A customer was removing her kayak from the roof of her car, lost control of it and the kayak damaged the car parked next to her. We told her that it was a homeowner claim but her homeowner company told her it was covered under her auto insurance. The auto insurance company paid the damages. Can you explain why this is an auto claim and not a homeowner claim?

New York Subscriber

The homeowners policy (HO 00 03 05 11) defines "motor vehicle liability" in past as liability arising out of the "maintenance, occupancy, operation, use, loading or unloading of such vehicle or craft by any person". Then, under the liability section of the policy, "motor vehicle liability" is excluded if the involved "motor vehicle" is registered for use on public roads. Therefore, even though the kayak itself is personal property, it was being unloaded from a motor vehicle, and is therefore excluded from the homeowners policy. The auto policy provides coverage for "bodily injury" or "property damage" for which an "insured" becomes legally liable because of an auto accident. While we can't determine legal liability, it's pretty clear that but for the actions of the insured, the other vehicle would not have been damaged. That's why the auto policy paid out.