One of the most crucial things you can do is to ensure the safety of your loved ones in the event of a car crash. You shouldn’t have any trouble pulling that off. Call your insurance company and ask to be fully covered. Perfect! However, due to the “intrafamily exclusion” in some insurance policies, things are not always that cut and dry. In the state of Ohio, this is a common exception. Consider the following scenario: while transporting your wife to her hair appointment, you cause a major collision.
After the car accidents in Toledo, you report your wife’s injuries to your own insurance provider. The insurance company delays in responding, but then confirms what you already suspected: you have no coverage. You consult an attorney about your situation, and he or she breaks the news that no coverage exists because of the policy’s “intra-family exclusion.” The state of Ohio does not allow your wife to sue you for carelessness just because she is a member of your household and a relative. The term “intra-family exclusion” describes this policy. In a twist of fate, your vehicle insurance would have paid for your neighbor’s medical bills, up to the policy’s liability limitations, if she had been hurt in the same accident. If she had been a passenger in a car driven by a friend, your wife would also be compensated for her injuries in such a case. If a family member was a pedestrian or if another family member’s car was involved, certain insurance plans will not pay for damages. Uninsured motorist coverage is another area where this theory has been implemented.
If you’ve ever tried to figure out the finer points of an auto insurance policy, you know they’re not easy to read. Most individuals never read the fine print in their car insurance contract because of how long and complicated it is. We realize how challenging it may be to fully grasp the complexities of an insurance policy, yet most individuals nowadays just go online, receive a quotation, and then buy insurance without ever reading a single word of the policy. What they don’t realize is that most policies have a provision known as “intrafamily exclusions,” buried in the small print. The language of these provisions prevents any member of your family who is a passenger in your car at the time of an accident from suing you for damages.
