Letter to the Editor

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Coverage loophole for the elderly

I enjoyed reading Catherine Tapia’s article, “Volunteer Workforce, Lifeblood of the Nonprofits, Needs Special Coverages” (IJ, May 29, 2000). Because of the article, I wanted to tell you about something I believe is an insurance coverage loophole in the protection of an elderly citizen.

I have a friend, let’s call him “John,” who is 93 years old. He is in a wheelchair most of the time. His wife is about his age and also has problems with walking. They hired a person to come in to do laundry, cook meals and do the necessary things so they can continue to live in their own home. The individual they hired has his own vehicle and his own insurance policy. The helper went to the post office to mail some letters and to the drug store to pick up a prescription for John. He drove his own vehicle while performing these errands. On his way back from the store he had an accident. The other party involved in the accident was injured and is suing the helper and John. John has homeowners insurance as well as a personal auto policy. I do not believe there is coverage under either of these policies for this type of loss.

John should have purchased a commercial lines policy with non-owned automobile coverage. But what insurance carrier will provide this coverage and at what cost? Companies don’t like to write this type of risk. Insurance agents beware; there will be more claims like this.

At the present time, John has his own attorney and is defending himself in the case. Needless to say, John should have insisted that his employee carry high limits of liability coverage, and John should have required that he be named as an additional insured on the employee’s insurance policy. This particular problem will occur again. We have many people in the United States like John. They want to keep living their last precious days in their own homes and caring for themselves as best they can.

Jim Thompson
Fullerton Insurance Service Inc.
Fullerton, Calif.