Question:
I was injured in a car accident when I was hit be a home health care aide who was driving to a patient’s house. Will the home health care company’s insurance apply?
Answer:
The commercial liability insurance policy may apply to cover your injury claim if you were hit by a home health care driver coming from or headed to a patient’s house. But anticipate a fight.
HOME HEALTH CARE COMPANY WILL DENY RESPONSIBLITY
To save money, home health care agencies often require employees to drive their own cars. If one of their home caregivers causes a car accident, the home health care company agency will take the position that their employee is an independent contractor and that the company does not provide liability insurance coverage to them. The health care agency will tell you to make your claim on the driver’s personal auto insurance policy.
HOME HEALTH CARE AIDE’S PERSONAL AUTO INSURANCE COMPANY WILL DENY COVERAGE
The problem is that in-home caregiver’s personal auto liability insurance carrier may also deny coverage, contending that the driver was in the course and scope of employment, thus the driver’s personal auto insurance policy doesn’t apply.
The driver’s personal insurance company will initially respond with a “reservation of rights” letter to you. That means they will delay your claim while they try to get the home health care aide’s employer’s liability insurance carrier to accept responsibility.
In other words, expect to be whipsawed, with both entities denying responsibility for your injury claim.
Ultimately, anticipate that the driver’s personal auto liability will relent and provide coverage after they get a “denial of coverage” letter from the driver’s employer. The problem though is that, if you were seriously injured, the driver’s personal auto insurance policy limit may be insufficient to cover the value of your claim. If you were hospitalized, or you need surgery, or you’ll be off work a lengthy amount of time due to an accident, it’s in your interest to have a commercial policy apply to the accident. Commercial policies have higher policy limits.
At McGee, Lerer & Associates, we fight to get the driver’s employer’s commercial liability insurance policy to apply to your accident. Commercial policy = higher policy limit. If we have to, we’ll file a lawsuit against the driver’s employer to force them to tender defense of the claim to their commercial insurance carrier.
If you were injured in a car accident caused by a home caregiver, contact the attorneys at McGee, Lerer & Associates for a free consultation. When the stakes are high because you are looking at large medical bills and time off work, you need to be fully informed about your rights. At no charge, we can discuss your case and give you advice. If you decide to hire our law firm, there is no upfront charge. We get paid at the end of the case, out of the settlement. If we collect nothing for you, you pay us nothing. Read more about how our fee works here.