Joint Custody Can Mean Children are Double Covered

Divorced parents take notice of this recent case from our files:

A young boy stopped his bicycle on the side of the road and was struck by a vehicle driven by two people. The person driving the car had dropped a cassette and told the passenger in the front seat to hold the steering wheel. As a result, they hit the boy who sustained serious injuries including a fractured femur and ligament damage to his knee.

Although a suit was filed against both drivers (bringing in the limit of $150,000), the parents of the boy were able to receive No-Fault medical benefits of $20,000 from each of their own policies. Plus, they are pursuing underinsured motorist coverage on both of their own policies which would add another $150,000.

The lesson here is this: Under the Minnesota No-Fault Act, a minor may be considered the resident of more than one household and is, therefore, insured by the policies of both parents even though the minor lives primarily with one parent.

This is really important if your child is injured in an auto accident because compensation can be recovered from both companies regardless of where the child resides.