Insurance Company Denies Accident Claim

An insurance company has been ordered to compensate a man more than a million yuan (US$155,200) after he accidentally ran over his two-year-old son. The man, surnamed Wu, ran over his son who was playing beside the vehicle when he was backing out near his home in August, 2020. The boy suffered brain damage in the traffic accident and subsequently died in hospital.

Wu failed to follow safe driving specifications and should bear the full responsibility of the accident, the police ruled. Wu and his wife asked their insurance company for compensation of 1.38 million yuan, because the car owned by Wu's wife was covered by their policy.

The insurance company refused and said the accident was beyond the coverage of either the mandatory liability insurance for traffic accident or commercial insurance. The company said the accident did not happen on a public road and the parents failed to look after their son.

The Qingpu court said the insurance company should take responsibility to compensate according to their agreement with the couple. The accident happened mainly because of the vehicle and the wrong operation of Wu. The negligence of the couple partially led to the outcome.

The insurance company should take 80 percent of the responsibility and compensate a total of 1.11 million yuan. The judge said no insurance fraud was involved because the victim was the son of the driver, and the accident has been analyzed as a traffic accident.