VictimsGuide State Law Library · Arizona · Guide 03
Finding Every Insurance Policy
After an Arizona Crash
The insurance card exchanged at the crash scene may identify only
the first layer of coverage. A complete Arizona investigation follows
the vehicle, driver, household, employer, business use and injured
person until every potentially applicable liability and first-party
policy has been identified.
Coverage Investigation
The insurance card is a clue — not a coverage map
A serious Arizona crash should produce a written inventory of
every policy, self-insurance arrangement and excess layer that
could respond to the loss. Do not stop because one carrier has
accepted a claim or disclosed one set of limits.
Ask a broader question
Do not ask only which policy insured the at-fault driver.
Ask what insurance follows the vehicle, the driver, the
household, the driver’s work, other responsible entities
and the injured person.
Build two separate maps
Separate liability coverage available to responsible actors
from first-party coverage available to the injured person.
Then identify umbrella, excess, self-insurance and risk-pool
arrangements above or outside those primary policies.
Working rule:
identifying a policy does not prove that coverage applies.
Guide 03 finds the insurance. Guide 04 determines who qualifies
as an insured. Guides 05 through 07 then address UM/UIM,
multiple policies and policy interpretation.
The Coverage Map
Investigate outward from the crash in six directions
A coverage investigation becomes manageable when each possible
source of insurance is treated as a separate layer.
01
The Vehicle
Identify the owner, VIN, registration, actual use and the
policy describing or covering the automobile involved.
02
The Driver
Determine whether the driver has a separate personal policy,
nonowned-auto coverage, household coverage or other insurance.
03
The Household
Identify resident relatives, other household vehicles and
policies that may affect insured status or first-party coverage.
04
The Business
Investigate employer, commercial auto, fleet, hired/nonowned,
umbrella and excess insurance whenever the trip may have served
a business purpose.
05
The Injured Person
Search independently for UM/UIM, MedPay and other first-party
protection available to the claimant.
06
Higher Layers
Determine whether umbrella, excess, self-insurance, risk-pool
or specialty coverage sits above the first policy discovered.
First Documentary Lead
Start with the Arizona crash report — but do not end there
Arizona law requires qualifying law-enforcement crash reports to
include identifying information concerning involved parties,
vehicle ownership and registration, and proof of insurance.
Those entries are valuable investigative leads, not a legal
conclusion that all applicable insurance has been found.
Vehicle ownership
Compare the registered owner with the driver. Different
identities can immediately create a separate owner-policy
and driver-policy investigation.
Proof of insurance
Record the carrier and policy information shown in the report,
then obtain the actual declarations and policy instead of
relying on the report’s summary.
Vehicle identity
Preserve the VIN, plate, registration and vehicle description
so the insurance inquiry is tied to the correct automobile.
Driver identity
Determine whether the driver was the owner, a household
member, borrower, employee, renter, rideshare driver or
another person using the vehicle.
A.R.S. § 28-667:
the crash report can supply ownership, registration and
proof-of-insurance information. Treat it as the beginning
of the coverage investigation, not proof that the listed
policy is the only available coverage.
Owner & Driver Coverage
Separate the vehicle owner’s insurance from the driver’s insurance
The person driving the automobile and the person owning it may
have different insurance relationships. Investigate both before
treating the first liability policy as the complete coverage picture.
Owner’s policy
Arizona’s motor-vehicle liability statute addresses an owner’s
policy covering the named insured and other persons using the
covered vehicle with express or implied permission, subject
to the statute and policy terms.
Driver’s own policy
A driver may maintain separate automobile insurance that
contains nonowned-auto or other coverage potentially relevant
when driving someone else’s vehicle.
Permission
Determine who authorized the use, whether permission was
express or implied and what the driver was actually doing
when the crash occurred.
Named-driver exclusions
Do not assume every permissive user is covered. Arizona law
permits certain written named-driver exclusions. Obtain the
actual exclusion and policy history if an insurer relies on one.
A.R.S. § 28-4009:
Arizona’s ordinary minimum liability limits for policies issued
or renewed beginning July 1, 2020 are $25,000 for bodily injury
or death to one person, $50,000 for bodily injury or death to
two or more persons in one accident, and $15,000 for property
damage. The actual policy may provide higher limits.
Household Investigation
Household relationships can reveal additional policies
A person’s residence and relationship to other insured household
members may matter to first-party coverage. Find the policies first;
insured status under those policies is analyzed separately.
A
Resident relatives
Identify potentially relevant resident relatives and obtain
their policies rather than assuming insured status merely
from the family relationship.
B
Other household vehicles
Identify every automobile kept at the residence and every
carrier insuring those vehicles.
C
UM/UIM
Investigate UM/UIM separately from liability coverage.
Arizona’s statutory UM/UIM framework extends coverage to
persons insured under the applicable policy.
D
MedPay
Determine whether any household automobile policy contains
medical-payments coverage and whether the injured person fits
the policy definition.
E
Multiple policies
Finding several policies creates a second inquiry concerning
priority, insured status, other-insurance provisions and
possible stacking.
F
Umbrella coverage
Ask whether the household maintains personal umbrella or
excess liability insurance above the automobile policy.
Work & Business Use
A work-related trip can expose an entirely different insurance tower
A personally owned automobile can still be involved in employment
or business activity. Liability and insurance are separate maps:
employer responsibility must be analyzed independently from the
existence of commercial coverage.
Commercial auto
Determine whether the employer or business maintains a
business-auto or commercial automobile policy.
Hired and nonowned auto
Business policies may address liability arising from vehicles
the business does not own but that employees or others use in
business operations.
Fleet and self-insurance
Larger organizations may use fleet programs, self-insured
retentions, statutory self-insurance or multiple insurance layers.
Umbrella and excess
Serious commercial risks may carry additional limits above
the primary automobile policy.
Investigate the trip:
employer identity, job duties, destination, dispatch,
mileage reimbursement, deliveries, tools or equipment,
customer activity and employer-required use of a personal
automobile can all help identify additional coverage sources.
Special Vehicle Systems
Some vehicle uses require a different coverage investigation
13
Rental or borrowed vehicle
Obtain the rental or loan agreement, owner’s policy,
driver’s policy and any separately purchased protection.
14
Employer vehicle
Identify the employer, vehicle owner, commercial carrier,
hired/nonowned coverage, fleet program and excess layers.
15
Rideshare / TNC
Determine the exact application status and obtain both the
driver’s personal policy and the insurance maintained for
transportation-network activity.
TAXI
Taxi, livery or limousine
Arizona separately regulates these transportation services
and imposes specialized financial-responsibility requirements.
16
Government vehicle
Identify the public employer, risk-management entity,
self-insurance arrangement and any applicable governmental
claim requirements immediately.
FLEET
Large commercial fleet
Determine whether the organization is conventionally insured,
self-insured, partially self-insured or protected through
layered commercial and excess programs.
A.R.S. § 28-4039:
Arizona has specialized financial-responsibility provisions for
taxi, livery and limousine services. Specialized transportation
arrangements should be investigated separately from an ordinary
personal-auto claim.
After Litigation Begins
Arizona Rule 26.1 creates a powerful insurance-disclosure mechanism
Rule 26.1 is a litigation disclosure rule. Once a civil action is
underway, it requires disclosure of insurance and indemnity information
that may satisfy or reimburse payment of a judgment.
| Rule 26.1(a)(10) item | What the disclosure addresses | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
|
Policy or agreement |
A copy, or if unavailable, the existence and substance of qualifying insurance, indemnity or suretyship agreements. |
Identifies contractual sources capable of satisfying or reimbursing a judgment. |
|
Coverage position |
Qualifying disclaimers, limitations, denials of coverage and reservations of rights. |
Shows whether the existence of a policy actually translates into undisputed protection. |
|
Remaining limits |
Remaining dollar limits of qualifying coverage, subject to the rule’s supplementation provisions. |
Helps distinguish nominal policy limits from the amount actually remaining for the claim. |
Important distinction:
do not treat Rule 26.1 as a general pre-suit policy-demand statute.
It operates within Arizona civil litigation. Pre-suit investigation
still requires building the coverage map from the facts, available
documents, insurers, responsible parties and applicable specialized law.
Coverage Investigation Checklist
Do not close the policy search until these questions are answered
1
Identify the vehicle
Record VIN, title, registration, owner and actual use.
2
Obtain the owner’s insurance
Obtain declarations, the full policy and endorsements.
3
Obtain the driver’s insurance
Investigate personal and nonowned-auto coverage separately.
4
Map the household
Resident relatives, vehicles, carriers and policies.
5
Investigate work or business use
Employer, commercial auto, fleet, hired/nonowned,
umbrella and excess coverage.
6
Investigate the injured person’s coverage
UM/UIM, MedPay and other applicable first-party insurance.
7
Check specialized vehicle systems
Rental, loaner, rideshare, taxi/livery, government,
commercial fleet and peer-to-peer use.
8
Look above the primary policy
Personal umbrella, commercial umbrella, excess,
self-insurance and risk-pool coverage.
9
Preserve written coverage positions
Save reservation-of-rights letters, denials,
exclusions and limit representations.
10
After suit, audit Rule 26.1 disclosure
Compare disclosed policies, reservations and remaining
limits against the coverage map already developed.
Primary Authority
Arizona sources for Guide 03
Use these sources to test the factual coverage map against
Arizona law and the actual insurance contracts.
Insurance Regulation
Arizona Department of Insurance and Financial Institutions
Using Guide 03
Frequently asked questions
Is the insurance policy listed on the crash report necessarily the only policy?
No. The crash report is an important starting point, but
additional insurance may exist through the vehicle owner,
driver, household, employer, business, umbrella carrier or
injured person’s own first-party policies.
If the other insurer has disclosed its limits, is the coverage investigation finished?
Not necessarily. Liability limits under one policy do not
answer whether another policy, excess layer, employer policy,
UM/UIM policy or other insurance relationship also applies.
Does finding a household policy mean the injured person is covered under it?
No. Finding the policy is only the first step. Guide 04
addresses whether the person qualifies as an insured under
the particular coverage involved.
Does Rule 26.1 require insurance disclosure before a lawsuit?
Rule 26.1 governs disclosure in Arizona civil litigation.
It should not be treated as a general pre-suit policy-demand
mechanism.
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