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Auto Insurance Coverage for Permissive Users

If a motor vehicle driver had permission to use an insured vehicle and has an accident, the vehicle owner's automobile insurance policy may provide coverage. The permission had to be given by a named insured on the policy. The permission could be either express or implied. The permission had to exist at the time of the accident.

Tort Liability for Use of Emergency Vehicles

The operations of emergency vehicles are a common everyday feature on the streets and highways of the United States. These operations consist of the employment of vehicles that include ambulances, police cars, and fire trucks in response to situations demanding more or less immediate reaction. Due to the frequency of their operations and the nature of their use, emergency vehicles are inevitably involved in accidents that result in the bringing of legal actions seeking to recover damages for death, personal injury, or property damage caused by such accidents.

Tort Liability of Owners/Operators of Commercial Motor Vehicles

The potential tort liability of owners and operators of commercial motor vehicles implicates a number of unique legal issues. These range from some that are more obvious, such as the simple increase in the kinds and extent of risks of personal injury and property damage that arise from commercial vehicle use in contrast to the operation of private vehicles, the numbers of operators and numbers and types of vehicles involved in commercial activities, and the so-called "deep pockets" of business entities that make them more susceptible to having tort actions brought against them, to less immediately apparent matters such as the existence, in some jurisdictions, of a legal presumption, which would have to be affirmatively overcome by the persuasive evidence of a commercial vehicle owner, that the operator of a commercial vehicle is in fact the employee or agent of the owner at the time the vehicle is involved in an incident giving rise to potential tort liability.

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.

Stacking Provisions for Auto-Insurance

Often more than one automobile insurance policy is in effect for vehicles involved in a collision. Sometimes a single insurance policy can contain several types of coverage that could be applied to the accident. When these situations exist, an insured or the passengers in the insured's vehicle may seek to combine the benefits of the multiple coverage provisions in the policy or policies. This is called "stacking." It can also be called "pyramiding."