Car break in while on work trip - who pays?

[y4m]

While I was in CA last week for work, my rental car was broken into--which it apparently happening quite a bit there.  The thieves broke the rental car window and took a mix of work (laptop, iPad) and personal (laptop bag, sunglasses, fancy car key, etc.) property.  Luckily, the thieves were caught, and some (but probably not all) of my items may be recovered.

As far as I can tell, this incident is covered by at least four different insurances:

1. My company's insurance (and/or the company itself paying for my damages, since it was a business trip)
2. My auto insurance
3. My homeowners insurance
4. My credit card (has rental car coverage)

Anyone been through something like this?  Where do I start in managing these coverages?  My company hasn't actually said they will pay, but the finance guy asked me to send him a list of items, replacement values, and the police report--which maybe sounds like they will.  But I imagine I should still mitigate those damages through my other insurance policies?

[mollybrown]

Your auto insurance will definitely not cover any of the items stolen from the car. If your credit card coverage is a form of coverage for the vehicle, it probably won't cover personal property stolen out of the car either. Your homeowner's insurance will cover your property stolen from the vehicle (after deductible), but not items you don't own (i.e. anything owned by your employer). Hopefully your employer has coverage for the company issued items. Unless your employer's coverage is really generous, you will have to go through at least 2 insurers.

[aurora]

I would personally start with my company. With your personal insurance and credit card, you'd probably have to pay some deductible and it would count as a claim against you. But, I've never actually been in this situation so I can't guarantee that's right.

Sorry you're dealing with this. Thieves suck.

[AAM2012]

Dec 9, 2013 16:07:03 GMT -5 mollybrown said:

Your auto insurance will definitely not cover any of the items stolen from the car. If your credit card coverage is a form of coverage for the vehicle, it probably won't cover personal property stolen out of the car either. Your homeowner's insurance will cover your property stolen from the vehicle (after deductible), but not items you don't own (i.e. anything owned by your employer). Hopefully your employer has coverage for the company issued items. Unless your employer's coverage is really generous, you will have to go through at least 2 insurers.

Not true as it depends on your policy. Some provide coverage for personal items that are damaged or stolen in the vehicle. Did you pay for the rental with a corporate credit card or were you getting reimbursed for the rental from your employer? If so then I would definitely start first by reporting it to your employer's risk management department as they likely would be primary in that situation and should cover the damage to the car and potentially your personal items.

If you don't get anywhere with your employer (you may have to push a little) then I would report it in this order: 2) your auto insurer and then 3) homeowner's insurer which would cover your personal items subject to your deductible and then 4) your credit card which may be able to assist with deductibles and potentially other coverages.

[womet]

I'd start with your company.

Most importantly, were your shoes recovered?

[y4m]

Dec 9, 2013 19:12:59 GMT -5 womet said:

I'd start with your company.

Most importantly, were your shoes recovered?

Not yet . But they are still going through the recovered stuff. I have a bunch of potential replacements coming from zappos tomorrow.

[Norticprincess]

DH's company's insurance covers things. His former boss had her purse stolen. It was covered under his company's umbrella policy. The car damage is covered under the CDW/LDW that is included in the corporate rental agreement. International stuff, they sometimes have to get the local insurance depending on the country.

I'm sorry this happened. I hope you get your stuff back.

[vanillacourage]

Dec 9, 2013 15:58:28 GMT -5 y4m said:

  My company hasn't actually said they will pay, but the finance guy asked me to send him a list of items, replacement values, and the police report--

Yeah, it sounds like at a minimum they're reporting the loss to THEIR insurance company, so any compensation they see for the personal property should be passed along to you.

Sorry you're going through this. 

[chessie]

I know with my company, there is a insurance policy that is corporate. i would start there.

[BAMFMrsB]

Dec 10, 2013 9:36:09 GMT -5 chessie said:

I know with my company, there is a insurance policy that is corporate. i would start there.

Same here. I know this because I had to speak to Risk about it at one point. It was an odd situation, but I found out about coverage that day!

And it is solid.