Homeowner’s insurance covering something like this? I’ve never heard of it…hmmmmm…interesting. I have a trick to dealing with shopping carts, doors, rocks, and other things that’ll put dings in my car. I don’t worry about it! I figure if its going to happen, its going to happen and there’s nothing I can do about it except curse a few times and save up money to get it fixed! Also when I go grocery shopping I park a little ways out in the parking lot where you’re less likely to get bashed by a shopping cart or a careless driver swinging their door open to hitting the car. It’s not completely 100% but lessens the odds of it happening, unless I go into a store at night, then I park closer to the building.
Homeowner’s insurance covering something like this? I’ve never heard of it…hmmmmm…interesting.
I’m assuming it will based on another incident. Nephew was bitten by a dog as my nephew walked by the open window of the truck parked at Home Depot. Sister called the police. Dog was actually put down (2nd time he bit someone in a year). My sister sued the man…and his home owners insurance covered the cost.
Liability portion of homeowners ins. will cover this, but more than likely any deductible will be near or more than the cost of repair. Probably not worth filing a claim for.
I know this is old, but for those who question whether they are liable in this instance and if auto insurance or home insurance will apply to the situation, this is for you. I am not a lawyer, nor am I claiming to know what each of your insurance policies cover. Typically, your auto policy will cover you for liability in the use, maintenance, and operation of the vehicle. This includes loading and unloading of the vehicle. If you are loading your groceries into your car from a cart, you are in the definition of use/maintenance/operation. If the cart rolls away and strikes a vehicle or other object/person and causes damages, you will be liable and the damages are payable under your auto policy liability coverage. If you are done loading/unloading the vehicle and or walking with the cart and it gets away from you causing damages, this would be covered under your homeowner’s liability policy. Again coverages can vary from company to company, but the liability still rests on you since you were in the care, custody, and control of the cart. Take all emotion out of it and rely only on facts. This is what a court would do and look at. They don’t care if you thought it was secure. They only care about 4 things. 1. Duty Owed 2. Duty Breached 3. Damages Sustained 4. Proximate Cause.
Hope that helps!
Insurance laws are different in each state. Liability for this could be either Auto or Home depending on what state you live in.
I am aware of the different laws and jurisdictional requirements. Especially in states like Michigan, NH, etc. I am referring to the general understanding of liability.
I’ll speak from experience.
In MA and CT, at least, homeowner’s insurance does come into play, as Bing correctly mentioned…
Years ago, I was having lumber put into a van that I had rented. The lumber yard worker injured himself. His attorney filed a claim not against my auto insurance, but against my homeowner’s policy He claimed that I had created a dangerous situation by not warning the yard worker about a heavy object in my van, which rolled onto his hand. Case was thrown out of court.
AS to the OP: I wonder if the shopping cart contained a can of Cling Peaches in Heavy Syrup. You watchers of a Caroll O’Connor sitcom know what I’m talking about :).
@tom418. I remember that episode of “All In The Family”. After listening to Edith Bunker, I made certain to buy peaches in light syrup and skimmed milk just in case my grocery cart gets away from me. However, I drew the line on beer. I won’t buy light beer even if it would reduce the damage to another car if the shopping cart got away from me.
I actually had my car hit by a shopping cart being pushed by a carry-out boy. This was back about 1968. The kid had long hair and I don’t think he could see where he was going. The woman who had bought the groceries was screaming at him as some of the eggs she purchased were broken. There was a dent in my car door. I went in and talked to the manager who was the step father of one of my high school friends. I told him what had happened, but I didn’t want to get the carryout kid in trouble. The manager quietly handed me an insurance form, told me to get an estimate, and the carryout boy would not be in trouble.
I did get an estimate. I think it was $37. I took the estimate back to the grocery store manager and within a week had the check for $37. I then figured the gas mileage wouldn’t be affected by the dent and I was saving money to go back to graduate school, so the damage was never fixed.
I do get upset with shoppers who won’t return the carts to the designated area, but leave the carts all over the parking lot.
On the topic of shopping carts, I always seem to pick a shopping cart with a flat spot on the caster. I noisily bump up and down the aisles.
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Except that most companies will have an exclusion for intentional acts. In other words, if you wreck your vehicle by ramming a cop car to get through the roadblock they put up after you held up a bank, they’re not gonna pay even if you have full coverage.
Similarly, unless the woman we were talking about can convince her insurance company that she did not fling a shopping cart away from her intentionally rather than “accidentally” losing control of it – which might be hard since it sounds like she confessed after being bluffed with security video – they may not pay.