Car insurance act of god question

[tallgraham]

Hi

In todays high winds,our neighbour opened her car door and it blew open and damaged the rear bumper on mine,my wife just so happened to be outside when it happened thank goodness.

Now they are happy to sort this without involving the insurance companys,but my neighbours husband said it was pointless going through insurance because it would be seen as an act of god and would have to go 50/50 with our insurance,though he is quite happy to pay for the repairs out of his own pocket,and me being in the trade can "get the parts cheap:frown:".

Is this true?

thanks in advance

 

graham

[WarrenBuffet]

Its not an act of god its negligence! IMO

[unclebulgaria67]

This is always a bit difficult to answer. Was it the wind or negligence ? If you knew it was windy and that by opening the door you risked it swinging open, therefore causing it hit a third parties vehicle, it is probably negligence.

 

Act of god would be where you could not possibly have prevented something from happening.

[Mwynci]

Act of god, where is the negligence? What are you supposed to do, not open the door. The op is getting a good deal, this wouldn't even go 50/50.

[WarrenBuffet]

Should they not have accounted for the weather conditions and held onto door? Is your argument not that someone who drove their car in snow and lost control smashing into the back/front /side of another saying "Oh its an act of god" !!? My answer would be well if you had not been in control of the car i might take you seriously. As in the OP case, if the passenger had been in control of the door then it would not have happened? Yes i do appreciate accidents happen, but the vast majority are due to human error, and the reason there is a huge industry in insurance.

[king12345]

I read somewhere that a guy took his insurance to court because they didn't want to pay for damage caused by an act of nature (i don't think they call it act of god anymore to avoid offending the non believers).

Anyway, he argued that everything is an act of nature, even deliberate actions which wouldn't happen if nature had not given us brain power.

So if they had to admit an act of nature, the insurance could potentially never pay any claim.

He won.

I wish I remembered where i read it, it was not so long ago.

[unclebulgaria67]

Act of god, where is the negligence? What are you supposed to do, not open the door. The op is getting a good deal, this wouldn't even go 50/50.

 

Cars usually have more than one door. Could they have got in the other side ?

 

What do you do, when another car has managed to park too close to the driver door side ? You get in the other side and shift over to the drivers seat.

 

Talk about acts of god and Insurance reminds me of a favourite film with Billy Connolly, ' The Man who sued god'.

[Surfer01]

Cars usually have more than one door. Could they have got in the other side ?

 

What do you do, when another car has managed to park too close to the driver door side ? You get in the other side and shift over to the drivers seat.

 

Talk about acts of god and Insurance reminds me of a favourite film with Billy Connolly, ' The Man who sued god'.

 

There is no ways I could scramble from the passengers seat to the driver's seat due to the configuration and height of the middle console. However the person should have anticipated that the door could fly open due to high winds therefore they were negligent.

[unclebulgaria67]

There is no ways I could scramble from the passengers seat to the driver's seat due to the configuration and height of the middle console. However the person should have anticipated that the door could fly open due to high winds therefore they were negligent.

 

Regular yoga sessions will make you more flexible.

[Surfer01]

Regular yoga sessions will make you more flexible.

I wish I had the ability to do yoga never mind other activities. LOL!

[WarrenBuffet]

I have a funny feeling that Mwynci may be the OP's neighbour? .... Just a hunch!

[SuperVillain]

I'm with WB at post #5. The only possible argument would be that they were holding the door and the gust of wind was so strong that it blew out of their hand. That's not negligence but how does either side prove that... it's near impossible.

 

I don't think your neighbour is right about the 50/50 but if he's offering to pay for repairs then why not, if you're comfortable with this arrangement...

[Mwynci]

I have a funny feeling that Mwynci may be the OP's neighbour? .... Just a hunch!

 

Close, I'm God.

[WarrenBuffet]

Close, I'm God.

 

The best rebuttal i have heard in a long time, it did make me laugh out loud.