Question from an IIABNY member: For what other reason would we suggest a client to have the named individual broadened Personal Injury Protection Coverage when they have Drive Other Car Coverage, other than it would provide coverage when they are in a public conveyance i.e. a bus? Our underwriter was not able to offer any reason other than would provide afford coverage when the individual rents a car.
Answer: Interesting question. The ISO Drive Other Car Endorsement (CA 99 10 09 02) provides liability, medical payments, UM/UIM and physical damage coverage for the individual scheduled in the endorsement and his or her resident spouse while they are using certain vehicles. It also covers that person’s family members for medical payments and UM/UIM while they occupy or are struck by certain non-owned autos. It does not extend New York no-fault coverage.
The New York Mandatory Personal Injury Protection Endorsement (CA 22 32 01 11) provides first-party benefits to an “eligible injured person,” which the form defines as:
- The “named insured” (the person or organization named in the Declarations) and
- Any “relative” (a spouse, child, or other person related to the named insured by blood, marriage, or adoption (including a ward or foster child), who regularly resides in the insured's household, including any such person who regularly resides in the household, but is temporarily living elsewhere)
who sustains personal injury arising out of the use or operation of any motor vehicle or of any motorcycle while not occupying a motorcycle.
Additional provisions and exclusions apply, but this is the core definition. To illustrate, if the named insured on the BAP is John Smith, then endorsement CA 22 32 covers John and his resident spouse, children and other resident relatives for injuries they suffer while using a motor vehicle or while being struck by a motorcycle. This works fine for sole proprietorships, but it becomes problematic for other forms of business organization. To take a familiar example, assume that your agency has a BAP listing “Great Insurance, Inc.” as the named insured. The New York PIP endorsement then covers Great Insurance, Inc. for personal injuries it suffers, and it covers Great Insurance, Inc.’s relatives for their personal injuries. Since corporations don’t bleed, marry or have children, this language is of virtually no benefit to anyone.
Enter endorsement CA 22 01 01 87, Named Individuals – Broadened Personal Injury Protection Coverage. It provides a schedule on which the insurer lists the names of one or more individuals and the states where PIP coverage applies. The body of the endorsement simply states:
An individual named in the Schedule of this endorsement shall be considered a "named insured" for the personal injury protection coverage provided for the state shown in the Schedule.
Assume that your agency adds this endorsement to its BAP and lists “Mary Smith” and “New York” on the schedule. Because of this, the New York PIP endorsement now covers Mary Smith and her relatives for injuries they sustain arising out of the use or operation of a motor vehicle. Without this endorsement, your agency’s policy does not provide you with no-fault benefits; with the endorsement, it does. I assume you have your own car and consequently your own personal auto policy, so this may not be especially important in your case. However, in situations where an officer of a corporation drives only company cars and does not have his own auto policy, this becomes very significant. Without his own PAP, he has no personal no-fault coverage for himself or his relatives. Adding endorsement CA 22 01 to the corporation’s BAP closes this coverage gap.
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