Motor Vehicle Insurer's Right to Reimbursement of Indemnity Payments

The obligations of insurers to make payments under policies of motor vehicle insurance are based on the sometimes uncertain answers to questions about the extent of coverage and the liability of an insured to a party making a claim under the policy. An insurer may therefore face a difficult decision as to whether to make a payment in response to a third party's demand for such payment under a policy, risking the possibility that the payment is uncalled for in light of some limitation in the coverage, or to deny such a request and risk a claim that the insurer's failure to make the requested payment has made it liable to an insured for additional damages, such as the amount of a judgment in excess of the policy limits.

Uninsured Motorists Insurance and Government Vehicles

After an automobile collision, many things can affect whether or not an injured person can recover his or her damages from the owner or driver of the vehicle that negligently caused his or her injuries. Among those factors is whether the vehicle was owned by a governmental entity, like a city or state. Often, governmental entities have immunity from suit by injured persons. In those cases, an injured person may seek to obtain insurance benefits under his or her insurance's uninsured motorist provision. Because the injured person is unable to sue the governmental entity, the vehicle may be considered uninsured for purposes of the insurance policy.

Design Defects in Automotive Products Liability Cases

The basic elements of proof that a plaintiff in a products liability action against the manufacturer or seller of a car or truck has to establish are that the vehicle as sold contained a defect that created an unreasonable risk of death, personal injury, or property damage when the vehicle was used for its intended purpose and that the defect caused an accident or similar incident, such as a vehicle fire, that resulted in the loss for which the plaintiff is seeking to recover damages. Allegations of product defect in automotive products liability cases include inadequacies in vehicle design, errors in the manufacture of vehicle parts and their assembly into a completed car or truck, and failure to warn users of a vehicle about dangers inherent in its use.

Auto Insurance Coverage for Underage Drivers

Age and gender are two of the criteria used by insurers in the process of determining risks in the writing of motor vehicle insurance policies. As a result, auto insurance policies sometimes contain provisions that exclude from coverage incidents that occur while a covered vehicle is being operated by a driver under a specified age, or by a male driver under a specified age. Questions of coverage arise when, as is inevitable, such incidents of operation by underage drivers take place and result in injury or property damage.

Automobile Insurer's Duty to Exercise Good Faith

Among its other duties, an automobile insurance company is required to act in good faith when dealing with an insurance claim. This duty to exercise good faith continues throughout the entire claim process. There is an implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing in every insurance contract.