Texas-Book-Gun Law Armed And Educated - Flipbook - Page 424
VI. WILL INSURANCE COVER IT IF I SHOOT SOMEONE?
A. Homeowners insurance
With few exceptions, almost every homeowners insurance policy
excludes coverage for intentional acts. The act of using your
firearm in self-defense is almost always an intentional act. You
intended to stop the threat. Plaintiffs’ attorneys will very likely
assert a negligence claim against a homeowner in an attempt to fall
within the coverage and negotiate a settlement with the insurance
carrier. However, at the end of the day, if the only evidence is that
you intentionally shot the plaintiff because you intended to stop a
threat, it is likely that any policy with an intentional act exclusion
will not provide coverage for any damages awarded.
B. Auto insurance
Scores of cases around the country exist where the parties allege
that a gun incident is covered by automobile insurance merely
because the use of the firearm occurs in the auto or involves an
auto. Almost universally, courts have held that these incidents are
not covered under insurance policies merely because the discharge
occurs in a car or involves a car.
In order for automobile insurance coverage to apply, the injury must
arise from the “use” of a motor vehicle as a motor vehicle. There
must be a causal connection between the use of the motor vehicle
and the injury. This connection is shown if the injury is the natural
and reasonable consequence of the motor vehicle’s use. There is no
coverage if the injury results from something wholly disassociated
from, independent of, and remote from the motor vehicle’s normal
use.
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