Drunken Driver drove Truck into the Home

[Ravi Kiran]

I just had a drunken driver rammed his Chevy Silverado into my rental home at middle of Friday Night. Thankfully the tenant’s son survived with bruises & lacerations, who was right at the impact point. The truck was fully totaled and the driver survived. Need your inputs & feedback on best way to approach this.

He drove over the side walk…

Drove into the concrete fence wall….

Then rammed into the bedroom exterior wall…3 feet into the home.

It’s a 4 bed 3 bath home

1 bedroom is fully damaged

Adjacent bedroom closet is damaged

Both bedrooms & a bathroom don’t have power

Now the tenant is staying in a hotel (they said they would be claiming on the drivers auto)

Now the tenants are saying they would like to pay only 50% rent until they find a new place. They are going to break the lease. I do understand their concern as the place isn’t fully functional for them.

The driver did have auto insurance (progressive)

I have home insurance (travelers)

Tenant has rental insurance

I’ve already filed a claim through my insurance (travelers) for getting the place ready. Looks like fixing the place is going to take atleast 3 months.

But for loss of rent and tenants hotel expenses, lease break charges etc. How could I get that covered ?

Do I have to file a claim against the Drivers auto insurance or should have to go to my Travelers ? Does drivers auto insurance even entertain these requests from a 3rd party like me ?

Need some of your inputs as to how I should approach this claim. Thanks in advance.

[Mitchell Goldstein]

@Ravi Kiran   I'm really sorry for your situation and happy that your tenant is not badly hurt. It could have been much worse.

There are several "good" things in this "bad" situation. Your tenant will be going after the driver and not you. There are several insurances involved that should cover most of the losses. That your tenant is willing to pay 50% of the rent is interesting because a property must be habitable to live in and to pass inspection and your home is likely not habitable.

In my lease, I have a clause that covers this exact situation. The tenant will pay to go and pay for a motel of my choice for 30 days. I will cover any motel rental amount over the house rental, which is only fair. If I cannot bring the tenant back within 30 days, I allow the tenant out of the lease if they choose or the tenant payment clock starts again for the next 30 days, etc.

I presume that you've checked your insurance policy to see if your insurance covers rental loss. My guess it does not. You or your tenants rental loss and other losses, such as, extra costs of eating out, laundromat costs, etc. seems to be a simple smalls claims issue, presuming it is less than $3-$5,000. If more, then you will have to go to the next higher court with its higher initial costs, about $300 in my area of NYS.

In addition, be sure to check how long your homeowner's policy will stay in effect when empty. Insurance companies will not cover an empty house for more than 60 days so a different policy will be needed to cover any time over 60 days. Make your insurance agent your best friend.

MOST IMPORTANT - hire a Public Adjuster to represent you with your insurance company. Do NOT sign any agreement with your insurance company until your Public Adjuster has looked over their offer. When I had a loss, the insurance company offered $4000. The Public Adjuster got them to pay $40,000!

Good luck - you may need it.   CoachMitch.com