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A tragedy, a claim, a refusal and a wise judge.

Background : The standard Bituach Chova that we all have, covers the owner of the car for his/her personal and business use. What happens if we lend the car to a friend and he/she uses it for his/her business needs and is injured (or worse)?

Case : Shimon K. was killed while driving his nephew’s car. The accident occurred while he was delivering ready-made food from his own private business. In other words, the use at the time of the accident had nothing to do with the original owner.

The deceased’s wife and children filed a claim with the insurance company that had issued the Bituach Chova (Dolev). However, when the facts of the case became clear, Dolev refused the claim on the basis that the driver was not covered under the terms of the Bituach Chova (i.e. the cover for the business use is confined to the owner only).

The Judgement : The case came before Judge Yitzchak Cohen in Haifa . The judge agreed with the facts of the case – i.e. that the deceased had been using the car for his own business needs. He also agreed with the insurance company that according to the Bituach Chova document, the accident was excluded from cover. However, the judge also stated that this exclusion was not valid because it went against what is termed “Takanot Hatzibur” (general laws that protect the public.) In our days a car is widely used – a son uses his father’s car, a wife her husband’s car, neighbours with neighbours, etc. People use others’ cars without understanding the fine print in Hebrew on the back of the Bituach Chova form. Therefore, the judge ruled, by limiting the business use to the owner of the car was like “putting a stumbling block before the blind” This would cause thousands of people to be using a car without being covered properly and as such would be against the public good (Takanot Hatzibur). Judge Cohen then cancelled the exclusion that appears on the Bituach Chova regarding business use and ordered the insurance company to pay damages to the widow.

N.B : Despite the above, we recommend strongly that when borrowing someone else’s car you check:

That there is a valid Bituach Chova – this will cover all injury to people חו"ח .
That the car is insured to cover you (i.e. that it’s not limited to named drivers, older
drivers, etc.)
For all of our sake’s – please drive carefully!