Monetary, Interpersonal Laws and Din Torah (19)
Insurance. We have been discussing the monetary laws relevant to motor vehicles. Many of the questions have to do with insurance claims after an accident. Let us first talk about insured items in general and then about if cars might be a little different. Generations ago, before motor vehicles were around, the concept of insurance was developed and used for insuring houses and other items. The Poskim of the time had major discussions if someone is obligated to pay for damaging an insured item. Some (1) rule that the damager has to pay in full. Their reasoning is that the insurance payments of the victim are like his own personal gamble. He paid premiums that may never result in any loss and payment and it is like lost money, or he might get his money’s worth by making a big claim if necessary. This has nothing to do with the Torah obligation to pay for the damage one did. According to this the victim will indeed get paid twice. Of course, if the insurance company goes back to get their money from the damager, he gets his money back from the victim and doesn’t have to pay twice. Others (2) argue that since the victim has no loss from the damage, even though it is because he set himself up with premium payments, the damager is exempt. Many of the Batei Din have an ongoing custom to rule that the damager is exempt since there was no loss as stated by Rav Elyashiv (3).
Paying for Raised Premiums. If the victim’s claim will cause the person who caused the damage to have to pay higher premiums, there are different opinions if this indirect loss has to be paid by the damager (4).
Cars. Insurance on cars, where accidents and damage are common, the custom of exempting the damager is even stronger because each victim might soon be a damager himself and would like to be exempt when that time comes (5). There is also a logic, supported by famous Dayanim, that since all drivers must carry basic insurance, everybody who drives does so with the common understanding that we will all just let the insurance company take care of everything and leave it at that.
(1) שו"ת מהרש"ם ד:ז, אור שמח שכירות ז:א (2) שו"ת הרי בשמים ב:רמה (3) ספר ישיב משה חו"מ עמ' ר"מ (4) עיין ישיב משה שם, תשובות והנהגות ג:רמד, חשוקי חמד ב"ק קטז. (5) שו"ת להורות נתן ב:קט