Let's say you you've taken your shiny new Land Rover SUV in for a car wash. One of the first things you do is hand over the key to the smiling employee (or leave it in the ignition) before heading into the waiting room to watch soap operas or read back issues of "Car Wax Monthly."
Just as you get up for a cold cup of stale coffee, you hear a series of loud crashes, shrieking and general commotion. You soon realize that the car wash employee had lost control of your car, crashing into buildings and other cars and injuring a few people along the way.
Hopefully you have enough compassion that your first thought is not "Who's going to fix my beautiful Land Rover?!" Remember that people were seriously injured, as often happens with car accidents. But eventually you're going to wonder how this mess will be resolved and how it may affect your insurance premiums.
This very scenario took place in Crystal Lake (Northwest Herald). A mother and child whose car was struck by the out-of-control SUV were seriously injured, and the child had to be airlifted to a hospital for treatment. Also, there was extensive damage to a hotel and at least three other cars. In other words, this was one expensive accident which no doubt will involve quite a few personal injury attorneys.
Automobile insurance follows the car, so the lucky insurer stuck holding the bag will pay for it all, at least initially. But eventually the insurer will figure out which party (probably the car wash company, or its insurer) is ultimately responsible and try to recoup its losses.
