Fire Damage to Car from Negligent Battery Replacement Excluded as “Work You Performed”?

The insured replaced a battery in a customer's vehicle, and more than one year later that vehicle was sold to another party. The vehicle later sustained property damage due to a fire, which was caused by the negligent battery replacement. The vehicle is now rendered a total loss. Would the “work you performed” exclusion apply to require the insured to pay for the damage to the battery? This is notwithstanding the fact that the vehicle would still be a total loss even after deducting for the value of the insured's original work performed (parts and labor).

Connecticut Subscriber

The standard garage policy does exclude coverage for PD to the work that the named insured performed, so the damage to the battery would not be covered. But, if the named insured's work causes damage to someone else's property, that is covered by the policy, so the damage that the work caused to the rest of the vehicle is covered if the insured is liable for the loss.

In fact, the standard garage policy has a deductible clause that applies a $100 deductible to the damages in any accident resulting from PD to an auto as a result of work you performed on that auto. So, this means that while the particular work that the insured did is not covered for PD, the damage to other property that the insured caused by his work is covered, with the $100 deductible being applied to the loss.