Who's liable for damage caused by Uhaul tire blowout?

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1100011CS

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Oct 5, 2007
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Marshalltown
I was following a Uhaul truck and it's tire blew. A chunk of the tire hit my new car, which I bought 8 days ago. I know my insurance will cover it but I'll have to pay the deductible. Shouldn't Uhaul pay for the damage?

I should note that the driver of the Uhaul was my brother and the person under contract with Uhaul is my Mother so going after them is not an option.

I would think this kind of thing has happened before but Google didn't come up with anything useful.
 

iahawkhunter

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Apr 17, 2010
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I was following a Uhaul truck and it's tire blew. A chunk of the tire hit my new car, which I bought 8 days ago. I know my insurance will cover it but I'll have to pay the deductible. Shouldn't Uhaul pay for the damage?

I should note that the driver of the Uhaul was my brother and the person under contract with Uhaul is my Mother so going after them is not an option.

I would think this kind of thing has happened before but Google didn't come up with anything useful.

IANAL, I would think that in order for Uhaul to have to pay the damages you'd have to show that some negligence on their part was directly responsible for the blowout. My first thought is that a blowout is kind of a ****-happens situation and any liability would fall on the vehicle operator rather than vehicle owner.
 

CLONECONES

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Mar 15, 2012
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Tough luck to hear that story but yes, I believe if you can prove the tire was cray at the time of rental, you could have something to go on.
 

1100011CS

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Oct 5, 2007
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The thing that makes me think the tires were crap is that we had two blowouts. And when the guy fixed the second blowout he found another tire that was bad and he said it would probably have blown very soon too so he changed it as well.
 

jbhtexas

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Oct 20, 2006
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Do you have a weight certificate or pictures of the loaded truck? If I was U-Haul, I'd counter that you had the truck overloaded, which was causing the tires to blow.
 

jaretac

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Nov 26, 2006
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As others have said, it kinda depends on the condition that Uhaul allowed their tires to fall to. Are the other tires street legal and appropriate for the weight of the vehicle?

That will be another problem you might face is proving that you didn't overload the tires by putting too much weight in the truck.

I think overall you are pretty much screwed. You can always threaten them and see if they give, but to prove it was their fault would cost more than paying the deductible, unless of course the other tires are showing cords.
 

erikbj

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Aug 31, 2006
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I think this is going to be your deal unless you can prove negligence on Uhal's part - which if it is just a couple hundred dollars its not worth it. I would call your insurance agent and tell him the story and if they think Uhal is responsible they will try to get the money out of them.
 

1100011CS

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Oct 5, 2007
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Do you have a weight certificate or pictures of the loaded truck? If I was U-Haul, I'd counter that you had the truck overloaded, which was causing the tires to blow.

Where would i get that? We got home late last night so the truck is still loaded and i could get it weighed today.
 

cytech

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Apr 10, 2006
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I think this is going to be your deal unless you can prove negligence on Uhal's part - which if it is just a couple hundred dollars its not worth it. I would call your insurance agent and tell him the story and if they think Uhal is responsible they will try to get the money out of them.

This is what you pay the insurance company for. If they believe they can get uhaul to pay they will try. But I have a feeling you are SOL
 

JP4CY

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Where would i get that? We got home late last night so the truck is still loaded and i could get it weighed today.

Do you have a grain co-op nearby? Sometimes they have a scale fee (small) or if they say its free, buy them a box of donuts.
Drive over it with the trailer attached, then unhook and drive over with the truck, subtract the difference.
 

jbhtexas

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Oct 20, 2006
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Where would i get that? We got home late last night so the truck is still loaded and i could get it weighed today.

I don't know. If you are in a small rural town, the grain elevators will often weigh non-grain related vehicles for a small fee.

I don't know that it pays to weigh the truck now. You really needed to be weighed before the tires blew. If you are weighing after the the tires blew, U-Haul could claim that you partially unloaded the truck before weighing.
 

ChrisMWilliams

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Not the same thing but like a month ago, a semi tire blew out, hit my Camry and my Tacoma (my wife was following me) and we ended up having to pay two deductibles. Sucked a lot. Just bad luck I guess. Difference was, we didn't get a plate number and the trucker just drove off.
 

flynnhicks03

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Not the same thing but like a month ago, a semi tire blew out, hit my Camry and my Tacoma (my wife was following me) and we ended up having to pay two deductibles. Sucked a lot. Just bad luck I guess. Difference was, we didn't get a plate number and the trucker just drove off.

Shameless Toyota plug. :smile:
 

JWIL4CY

Active Member
Nov 17, 2010
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Did your mom buy the insurance from UHaul? Your insurance company will pay for your damages and then want to subrogate. They'll subro against the UHaul insurance if they got it, or your brother's insurance if they didn't get it. If your brother's insurance excludes UHauls then your carrier would want to subro against him personally.
 

CEO

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Nov 27, 2009
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When a vehicle is rented, the user assumes the liability for anything that happens during it's operation. The named party on the rental agreement should be able to have their auto insurance extend liability coverage for the damage to your vehicle, but you said you didn't want to do that. If the truck was not maintained properly and had substandard tires, you may be able to go after U-Haul but that would probably be difficult. If you did put it through your insurance company, one of the above posters is correct. If they feel they have a case they will subrogate against U-Haul's insurer if it's cost effective to do so. My guess is that they wouldn't though due to the amount of damage I'm guessing it caused, which is minimal.
 

colbycheese

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Jun 11, 2010
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I think Uhaul trailers are also "limited" to 50 mph. If a tire blows going over that, then that's how I assume they limit their own liability. Was this hat highway speeds?
 

cyhawkdmb

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Jul 13, 2010
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Not the same thing but like a month ago, a semi tire blew out, hit my Camry and my Tacoma (my wife was following me) and we ended up having to pay two deductibles. Sucked a lot. Just bad luck I guess. Difference was, we didn't get a plate number and the trucker just drove off.

HUH... Nationwide made you pay both deductable.?.?.?.
 

Wesley

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Apr 12, 2006
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Omaha
Where would i get that? We got home late last night so the truck is still loaded and i could get it weighed today.

Truck stops have certified scales. My car insurance did not cover my Penske trip last week. For me, I only bought one of the four types of Penske insurance available. Did your Mom purchase the full tier of insurance.

My guess in the end is your car saved ultimately someone else from an accident.
 
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Rabbuk

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Mar 1, 2011
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I worked at a rental car place for two years that also rented uhauls basically I'd agree with the sol sentiment. In my time there we were very rarely ever liable for things. The paperwork is pretty comprehensive from my understanding. Granted I didn't work at the desk fwiw.
 

ekim121

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Apr 13, 2006
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Did your mom buy the insurance from UHaul? Your insurance company will pay for your damages and then want to subrogate. They'll subro against the UHaul insurance if they got it, or your brother's insurance if they didn't get it. If your brother's insurance excludes UHauls then your carrier would want to subro against him personally.

This is the winner. I'd be almost positive both your mother and brother's personal auto policies exclude this sort of vehicle. Beyond that it's a matter of whether or not they took the insurance U-Haul offered or not. There are typically a number of coverages offered, some to cover the truck and some to cover any liability that may arise. If they didn't take the extra coverage then your insurance company would subrogate them directly as ultimately they're liable for the damages.

As for proving some negligence on U-Haul's fault its going to be rather difficult because as some posters have pointed out you'd have to have some remnants of the tire to prove their quality, perhaps a weight ticket to show it wasn't overloaded, and then would still have to deal with the issue of speed as they typically have stickers all over saying not to go over 45 or 55 mph. Even in that case I'd wonder if the U-Haul contract has some sort of check out form where your mom signed saying it was in good condition.

Bottom line: make sure its handled as a comp loss and pay your deductible as you don't want to subrogate family. As for comp versus collision typically if the tire carcass was flying through the air when it hit your car it'd be comp however if you ran it over it'd be collision. Either way, it should be deemed not at fault.
 
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