Wear and Tear Exclusion, Mechanical Breakdown Exclusion, and the PAP

Wear and Tear Exclusion, Mechanical Breakdown Exclusion, and the PAP

QUESTION:

                While driving along a country road, the insured lost control of his car and ended up in a ditch. There was no immediate damage to the driver or the car, but our insured burned up his transmission while rocking the car from forward to reverse trying to get out of the ditch.

                The insured argued that the proximate cause of the burned-out transmission was the fact that he lost control and landed in the ditch. Thus, he argued that the damaged transmission should be covered under the policy’s collision peril. Is the burned-out transmission a covered loss under the personal auto policy?

ANSWER:

                Two things are wrong with the insured’s argument. First, there is no question as to whether the car actually collided with anything. After all, there was no damage to the car when it landed in the ditch.

                Assuming a collision, a question remains as to whether the collision was the proximate cause of the burned-out transmission. In this case, it is easy to see that the damage to the transmission as not a natural result of colliding with the ditch. When the car came to rest in the ditch, the insured could have chosen to leave it there and call a tow truck. If he had done so, the damage to the transmission would have been avoided. His decision to rock the car caused the damage independently of any collision.

                The next consideration is whether the transmission damage might be covered under the other than collision coverage of the personal auto policy. This covers any physical damage to the auto that is not defined as collision and is not excluded.

                The wear and tear and mechanical breakdown coverage does not apply here because the transmission damage was caused by the insured’s mistake of rocking the car back and forth. It is similar to an insured not changing their oil and driving their car with the old oil in it. It is not gradual wear and tear; it is the insured’s mistake. Not covered.

                Was this loss accidental? Yes. The insured meant to rock the car to get it out of the ditch, not to damage the transmission.

                The insured may recover under the other than collision coverage of the personal auto policy.