Last week there was a traffic accident that resulted in a fatality; the deceased’s car spun out and hit a traffic light, where it caught on fire. Since the accident, the traffic light (which is still standing) has extreme fire damage and is out of commission. Dept. of Transportation & City have blocked off the East/West access to the highway and made it just North/South running until it is repaired.
My question is, since the person who is presumably responsible for the damage (accident is still under investigation) is deceased, who pays to repair the equipment? Does the city eat the cost of all the repairs and replacements to the traffic light, or do they bill the insurance of the deceased?
Morbid thinking, I know. But it’s what I think about while going 20 mph in a 45 mph zone.
At least out here, the state highway department has the good taste to not try to recover damages in the case of fatal crashes. They do recover damages from people in less serious crashes though. I’m not sure if this is the policy everywhere-- maybe there are some more vindictive roads departments out there.
My husband hit a telephone pole with his truck (he was only slightly injured). The pole was cracked and bent. They put in another “helper” pole right next to it, and eventually removed the damaged one. We were halfway expecting the city to send us a bill, but they never did. Maybe telephone poles are expected to need replacement periodically or something.
Making an insurance claim is most definitely NOT like calling the family of the deceased and demanding to be paid. That would be, as you say, tasteless. It really isn’t a matter of “taste” to the insurance company, though. A claim adjuster may be personally a bit bothered that someone has died, but it comes with the job. Adjusters who work with complex claims are more used to fatalities, as well–they don’t hand fatality claims to entry-level handlers, and if a fatality develops they will reassign the claim to a complex claim handler.
I am sure the claim has been reported to the deceased’s insurance company by now, and the person adjusting it would be well-aware that the streetlight died a flaming death. Given the vast number of claims I have taken and the adjuster notes on many other claims I’ve read, I would expect the deceased’s insurance company to seek out and pay the city for the damages to the streetlight (from an ethical standpoint). If they’re a more mercenary carrier, they may wait for a claim from the city’s insurance company before paying out. I don’t really see any grounds for denial here, but of course auto insurance laws vary by state. It’s possible, if the deceased had a cheapie insurance company with bare state-minimum limits, that the damage would exceed their policy limits… in which case I imagine the state’s insurance company would cover the rest.
I can’t see anyone pestering the family of the deceased for the damages, but I would GUESS that it’s technically possible to claim against the deceased’s estate, if it is sizable. That’s out of my realm of expertise though.