CALGARY- A Calgary driver was found at fault for a crash she didn’t cause—and it turns out the problem lies with a ‘fault chart’ that insurance companies use.
Chantelle Beach was driving on a residential street and slowed down to make a left turn into a driveway, when a courier van passed her on the left (veering into oncoming traffic) and clipped her bumper.
The driver was charged with passing in a playground zone, but the insurance adjuster also found Beach at fault. The reason? Insurance law states that a driver making a left turn must make sure it’s safe to do so.
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“I took it that he was completely at fault for the accident and I didn’t feel that I had done anything wrong,” complains Beach, who was told she would be responsible for 75 per cent of the deductible on her claim. “Nobody expects somebody to come up from behind them in a playground zone when you’re going about 25 kilometers an hour.”
Insurance experts say cases like this are usually decided by the fault chart.
“You have an accident, the two insurers discuss it, they put it into the chart, they agree that how the chart interprets it is how the decision’s going to be made,” explains Ross Bucsis from Palliser Insurance. “Is the chart unforgiving? Unfortunately, yes.”
Beach appealed the decision through an ombudsman who agreed with her, and Intact Insurance reversed their decision.
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