Ask PIA

Symbols: your key to what’s covered

Under the Business Auto Policy, could you discuss the difference between using Symbol 1, as compared to Symbols 7, 8 and 9, to indicate whether coverage applies?

NYAIP: Garage policy drive-other-car coverage

My insured has a New York Automobile Insurance Plan garage dealers policy and wants to add two private-passenger vehicles, registered in the corporate name, which will be assigned to corporate officers. Can drive-other-car coverage be added by endorsement for the specifically registered vehicles?

NYAIP: Garage policy liability coverage

Under a New York Automobile Insurance Plan garage dealers policy, can I obtain broad-form CGL coverage like the coverage which is available in the voluntary market?

Federal electronic-driving device rule for truckers

Our clients are talking about a new electronic-driving device rule for motor carriers. Can you give us some information on this?

NYAIP: Permit 17 certificates

Under the New York Automobile Insurance Plan’s Special Risk Distribution Plan procedures, can the producer issue a certificate for Permit 17? (Permit 17 shows compliance with Department of Transportation requirements involving vehicles carrying oversized loads.)

FS-20s for mobile equipment

I have an insured who is a crane operator. His crane comes under the definition of mobile equipment and needs special plates from the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles.

The crane is insured with a nonadmitted company under a Commercial General Liability form. The company does not issue the New York financial responsibility form FS-20, because it is not licensed to write automobile insurance in New York. The DMV won’t issue the plates without an FS-20. What can I do?

Defensive-driver discount—garage policy

My insured has a garage dealer policy and has signed up for the New York State Department of Motor Vehicles-approved defensive-driver course. He wants to know if he will get a 10% discount. He has no personal auto policy.

Pollution exclusion

Does the pollution exclusion apply to the business auto and motor carrier policies in New York?

New York tow truck coverage

Our insured, a vehicle dealer, maintains a tow truck solely to move its own stock around. Does the insured have to purchase New York’s special tow truck liability coverage?

Symbol 1—named insured

My client owns a vehicle scheduled on a personal auto policy. He also has a business auto policy naming him as an individual with covered autos designated as Symbol 1. Will the BAP cover this client while operating the vehicle scheduled on the PAP?

Drive-other-car coverage

My insured submitted a claim on a commercial automobile policy. The insured doesn’t have a personal automobile policy, because their four cars are corporately owned. Their 16-year-old daughter with a driving permit was driving a friend’s parents home in the friend’s car and totaled the car. The car did not have collision coverage. Can this loss be covered under my insured’s commercial automobile policy?

Temporary substitutes

My client has a furnished auto and does not have a personal auto policy. Will the business auto policy cover a temporary substitute auto, if needed?

Who is an insured?

The Who Is An Insured (A.1) provision of Section II—Liability Coverage in the Business Auto Coverage form (CA 00 01) states that an insured is anyone “... using with your permission a covered auto....”

If a policyholder supplies the majority of its fleet to its sales personnel for their business and personal use, how far does the phrase “with your permission” extend?

Presuming the insured has not issued any directive to its employees as to who may use the cars, would the following qualify as insureds?

• the salesperson’s spouse;
• the salesperson’s son;
• the salesperson’s son who takes the car to college for a weekend; or
• a friend of the son who borrows the car while it is at college.

I am not concerned about whether the insured business, as owner, is protected but rather about the question of which operators are protected.

Loading/unloading is ’use’ in New York state

We insure a moving company with an ISO Truckers Coverage Form. The movers damaged a building while carrying furniture off a truck and getting it inside. The insurer is denying this claim. Are they correct?

Primary or excess?

An employee of our commercial auto policyholder had an accident in his personal vehicle. Our policyholder has two policies through two different companies. Company A’s policy is rated based on Symbol 1, making any auto (including hired and nonowned) a covered auto. The second policy, written by Company B, provides liability coverage for nonowned and hired vehicles only. We would like the claim to be paid by Company B, because Company B’s coverage is more specific to the claim. But Company B says no, the loss should be split, one-half with Company A and one-half with Company B. How should this claim be apportioned?

I.D. cards for self-insureds

How are I.D. cards for self-insured entities handled?

Borrowed motorcycle

On a commercial auto policy, if a customer borrows a motorcycle that is owned by a corporation (named insured) and is involved in an accident, is the motorcycle considered “any auto” (Symbol 1)?

Coverage for valet parking

I was wondering what coverage issues arise when I permit a valet-parking attendant to drive my vehicle. If there is an accident, how will my policy respond to liability for bodily injury and property damage? How will the business owner’s policy respond? How will the parking attendant’s policy respond?

Commercial auto—suspension of coverage

When using ISO form CA 02 40—Suspension of Coverage, will an additional premium be issued once the suspension period is over? Would the insured still have defense in the event one of their vehicles that is suspended for coverage is stolen and there is a loss with that vehicle and we are brought into a lawsuit?

Corporate-owned vehicle

Can a corporate-owned auto (or LLC-owned auto) be insured under a personal auto policy or must it be insured under a business auto policy?

Stated amount

An antique auto insured under a business auto policy was stolen. The amount the insurer offered was less than the stated value. Is this correct?

Hired and nonowned vs. drive-other-car coverage

Does drive-other-car coverage typically cover “hired and nonowned”-type vehicles? If I am a company employee, with a corporate vehicle, but no personal auto insurance, and I rent a vehicle or the business rents a vehicle, am I covered in both scenarios?

BAP coverage for trailer owned by corporate officer

Our corporate client wants to pull an officer-owned trailer having a load capacity of less than 3,000 pounds behind a corporate-owned commercial vehicle. Will there be coverage for this trailer under the Business Auto Coverage Form (CA 00 01)? We weren’t sure since the trailer is owned by an individual and not the corporation.

Photo inspections—commercial vehicles

Some insurers are giving us notice that commercial vehicles less than 6,500 pounds are now subject to photo inspections as a result of recent amendments to Regulation 79. This will cause a good deal of stress with agency operations, especially for fleet operations. What feedback are you getting about this from producers and insurers?

Vehicle liability for individual co-signer on a business lease

I have a commercial insurance client who recently co-leased a vehicle in both the name of his company and an individual who does not have ownership in the company (basically, a friend doing him a favor). The underwriter for the insurer says that both names need to be listed as named insureds on the business auto policy. However, the insurer will not do this unless the individual has a majority interest in the business. I would think some sort of additional insured endorsement could be used to solve this, but the underwriter says it will not work. Do you know of any other possible solution?

Loss of use

A client purchases an ISO Business Auto Policy with physical damage coverage. How would you describe its provisions for the loss-of-use coverage?

Garage employee's use of owner's commercial vehicle

My client has a fleet of commercial vehicles. The garage where the owner gets these vehicles repaired/maintained comes to the owner’s place of business and picks them up to take them to the garage. If the garage employee gets in an accident while driving the owner’s vehicle to the garage, whose policy responds to the liability portion of this claim?

Commercial auto—care, custody and control

Our insured has a fleet of vehicles, one of which is the owner’s truck. In the evening it is driven home and parked in the driveway.

The owner and his spouse have a personal auto policy. Our insured’s spouse backed that car out of the garage and into the side of our insured’s truck.

The car incurred $1,500 in damage and the truck incurred $3,500 in damage. The claims adjuster for the car is denying coverage for the property damage to the corporate-owned truck, claiming that the truck being parked in the driveway falls under the exclusion for damage to property in the care, custody and control of the insured at the time of a loss.

We believe this is a straight property damage liability claim, as the truck was parked at the time of the claim; and is, in fact, owned by a corporation. Can you provide coverage advice and any precedent information we could provide to support the position of our insured?

Incorrect lessor named

I quoted a commercial automobile policy for someone using a copy of the prior policy. The lessor for a scheduled vehicle was not the current one, so the new policy did not list the correct name on the Lessor—Additional Insured And Loss Payee endorsement. An accident occurred and the lessor was named in the third-party suit. The insurer will not defend the lessor because it is not the one listed on the policy. Is there anything I can do to resolve this without an errors-and-omissions claim?

Ownership of scheduled commercial vehicle

My client is a sole proprietor who uses a commercial vehicle in his business. His wife owns the vehicle. Is there any coverage issue when the named insured does not own the scheduled vehicle?

Trucker’s general liability

What does a trucker’s general liability policy cover when not operating vehicles covered on the motor carrier policy?