Legal Question in Insurance Law in New York

Car Fire Caused By Negligence

My mom had a car fire. She put her car in a service station for an inspection.

During the inspection the mechanic put in windshield wiper fluid not knowing the hose for the fluid was disconnected and the fluid spayed on the car and the car was on a caught fire.

The Manager of the service station told us the windshield wiper fluid spaying on the car caused the fire.

We told him that did not add up. We also talked with other mechanics/experts and they said the fluid should not have caused a fire.

Now today we get a call from the service station's (where the fire occurred) insurance agent and he told us that the fire was not started by windshield wiper fluid but the company that brings the service station the barrels of windshield wiper fluid dropped off the wrong barrels and the chemical in the barrels was not washer fluild but something else that was flammable. That makes more sense.

We found out the barrels were of straight ''methanol'' and the insurance comp is taking action against the company that delivered the barrels. Can my mom get on the law suit so she is compensated more for all the time a trouble she is going through?

Like can she be put on the insurance companies law suit, or do something else?


Asked on 9/18/08, 4:01 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Christopher Di Giacomo Di Giacomo & Gruss

Re: Car Fire Caused By Negligence

Usually in a case like this, the handling attorney will call the insured to find out if they have out-of-pocket expenses. I probably would not expect much because compensation for trouble is not a real actionable claim.

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Answered on 9/18/08, 4:23 pm


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