Ever get the nervous feeling that your car wash is taking just a little bit too long and that you might never see your ride again? If so, this story may not help calm your nerves.
Last week, Las Vegas TV station KLAS reported the story of Daniel Lane, a Nevada man whose recent car wash ended up costing him a little over $5,000.
KLAS reported that Lane dropped off his car at a local car wash and left to get a haircut, but when he returned he came across a huddle of worried car wash workers. “All the guys that work there standing in the middle of a huddle, looking at me with puppy-dog eyes, say, ‘Oh, we though you took your truck.’ Ah no, I’m right here,” Lane told KLAS.
Someone had stolen the truck while it was in the care of the car wash, and, Lane found out later when the car was recovered, whoever stole it left it with some damage. According to Lane, it was more than $5,000 worth of damage.
Unfortunately for Lane, he had only purchased a basic Nevada auto insurance policy, which comes with liability coverage only. That means the damage to his car isn’t covered under the policy and he would likely have to pay for the repairs himself.
One way to avoid ending up in this situation yourself: Get comprehensive coverage for your car if you don’t have it already. Comprehensive is an optional coverage type that insurers against losses related to theft, among many other things.
But does comprehensive coverage still cover you even though you handed over your keys voluntarily to the car wash attendants? For an answer, we turned to Insurance Information Network of California spokesman Pete Moraga.
“Handing your keys over to employees of a car wash, or for that matter a valet parking attendant, has little impact on whether your insurance policy will cover damage or theft,” Moraga wrote in an email. “If you have comprehensive coverage, the theft would be covered, as would be any damage to the car. Because the damage occurred during the theft, it would fall under comprehensive coverage.”
(Readers should note that they may have to pay a deductible before their comprehensive insurance actually kicks in.)
If you don’t have comprehensive coverage, you could be left, like Lane, with few options in a theft situation.
According to the KLAS story, the only way Lane would be able to make the car wash pay for the damages would be to file a lawsuit. If the car wash had a liability policy and Lane sued, the business’s liability policy could potentially pay Lane.
“Keep in mind that all businesses should carry liability insurance, but many businesses try to elude liability by posting disclaimers on the back of their receipts or tickets. Same with valet parking companies,” Moraga said. “If you read the back of the ticket they give you, it will usually say that they assume no liability. Courts may rule otherwise, though.”
The bottom line: Keep comprehensive coverage on your car if you want to be covered in situations involving theft.
(In this story, IINC spokesman Pete Moraga is commenting on how auto insurance typically works. His comments are not a substitute for talking with your agent to identify whether your specific policy covers a specific loss situation.)
