Graham's Ram, Four Losses, and Three Deductibles
Graham's PAP covers a financed 2021 Ram 1500 with a $500 collision deductible and a $250 other-than-collision deductible. He declined gap coverage; the lender, listed as loss payee, is still owed $14,000. In November: (1) he strikes a deer on the interstate, causing $6,200 in damage; (2) a hailstorm dents the hood and cracks an aftermarket tonneau cover, $3,900; (3) his nephew, visiting for a week, takes the truck without asking and scrapes a guardrail, $2,800, confessing only two weeks later; (4) a window is smashed and a $2,100 laptop and $900 of golf clubs are stolen from the cab. The truck is drivable after each event but sits in the shop 11 days after the deer strike and 6 days after the hail. A rental costs $52 a day, and Graham has no rental reimbursement endorsement.
1. Classify losses (1), (2), and (3) as collision or other than collision and state the deductible that applies to each.
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The deer strike is other than collision: the PAP definition of other-than-collision includes contact with a bird or animal, so the $250 deductible applies even though the vehicle was moving. The hail is also other than collision, listed among the named perils along with windstorm, falling objects, flood, theft, and vandalism, so another $250 deductible applies. The guardrail is a collision, meaning impact with another vehicle or object, so the $500 collision deductible applies. Three separate occurrences mean three separate deductibles: $250, $250, and $500, not one deductible for the season. The nephew's two-week silence raises the prompt-notice condition. Late notice does not void coverage by itself; the carrier must show it was prejudiced in investigating, and here the guardrail damage is verifiable, so outright denial would be a hard position to defend.
2. Are the laptop and golf clubs covered under Part D? What about the smashed window?
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The window is covered; the contents are not. The broken window is damage to the covered auto caused by theft or vandalism, an other-than-collision peril, so it is paid subject to the $250 deductible. The laptop and golf clubs are personal property, and Part D excludes loss to personal property. That exclusion is not a technicality: the PAP is priced to insure the vehicle, and personal belongings are expected to be insured on a homeowners or renters policy, which in most cases will respond to off-premises theft subject to that policy's deductible. If Graham has no homeowners coverage, he has no first-party source for the laptop, and any liability theory against the thief is practically worthless. Tell him before he files the claim that stacking the contents onto the auto claim is a denial waiting to happen.
3. How much can Graham collect for transportation expenses, and how would the loss payee affect a total loss?
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Transportation expenses pay a fixed daily amount, commonly $20 a day up to a $600 maximum, and they are triggered only when the loss is covered by collision or other than collision and the vehicle is out of service for repair or a total loss. The shop time is 11 days plus 6 days, 17 days at $20, which is $340, comfortably under the cap. Notice that the actual rental is $52 a day, so Graham eats the $32 daily difference; the endorsement, not the base form, is what closes that gap. On the loss payee point, the truck is financed with $14,000 outstanding and no gap coverage. If the truck were totaled and the actual cash value came to $12,000 after the deductible, the settlement would go to the lender first, and Graham would owe roughly $2,000 with no vehicle.