Common Situation 8
Husband is driving Wife’s car with bodily injury coverage of $25,000. Husband has a car in the household with $100,000. The accident is caused by the Husband’s negligence in which Victim is hurt. Which bodily injury coverage can Victim obtain?
Answer to Common Situation 8
Only the $25,000 is available to Victim. The coverage for bodily injury limits comes from the at-fault vehicle. In some contexts, as we saw with prior hypotheticals, the victim’s lawyer can stack or layer bodily injury coverages from two vehicles: the involved vehicle and the driver’s own vehicle, which was not involved in the accident. That is not the case here. The Wife’s coverage provides the only bodily injury coverage. No resort can be made to the policy on the husband’s car because of the “regular use exclusion”. That exclusion limits coverages “while you or a household member is using an auto which you or any household member owns or uses regularly.” See standard Massachusetts Automobile Insurance Policy (6th Edition).