"Escape Clauses" in Automobile Insurance Policies

An automobile insurance policy may have a provision for "other insurance." When more than one insurance policy provides coverage for a loss, the "other insurance" clause can limit an insurance company's liability by defining the priority in which the policy should pay an insured's claim. There are three types of "other insurance" clauses: (1) pro rata; (2) excess; and (3) escape.

Underinsured/Uninsured Motorists Stacking Provisions

Underinsured motorist coverage, sometimes abbreviated UIM, and uninsured motorist coverage, sometimes abbreviated UM, are included in motor vehicle insurance policies as a consequence of the fact that many owners and operators of cars and trucks either do not maintain adequate insurance coverage on their vehicles or operate those vehicles without any insurance coverage at all.

Auto Insurance Coverage for Underage Drivers

Age and gender are two of the criteria used by insurers in the process of determining risks in the writing of motor vehicle insurance policies. As a result, auto insurance policies sometimes contain provisions that exclude from coverage incidents that occur while a covered vehicle is being operated by a driver under a specified age, or by a male driver under a specified age. Questions of coverage arise when, as is inevitable, such incidents of operation by underage drivers take place and result in injury or property damage.

Drunk Driving Exclusion in Automobile Insurance Policies

Drunk driving or driving while under the influence of alcohol or a controlled substance is illegal. Public policy does not permit a criminal to profit from a criminal act. Commonly, insurance companies include a clause in their automobile insurance policies that prohibit an insured from receiving damages for bodily injuries or death that occurred in an automobile accident caused by drunk driving. A drunk driving exclusion can be a separate clause in the policy or drunk driving could be excluded under the policy's crime exclusion.

Insurer's Right to Subrogation

When one person pays to another person an amount due to the second person by a third person, the first person has a right to recover from the third person the amount paid to the second person. This right of payment is called a subrogation. Subrogation is a doctrine of equity. It is the substitution of the first person in the place of the second person, who had a claim upon the third person. When an insurance company pays its insured for a loss under an insurance policy that was caused by a third party, the insurance company acquires the right of subrogation against the third party.