Expert: Richard Hixenbaugh - 2/15/2011

Question
Richard,
I have both homeowners and auto insurance with the same company.

Not knowing my garage door did not open fully, I backed out my garage and smashed the garage door. I did some minor damage to my car. Of course, had I been paying full attention, I would not have hit my own garage door!

.To my unpleasant surprise , I must pay ay my $1,000 deductible to my garage fix via the Homeowner's coverage and $500 deductible to get the car fixed.

I feel this is wrong. I have one accident yet must pay two deductible. I think this is absurd.

What's the logic here! My agent tells me it just the way it is since I was driving.

Please explain "one" accident "two" deductible. What would have happened had I hit another person's garage door?I

Answer
Hi Joe,

Even though it is one accident it is two seperate policies that are paying for the damage. Each policy has it's own deductible. It does not matter that both policies are with the same company. It is still two different types of claims (one for car damage and one for house damage) and therefore two deductibles.

The primary reason for this is that each policy is paying from the physical damage portion of the policy as opposed to the liability portion. Since you damaged your own property with your own car, this can not be considered to be a liability claim. This is due to the fact that you can not be held leagally liable to yourself for damages that you caused yourself.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh