Legal Liability and Insurance - Legal Aid Centre

Questioner

Dear Sir/Madam, I broke my brother's sunglasses and my third party insurance will not cover the damage. Below I have pasted 3 emails: 1. My story of what happened 2. Their answer (a telephone conversation took place afterwards) 3. My answer to that Would you please read this and let us know whether the insurance company is within its rights? Thank you in advance! 1. This is what happened when I visited my brother and sister-in-law in Curacao: During a car ride along tourist spots in Curacao, I sat on my brother's prescription sunglasses. You probably know it; look here, look there, get in the car, get out of the car, get in the car, get out of the car. While getting out, my brother put his sunglasses on the passenger seat (probably out of habit - he often sits alone in the car). I got back in the car and sat down... on the glasses. Result... frame bent beyond repair and 1 glass broken. Photos have been emailed to you by him. My brother says I should have seen the glasses lying there. But if you don't expect something to be there, you don't pay attention. I hope I have informed you sufficiently. 2. Dear Mr. Y, I received a claim from our insured Mr. Z on the liability insurance at Interpolis. It concerns the damage to your damaged sunglasses. I would like to inform you about the settlement of this damage. In order to assess liability, we have asked you and our insured to make a written statement. Based on this statement, we will assess to what extent our insured is to blame for the damage. In your statement you state that our insured sat on your glasses. Our insured states that you were both out and about that day and got in and out of the car. At that moment you put the glasses on the passenger seat. When our insured got back in later he sat on your glasses. Based on this reading, we cannot acknowledge legal liability. Our insured does not have to expect that there will be glasses on the seat when he gets into the car. You also indicate that you put them there and not our insured. As a result, there is no culpable behavior on the part of our insured and we cannot compensate you for the damage caused. Unfortunately I can't give you better news. If you have any questions, you can call or email me. My phone number is 3. Dear Mr. X, As you have understood, I am not at all happy/agree with the answer my brother and I received. Your answer states, among other things: Based on this reading, we cannot acknowledge legal liability. Our insured should not expect glasses to be on the seat when he gets into the car. So if my girlfriend is lying in bed with her head next to the pillow (aka somewhere I don't expect her head to be when I get into bed) and I go into bed and lie on her head causing her to break her neck and die. Am I not legally liable... Do I now have a free pass to murder someone??? Damage occurs because something unexpected happens. If I had expected the sunglasses to be there, I would not have sat on them. I caused the damage and you may not legally have to pay for it, but I have taken out liability insurance to be able to pay for this kind of thing. Which insurance should I have recovered from? Off-site insurance, travel insurance or should I have made it all up?? You regularly hear the story; that someone wants a new phone after a year because a newer version is available. The insurance company is called and they say that their phone is broken. The insurance company pays out without any problems and then the old phone goes on the marketplace and they even make money from it. That's not how I am! This is an honest story and I also hope for fair treatment, not a legal excuse to avoid having to pay out.

Lawyer

It depends on the description of the conditions to what extent there is any blame on the part of the insured. What is at issue here is that your brother (out of habit) frequently puts his glasses on the passenger seat and the insured is therefore not to blame according to the insurer, because he should not have known that a pair of glasses were there. No unlawful act was committed. On the other hand, the uncertainty factor that is often the case with insurance plays a role. To determine whether any compensation is possible, the conditions should be examined. If you wish, you can contact me directly and free of charge for consultation.