If you dont have or think you need golf cart insurance, think again
 

A Villager is suing the driver of a golf cart who allegedly crashed into another golf cart, causing the vehicle to strike her while she was standing nearby.

Attorneys from Morgan & Morgan filed the lawsuit on behalf of Laurinda Beaver against Rosemary and Steven Ray Pratt in the fifth judicial circuit court for Sumter County on Oct. 12.

According to the complaint, Beaver, who lives at 5853 Julian Loop, was standing outside of a golf cart that was parked at or near a location along Marsh Bend Trail on Sept. 11, 2022.

Beaver says that Steven Pratt was “negligently” driving a golf cart registered in his wife’s name when he “collided with another golf cart.”
The alleged collision caused the stationary golf cart to strike Beaver.

As a result of the strike, Beaver claims she suffered “bodily injury and resulting pain and suffering.” Her attorneys claim she has incurred expenses from “hospitalization” and “medical and nursing care,” as well as a loss of earnings, loss of “ability to earn money,” and the “aggravation of a previously existing condition,” according to the complaint.

Beaver is seeking damages “in excess of $50,000” and is requesting a “trial by jury,” according to the complaint.

According to the court docket, summons have been issued to both Steven and Rosemary Pratt. No additional filings have been made in the case as of Oct. 13.

Why would anyone think that they shouldn’t have golf cart insurance unless they had enough money to self insure? Golf cart insurance is relatively cheap compared to homeowners or car insurance.

I just renewed ours at $135. . . cheap along with umbrella liability at $3M at $400-500 per year. . .

Golf carts are relatively cheap compared to homes or cars. Homeowners insurance is often required and car insurance is almost always required but golf cart insurance is not required.

On the other hand, lawsuits are plentiful, especially in Florida.

By all means! Everyone must acquire some deep pockets for Morgan and Morgan to fleece! Why, do you know, there are Florida attorneys so poor they can barely afford their 3rd home!

How much you wanna bet the guy driving that cart had insurance? Lawyers don't take a case unless there is a deep pocket to pick.

Our cart insurance was $171 per year for a new golf car, including collision, comprehensive, liability of $250k and property damage of $100k. I can’t complain about that.

Just so I understand, your sincerely held belief is that if you are hit by a golf cart or an automobile, and you are injured, hospitalized, etc... you don't think the person who hit you should be held responsible?

And if I am misunderstanding your screed, and you do think you would want the person who injured you to be responsible, because you apparently dislike lawyers, you would represent yourself or knock on the driver's home door asking for a check? Or maybe you'd in fact hire a lawyer but certainly not a lawyer with experience and a track record of representing injured people successfully.

There was just an argument that golf balls that some person hit into a house is the homeowner's responsibility. Based upon the homeowner should expect such things to happen necause they are near a golf course.

For giggles, apply that argument to this thread. The injured person should assume all liability because the cart path was there first. Standing anywhere near a cart path could likely became a dangerous thing because there are so many carts being driven by old people with diminished skills.

Both of these are using the same logic. Either both are right, or both are wrong.

over\under = 200 posts

Lawsuit boilerplate. Thousands of similar suits filed every day. Your cart policy could still be inadequate. Publix has been experiencing a few of these.

If I am hit by a golf cart or an automobile and am injured, hospitalized, etc then yes, the person who hit me should be held responsible. Unfortunately, many believe if they are withing shouting distance of an accident then they should be able to collect as well... and there are lawyers who will help them try.

We don't know any of the pertinent details in this case to know whether the claim is legitimate or not. It really is a shame that the number of frivolous claims has made us skeptical.

Just for giggles, apply this argument:

Florida laws regarding motor vehicle accidents are different from those governing a stray golf ball onto an adjacent property when the golf course was there first. Vastly different.

I absolutely believe everyone should be responsible for their own actions. Not sure how that relates to paying an insurance company to be responsible for your actions, though.

What I am saying is that by hiring someone else to take responsibility for your actions, the cost of those actions increases to insane levels and the only people who benefit are the insurance companies raking in millions for thousands of dollars worth of risk, and the lawyers who grab most of the payout.

The odds of you hurting anyone with your golf cart is practically zero, and entirely under your control. Even if you do hurt someone, the damages are unlikely to be beyond your means -- unless you are paying some insurance company with deep enough pockets to attract a lawyer. $150/year to insure you against a $50K payout is highway robbery. If it was in-line with the cost and risk represented by your home and car insurance, it would be about $10/year.

When did golf carts become a registered unit, Wife named) as stated in OPs thread.

Allstate 250 indiv and 500 total less than 75

Was she parked illegally? Might be counter suit?:shocked: lawyers do what lawyer do. :)

lsv ?

Just for Schnitzels and Giggles, why wouldn't that logic apply to bicycles, Segways, scooters, roller skates etc? Perhaps it is an issue of probability and severity. However, I could see, significant injury by bicycle. i.e. A Group of fifty cycling together and one causing another to fall etc.

Or, is that where the fact is that insurance isn't prevalent so no deep pockets for lawyers to pick?

I believe bicycles and roller skates are covered under the homeowner's policy....I don't think segways and motor scooters are, though.

Insurance agents are very good at scare tactics & isolated worse case scenarios. The insurance industry is synonymous with the gambling industry.
Here's how this works:
The insurance company makes a bet with you that you will not have an incident with your golf cart within the next year. You give them your money to hold while betting them that you will have an incident within a year. Then at the end of that year you make the same bet again...and again...and again...and so on. Just as in the gambling industry, the house (or insurance company) will always consistently win. Golf cart insurance...it's a sucker's bet!

My Disclaimer
Of course if you are like a number of TV residents who frequently drink & drive, like to speed, run stop signs, are impatient or inattentive, can't see or hear well, or are a bit confused, then that might tilt the odds in your favor.

Think of it from the other side, someone driving their golf cart in a negligent, irresponsible, reckless manner injures you causing you to suffer long term or permanent injuries, without INS you have a good likelihood of never being properly compensated for your injuries, yes there are abuses but I wouldn't want to live in a state were they did not have mandatory auto INS

When I first came to TV to rent for the winter season I felt fortunate to find a rental with golf cart included. However, after reading the contract and discussing with my insurance company, I learned that I would not be covered for any liability claim, should one arise. And, I could find no avenue for getting insurance for a rental cart. The companies renting wouldn't cover it, and my insurance company wouldn't cover a cart I didn't own.

I wound up buying my own golf cart even before DW and I had decided on buying a home here. While I was figuring all of this out, I was driving the rental cart, coming through a tunnel, and as I exited the tunnel, bordered by shrubbery, out of the shrubbery came a runner. Fortunately I had come to a complete stop, and he had time to avoid running into my cart (which was not moving).
As I reflected upon the near-collision later, I decided that even careful drivers (I've been driving cars for 54 years, no accidents, and not one moving violation in that time) can be involved in an accident, either by making a mistake (we all make mistakes) or someone else making a mistake.

Once there is an accident, it can easily become a "he said, she said" scenario. I worked a long time to accumulate enough assets to live a nice retirement. For a hundred, or two-hundred dollars a year, I'll take the "sucker's bet", and create one more layer of protection between an accident and my assets.

If the negligent cart owner had no insurance would Morgan and Morgan have touched the case?
I don't know.
Going after an individual and/or their homeowners comprehensive might be an entirely different legal game.

Oh, really? A cycling friend of mine was killed by a careless cart driver who turned into his path this past spring. 😡

Insurance is a must
 

And to all those who rent a house with a golf cart included think again. You don’t really know the person you are renting to… but you are assuming their responsibility in the event of a golf cart accident…. You are the owner!! Lawyers will have their hands in your pocket!!

That's what I was thinking. Was it a street licensed golf cart with a tag? K-ching for M n M we only take k-ching cases.

I have golf cart insurance mainly for theft.

$14,000 would be a lot to lose.

Piece of mind comes with a price tag.

Just so I'm clear from my part, I don't like lawyers and I think they're the biggest part of the problem. Frivolous lawsuits cost us all. I'm not saying that any of us should be irresponsible, just stop the system from taking advantage. Don't know this case from Adam, just my thoughts on lawyers

really? so doesn't matter who is driving the golf cart, but the golf cart is responsible? like the automobile insurance, where the car owner is responsible for an accident even if the driver is not the owner nor covered under the owner's policy?

not sure I believe that as written. . but i could be wrong as I am not a FL legal expert.

You already know how this works once the lawyers are involved. They sue the driver, they sue the owner, they sue the developer, the county, the contractor who built the road, the store that sold and/or serviced the cart, the cart manufacturer and somebody's babysitter as well.

Dangerous Instrumentality Doctrine in Florida | DeLoach, Hofstra & Cavonis, P.A.

If you are a careless cart driver, who somehow manages to drive a vehicle limited to 20mph so dangerously that you could actually kill a bicyclist, then by all means -- please carry lots of insurance so that I can get Morgan and Morgan interested in suing you if you hit me.

Think of it as blaming the gun and bullets. :eclipsee_gold_cup:

I disagree that the odds of hitting someone with your golf cart are practically zero. When people are at the squares and drinking heavily and then get behind the wheel of their golf cart, MANY bad accidents can happen.

I agree with the last paragraph.

Good advice!

Don't forget that probably 30% of the golf carts have the max speed governor jacked up to allow up to 30 MPH. If someone does that - does that INVALIDATE their insurance? The insurance companies will try their best to get out of paying. I think that increased speed is pretty stupid because a gas (not electric) golf cart has a high center of gravity, which makes the accentuated speed in combination with a drunk driver a receipt for an accident.

Does anyone "know" if bicycle injury or damage liability is covered by home insurance? I have never seen that listed.

You’re funny. Thirty percent of carts are jacked up to 30mph? Yeah right. I might believe 5 percent and that’s probably high. I wonder if there will ever be a day that you stop making up stories.

You do not have to be drunk to have an accident either in a cart or car. Insurance is protection from loss not a casino game. I always carried insurance for my car, my cart, and for my house and automobile, the latter which is required by law and ignored by 25 percent of Floridians resulting in higher car insurance costs for the rest of us. If you are responsible for an accident, you have to suffer the consequences. People can sue you even if you do not have insurance and, if they win a judgement, you will pay, hopefully not with your home.

I agree.

I'm jacked to 28mph and never been passed.
:1rotfl::1rotfl::1rotfl: