What You Should Know About
Driving District Vehicles

Every organization should have a policy on vehicles that covers fleet vehicle usage, personal vehicles used for business and rental vehicles. The Maricopa County Community College District certainly is no exception, and because at all the colleges we have vehicles valued at over $4,000,000 and hundreds of drivers, our liability exposure is tremendous. The following is a brief summary of our auto insurance policy coverages.

All District-owned vehicles are covered for automobile liability and physical damage. Liability coverage pays for damages and/or bodily injury sustained by third parties while physical damage coverage pays for damages to the District's owned vehicles. The District self-insures the first $100,000 of any vehicle liability and/or physical damage claim, and after the District has paid its $100,000 self-insured retention (or deductible), our excess insurance policy pays the balance of the loss.

Business Use Only

The District's self-insurance program and liability insurance policy cover any person authorized to drive a District owned automobile on official District business only. All passengers in District vehicles must also be on official District business. Our insurance program provides secondary coverage for any employee driving her or his personal automobile within their scope of employment and for official District business. The employee's personal automobile liability insurance is primary to the extent it is available.

Personal Insurance

When a Maricopa employee rents a vehicle in the District's name or uses his/her personal vehicle while traveling on official District business, District coverage includes death and dismemberment, District liability, and workers' compensation insurance coverages.

The employee's personal insurance is expected to cover driver liability, comprehensive, and collision damage to the vehicle. (Because of this limitation, District employees should be discouraged from using personal vehicles for District business.) However, if the employee's insurance carrier denies coverage or if any legal action by a third party exceeds the employee's personal automobile liability limit, the District's automobile liability coverage would provide liability protection on District business.

Rental Cars

Coverage for a rented car is the same as that provided for the employee's personal vehicle. If the personal automobile policy has a $500 collision deductible, so will coverage for the rented car. If there is no collision coverage in the employee's personal automobile policy, then there is none for the rented car. If the rental car is worth more than the insured vehicle, be prepared for an adjustment problem.

When renting a car, Maricopa permitted drivers should sign the rental agreement with their own name, followed by "for Maricopa County Community College District." Also, decline the Loss Damage Waiver (LDW) or Collision Damage Waiver (CDW) only if your personal automobile policy covers you for comprehensive and collision coverage. In some cases, your credit card will pay for damages to a rental car in the event of an accident.

Make sure you understand all the limitations and exclusions of your credit card. Decline the Personal Accident Insurance, too, because workers' compensation will apply in most business situations.

Please note, too, that any personal property stolen or damaged in an accident in any vehicle is not covered by the District's insurance program. These items are in the vehicle at the driver's own risk. Most homeowners' policies can be endorsed to pick up this exposure if the employee desires.

We are currently reevaluating our vehicle usage policy and look forward to any comments that you may have regarding it. In the meantime, if you have any questions regarding vehicle usage and insurance, please contact the District's risk manager.

Published in the Winter 2000 Edition of In Brief