Americas no blame without a payout culture apparently knows no bounds ....
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| Car Hanky Panky Banned |
...... a woman who had sex with a man in his car and claims that she contracted a sexually transmitted infection (STI) while doing so, has claimed damages of $5.2m (£4.2m) for "past and future medical expenses" and "mental and physical pain and suffering," from the mans cars insurers.
Court documents show that the insurance company denied coverage for sexually transmitted diseases, and refused her 'settlement' out of court offer. An arbitrator between the woman and her former partner determined that "there was sexual activity in [insured's] automobile" that "directly caused, or directly contributed to cause," the woman to be infected with HPV, because of the man's existing knowledge of his positive HPV diagnosis.
It was also this arbitrator, who determined the $5.2m in damages amount, to be paid by his insurers Geico. In June 2022, the Missouri Court of Appeals upheld the arbitrators judgment that had awarded her the large settlement against Geico.
The CBS MoneyWatch, the US automobile insurance company said: "The question of whether there is coverage for this will be determined", by a federal lawsuit filed in the US District Court for the Western District of Missouri ... there are precedents to show that sexual acts are not the “use” of a vehicle as intended within an automobile policy. There are also suggestions that the woman (known as MO) has tried the same thing against his house insurers (results not known).
But lets just think where this could end up leading to if this sets a new precedent .... what about compensation from every persons house insurance for every STI and STD contracted by someone in a bed .... or maybe in hotels? How about rape victims claiming against car or house/hotel insurers, if the rape took place there .... are public buildings now open to insurance claims for acts that they didn't authorise?
Where does this madness end? Well obviously in either eye wateringly high insurance premiums that mean only the rich are insured, or insurance simply no longer being offered without disclaimers, refusing coverage for sexual acts or other acts that might cause harm occurring in the car or houses etc ... herein lies the end result of the unrestricted claim culture. The USA, and other cultures already partly down this road, need to reassert the idea of personal responsibility for your actions ... or accept that they can no longer have insurance for most people.
Unintended consequences are the bane of politicians and judges ... each little step leads to the next one, and then the full results finally become apparent and everyone says 'We didn't mean for that to happen.'
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