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HOOD OF A CAR
IF YOU LIKE PINA COLADA
November 12, 2013TO LIEN OR NOT TO LIEN
November 17, 2013A pedestrian is hit by a car. She is thrown onto the hood of the offending vehicle. Liability is established. While the story does not say, we may presume that she got the maximum amount available under the driver’s insurance policy – except for some coverage available only to the car’s occupants. So she argued that being albeit temporarily on the hood of the car made her an occupant.
Ridiculous, said the insurer!
Be careful what you say, retorted the judges! It turns out that the insurance contract defined an occupant as anyone “in, on, entering or [leaving]” the vehicle. See that word “on” in that definition? Sure enough, the pedestrian was on the hood of the car, so she was an occupant of the car, at least under that insurance contract.
