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If you’re involved in a car accident while in a rental, you’re likely confused about who pays for the damage. Read on to find out who is liable for damage to a rental car in a motor vehicle accident.
The simple answer is the party who is responsible for the car accident. The victim has a right to seek reimbursement from the at-fault party for damage to your vehicle – as well as rental car expenses. However, auto accident and personal injury cases are rarely that simple. Complicating things further is the fact that the Minnesota Legislature has refused to put this into statute forcing personal injury attorneys in Minnesota to rely on case law as opposed to statute.
Almost every state recognizes the right of the not at fault auto owner to recover damages for the loss of use of the damaged vehicle while it is being repaired. See, Kopischke v. Chicago, St. P., M. & O. Ry. Co., 230 Minn. 23, 30–31, 40 N.W.2d 834, 839 (1950). Thus, the liability insurer of the at-fault driver is obligated to pay the rental cost of a comparable vehicle to that which was damaged.
Most insurance policies recommend you cancel your rental car once you know your car is totaled. This is because you may not be able to recover the cost of the rental once the car has been deemed “totaled.”
However, you have the right to recoup the costs associated with fixing the disruption to your life caused by a car accident. If you rent reasonably and the insurer wants to short-change you on rental reimbursement, they must put this in writing. If there is any refusal or decrease in coverage you should immediately request a written explanation as to why.
Issues can occur if a person driving a compact car tries to rent an expensive luxury vehicle. Insurance will argue that it is not a “comparable vehicle.” In the case of certain high-value, high-cost vehicles, you may have to demonstrate your need for a specific replacement vehicle. For that reason, it is important to find a similar vehicle to rent when attempting to replace the one lost or damaged in the accident.
Another issue occurs when insurance companies assert they are not liable for the use of a “total loss” vehicle. This often happens in severe car accidents. Insurance companies argue instead that they are liable for only the difference between the pre-accident value and the post-accident value. This argument is based on how the Minnesota Supreme Court divides damage to personal property into different categories.
One of these categories involves property that “is completely destroyed and plaintiff asks for the market value of the property at the time of its destruction.” Kopischke v. Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha Ry., 230 Minn. 23, 29-30, 40 N.W.2d 834, 838 (1950). Additionally, Minnesota has a long-standing rule that market value is the proper measure of damages for totally-destroyed property, as long as it can be ascertained. See, e.g., Harrow v. St. Paul & Duluth Ry., 43 Minn. 71, 72, 44 N.W. 881, 881 (1890) ( the measure of damages for a destroyed property is market value). An illustration of this occurs in Giacomino v. Tri-State Ins. Co., 595 N.W.2d 530, 532 (Minn. Ct. App. 1999), where the plaintiff’s antique car is totaled and he is given only the market value of the vehicle, minus the salvage costs for $34,000. No extra damages were applied for loss of use.
The skilled car accident lawyers at Sand Law are experienced in handling these issues throughout the St. Paul, Minneapolis, and greater Twin Cities area. The experience of being involved in a severe car accident and suffering severe injuries, as a result, can be harrowing, to say the least. Our attorneys understand that there is a great degree of frustration that comes with dealing with the aftermath of a car accident especially when it involves a rental vehicle that you were driving.
Don’t attempt to handle a car accident injury claim on your own. More often than not, our attorneys will hear the same story about how a car accident victim that was seeking compensation for their injuries attempted a claim on their own and ended up having their claim denied or the value of their settlement significantly reduced due to some mistake they made when communicating with the insurance company or some deadline that they missed. You owe it to yourself to put your case in the capable hands of professionals with a proven track record like Sand Law.
Please feel free to contact us at 651-291-7263 or through an online contact form for a no-obligation consultation on your rental car accident case.
Slip-and-fall injuries are some of the most common grounds for premises liability claims in Minnesota. The legal theory of premises liability is that the owners and operators of a property need to exercise a reasonable amount of care to ensure that the property is safe for the people who use it. If the premises are unsafe, then the landowner may be liable for injuries caused by his or her failure to exercise reasonable care.
Premises liability is especially applicable to businesses because they rely on the public being able to safely use their property in order to make a profit. Businesses money on advertising to drive more traffic into their stores. Therefore, the amount of care that is reasonable for a business to exercise is much higher than it is for a homeowner. The law expects businesses to have policies and procedures in place to ensure that the property is safe for visitors. Additionally, employees must be adequately supervised in implementing those safety procedures.
During Minnesota winters, many people are injured by dangerous conditions caused by snow, ice, and slush. People can get hurt by slipping and falling on ice in a parking lot or common area of an apartment building, or by melted snow that was tracked into a retail store. The common element in these injuries is that the business owner has a duty to foresee these potential dangers and adequately prepare for them.
When people slip and fall, there is a chance that they can end up landing in a way where their head impacts the ground or a nearby object with sufficient force to cause a traumatic brain injury. These kinds of injuries occur when a particularly powerful force acts upon the head in a way that causes damage to the brain. This damage often has a way of being permanent and causing symptoms that affect a person’s cognitive abilities. Common traumatic brain injuries include concussions, brain contusions, penetrating brain injuries, and much more.
Many people end up suffering from broken or fractured bones when they slip and fall due to ice or snow in the winter. People can end up breaking limbs or even end up having structures like the pelvis cracked which can endanger the organs housed within.
People commonly fall flat on their backs when they slip. The back is padded with flesh and muscle. However, it can still sustain severe damage in some instances of a slip and fall. When you land on your back, you can suffer severe injuries like soft tissue injuries, spine dislocations, herniated discs, and even damage to the spinal cord. Spinal cord injuries are often the worst. They can cause permanent damage that can lead to paralysis, spasms, incontinence, and loss of sensation in the limbs.
In premises liability cases, it can be difficult to identify the party that was responsible for the dangerous condition that caused the injury. For example, many businesses contract with a snow removal service during the winter. As part of the contract, the snow removal service may agree to assume some of the liability that would otherwise belong to the business or landowner. After an injury occurs, the insurance companies of the landlord and the snow removal service will blame the accident on each other in an attempt to avoid compensating the injured person. These kinds of squabbles are time-consuming and result in delays in medical bills and lost wages being paid for.
An experienced personal injury attorney can help cut through the stalling tactics and delays by representing you in your claim. If you have suffered an injury as a result of a slip-and-fall, we understand that you are not interested in the contractual terms between the snow removal service and the business you were patronizing. You want to be fairly compensated and move on with your life. We are committed to helping you do that.
When people are injured by a slip-and-fall accident, the responsible insurer may also try to shift the blame to the injured person by claiming that the condition was “open and obvious.” This defense is usually raised in an attempt to completely deny liability for the injury and depends on a legal theory called comparative negligence. Basically, the defense will claim that the injured person should have been aware of the danger since Minnesota is known for winter weather and icy conditions.
Sand Law’s slip and fall lawyers enjoy a high rate of success defeating this defense through zealous representation. When properly answered, the open and obvious defense fails because it is essentially an admission that the existence of the dangerous condition was foreseeable to the business owner as well, and that the business failed to mitigate the danger. Sand Law’s attorneys have earned a reputation in the Twin Cities and throughout Minnesota for skillfully applying the law to obtain justice for our clients. If you have been injured as a result of a slip-and-fall accident in Minnesota, call Sand Law today for a free consultation.
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