Policy.

This loss occurred because of an owned auto and the owned auto carrier responded to the loss. The auto carrier was part of the lawsuit that demanded money from the homeowners carrier. The auto carrier exercised its Other Insurance Condition. Whenever there is more than one policy that could respond to a particular loss, the Other Insurance Condition in each policy explains how much it pays. It is always important to remember that the other insurance condition does not require that the other insurance be the same kind of insurance or even that the other insurance be coverage that the named insured purchased. It simply must be other insurance available to pay a loss.

This condition must be read carefully because the coverage is primary in some cases and not in others.

Click here to review the PF&M analyses of the Personal Auto Policy and the Homeowners Other Insurance Condition.

Maria opened her home to two foreign students. Many families open their homes to foreign students as part of an exchange program. These programs are great learning experiences for all parties. However, they do create unique and complicated insurance issues that should be examined carefully.

Consider sending or posting one or both of the following emarketing articles to alert your customers to insurance coverage needs they may not have considered.