Auto Insurance Claims: I have a dilemma: who is liable in this accident?, liability question

Question
My house incurred hail damage from a storm.  The insurance adjuster came over to my house to inspect the damage to the roof, etc.  He placed a ladder (an aluminum extention ladder) in front of my closed garage door.  My sister (who lives with me), not realizing that the ladder had been placed in front of the garage door, opened the garage door (using the garage door opener) and backed up into the ladder.  She simply did not expect that a ladder would be there and didn't see it!

Thank goodness, no one was on the ladder at the time she backed up into it.  The only damage was to my sister's car, when the ladder came crashing down on the back of it.

On the one hand, the insurance adjuster should not have placed the ladder where he did.  I looked up OSHA safety tips re Ladders, and it said, "A ladder placed in any location where it can be displaced by other activities must be secured to prevent displacement or a barricade must be erected to keep traffic away from the ladder."

But, on the other hand, my sister was backing up and should have made sure there was nothing behind her.

My sister's auto insurance is with the same company that insured the adjusters who misplaced the ladder.  Should she file a claim?  Will her auto insurance rates go up?  Or should she just forget about it.

Answer
Gail,

  I don't think you will like my answer . . . . but here it is anyway.


Your sister is at fault.  Sure it was stupid to put a ladder in front of the garage, but that does not make it okay to run into it.  What if a neighborhood child had been standing where the ladder was?  Would your sister have noticed?  

Okay, so with that being said, simply look at the damages.  If the damages are extensive, then it is probably worth filing a claim.  It is not likely that an increase in premiums would be so drastic as to make it not worth filing.  On the other hand, if you have a $1000.00 deductible, and the damages are $1300.00. . . probably better to just fix it without filing a claim.  I would be extremely surprised if the insurance adjuster's liability policy would agree that he/she is at fault for the damages to the car.  

Simple way to find out is to file the claim and see what happens.  The risk of it affecting premiums is only measured by contacting the insurance company and discussing the issue with underwriting.  They determine the rules about when your rates go up and if you will get renewed or not.

I hope this helps!

JP