Hit-and-run car accidents are horrible. If you’re the victim of a hit-and-run driver, you must deal with the consequences someone else’s negligence.
If you have uninsured and underinsured insurance coverage, you may think you can depend on your insurer to help. But sometimes insurers will deny your claim, saying you voided your coverage.
How is this possible?
Can I do something that causes a car insurance denial?
Unfortunately, yes. Your car insurance company could deny your car accidence claim. The details are specific to your situation and car insurance policy, but it may be legal for your insurer to deny your claim if it finds that you have voided your insurance policy.
Racing, stunts and other car shows
If you have a muscle car, sports car or other kind of show car, and you displayed it at some point, you may have run afoul of your insurance policy.
This type of denial comes up frequently in cases where a policyholder allegedly used a car in a race, but it can also come up in cases in which a policyholder merely showed the car at an event.
It may surprise you that your auto insurance company may deny a claim that results from any of these events. Even if it was a hit-and-run on your parked car, the company may claim that the show was a disallowed use that voids coverage.
Business use
If you are in a work van, you know that the business has commercial insurance. However, you may not know that your auto insurance company wants you to have similar insurance if you use your own vehicle for business uses.
This situation comes up in cases involving gig work, such as delivering or driving with Uber, Lyft, DoorDash and other ride-sharing and delivery services. It could also involving running errands for your work, like picking up your boss’s dry cleaning or picking up coffee for the office.
Apparent willful damage
Intentional damage is another common reason that insurance companies claim to deny coverage. However, the damage may not actually be intentional. The insurance company may just use this as an excuse.
Natural disasters
After a natural disaster, you lean on your various insurance companies to help rebuild your life. For your home, your first call is your insurance company, and for your car, it is your car insurance company. However, in both instances, insurers may claim a so-called act of God exemption. Some insurance policies explicitly exclude natural risks, like tornadoes, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods.