

How comprehensive is Zipcar’s insurance? - px
http://blogs.reuters.com/felix-salmon/2010/06/15/how-comprehensive-is-zipcars-insurance/

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snsr
<imaginary bq>it seems they’re still interested in putting liability onto
their members when there’s an accident, like the time when Zipcar member Dale
Douglas rear-ended Leslie Minto. Minto took Zipcar to court, but Zipcar won,
saying that it was not liable “for harm to persons or property that results or
arises out of the use, operation, or possession of [their vehicles] during the
period of the rental or lease”.</end bq>

Isn't this precisely why drivers/owners are compelled to purchase insurance?
Dude is lucky he didn't kill someone.

~~~
MartinCron
_Isn't this precisely why drivers/owners are compelled to purchase insurance?_

The contentious issue is that the zipcar marketing implies that
"comprehensive" insurance is included. They don't require you to have outside
insurance, and they don't even offer you an opportunity to (through them) get
more (specifically liability) insurance at an additional cost. I don't know
about you, but when I see the word "comprehensive", I tend to think it covers
everything.

The concept of the car sharing service is that it's something you use rarely.
Paying to be insured 24/7/365 for something that you use once or twice a month
seems wasteful. I'm not even sure it's possible to get insurance for car
sharing services through traditional insurers. In any case, it seems like far
more of a hassle than checking a checkbox to pay more to get some additional
insurance through zipcar directly.

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dantheman
Wow - I didn't realize they had such poor insurance:

 _Beginning November 1, 2007, for Zipcar members 21 years of age or older, our
insurance coverage consists of a combined single limit of $300,000 per
accident, meaning that all third party bodily injuries, or property damage
costs relating to the accident covered in the aggregate up to $300,000. For
drivers under 21, we provide coverage up to state-mandated levels, which vary
by the state in which the accident occurs. Zipcars are covered under a vehicle
collision policy._

 _If the total amount of the injuries and/or property damage exceeds our
coverage limits, Zipcar members are responsible for this excess_ and will be
contacted by either Zipcar, our insurance provider – Liberty Mutual – or the
insurance company representing another driver involved in the accident.

You think they'd charge a little more to give you better insurance, or at
least give you the option of securing better insurance.

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zach
"It seems they’re still interested in putting liability onto their members
when there’s an accident"? Of course -- they should be! Insuring someone is
totally different from assuming liability, is it not? The article totally lost
me at this point.

~~~
riffer
Agreed (and upvoted), although I come to a different conclusion. When
potential Zipcar customers see the marketing materials that mention
comprehensive insurance, are they being mislead by that marketing? I suspect
so. They don't have an obligation to cover liability or provide insurance that
covers liability, but they do have a responsibility to be clear on the
marketing side.

~~~
techsupporter
Zipcar is not liable for the actions of its customers, insofar as the
insurance coverage is concerned.

Insurance (n) - [...] D. Coverage by a contract binding a party to indemnify
another against specified loss in return for premiums paid.

Indemnity (n) - [...] [P]rotection, as by insurance, from liabilities or
penalties incurred by one's actions.

The person who was rear-ended by the Zipcar member is entitled solely to
recover from the member. Zipcar, as a corporate entity, is not responsible for
their member's actions unless they caused the actions or (in the ever-popular)
"should have known" the actions would take place.

In the linked article [1] from the Reuters blog, the court ruled that Zipcar
is a car rental company. All car rental companies are not responsible for the
actions of the people who pay to rent the cars. The insurer that provides
coverage that people buy through Zipcar is responsible for fulfilling the
terms of the policy, but that is a contract between the insurer and the
insured. Zipcar bears no corporate liability, which is where the person whose
car was rear-ended erred. If she had sued the driver and Liberty Mutual, or
just the driver, she would have prevailed if the driver had been found at
fault and could have recovered from the driver's insurance company. I can't
tell, from either article, why she didn't go this route, since it's what
thousands of people who are involved in wrecks do every year.

1 -
[http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202462707131&CarS...](http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1202462707131&CarSharing_Company_Entitled_to_Same_Liability_Shield_as_Rental_Firms_Court_Rules)

(I used to do auto insurance-related work in a former career and find the
entire process needlessly complex.)

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davidmurphy
My Mom, who doesn't have a car and otherwise was interested in Zipcar, won't
rent from them for this reason.

Too bad.

------
oli17
xcn

------
oli17
b,

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a2tech
What insurance do you want them to provide? They can't be held liable for
every jackass with a drivers license that rents on of their vehicles.

~~~
techsupporter
They're not. According to "How it Works" [1], "[c]omprehensive insurance is
included as a part of the low hourly and daily rate." However, Zipcar does not
let "every jackass with a driver's license" rent one of their vehicles. You
have to apply [2] and be accepted for membership in the service. Meeting their
requirements means, among other things, you must:

"* Have had no more than two 'incidents' (moving violations PLUS accidents) in
the past three years and no more than one incident in the past 18 months

* Have had no major violations in the past three years

* Have had no alcohol violations in the past seven years" [3]

They're only insuring the customers they choose to insure, and should be doing
so according to the "comprehensive coverage" their advertising states. Their
insurance does not seem to require anyone to carry other insurance, and
doesn't seem to be subordinate to any existing insurance, beyond the
subscriber paying a $500 deductible[4], therefore Zipcar needs to pay up

1 - <http://www.zipcar.com/how/whatsincluded>

2 -
[http://www.zipcar.com/seattle/apply/?account_id=&group_i...](http://www.zipcar.com/seattle/apply/?account_id=&group_id=)

3 - <http://www.zipcar.com/how/faqs/one-faq?faq_number=1>

4 - <http://www.zipcar.com/how/faqs/one-faq?faq_number=28>

