If you’re like most people, you buy car and homeowners insurance because A) it’s the law, and B) you assume it’ll be there to help you if something goes wrong. So if your home in Knoxville burns down because of a faulty wire or if you crash your car in Loudon, your insurance is there to help you defray the costs.

Unless, of course, your home is hit by a car driven by a person with a medical condition. Then, you might not see a penny. It’s a well-hidden loophole that some Bartlett, TN homeowners are only learning about now.

What happened?

A man was driving along in Bartlett when he lost control of the car and hit four homes on a block. According to the police, the man may have had a seizure (or some other medical condition) that caused him to lose control of the car. Because of that, some insurance companies aren’t legally responsible to pay for the damages when the medical condition was unreported.

Thankfully, no one was hurt.

But what if someone DID get hurt?

Here’s where the laws in Tennessee get a bit trickier. If you have a medical condition like epilepsy (or any seizure disorder), you must wait between 6 and 12 months before you can drive. However, doctors are not required to inform anyone if you suffer a seizure. Thus, a driver with a seizure disorder is on the honor system not to drive.

However, all of this is moot in an accident where someone gets hurt because the Tennessee police are required to report it, and a victim will usually submit a claim. If the person with the seizure disorder has already reported the disorder to his or her insurance company, then the insurance company should pay the claim for the victim. If, however, the driver did NOT report his/her illness, then the car insurance company could be free to deny the claim just as the homeowners’ insurance companies did in the Bartlett case we told you about earlier.

If you were in car accident that resulted from another driver’s medical condition, give us a call. We can review the case with you, and let you know what your next steps are.