What insurance protects against damage caused by a forklift or crane! Based on the attached video of unloading the machine, please answer whether the crane was used as a means of transport or maybe as a work tool and what insurance should be used in this situation to receive compensation 🙂

Many of you have had a forklift or crane operator damage a semi-trailer or goods during loading/unloading. Then a dilemma arises whether the damage should be eliminated from the liability insurance of the owner of the motor vehicle (trolley) or from the liability insurance policy of the company's business activity? It should be noted that both of these insurances are voluntary, which means that companies rarely have both of them, which should be the norm. The problem also arises at the stage of claim settlement with insurers, who each time believe that it should be eliminated from the second policy that was concluded with the competition.

The above doubts were resolved by the Supreme Court in the judgment of September 18, 2019. In the case of damage caused by vehicles that are also working machines, liability under motor TPL will be determined by the function in which the vehicle was used at the time of the damage: whether it was a working function or a function means of transport. While maintaining the broad definition of a "vehicle in motion" - the liability of the vehicle owner (insurer) depends on the function the vehicle served at the time of the accident, and does not arise when the vehicle was not used as a means of transport at that time, but as a work tool.

Legal adviser Jerzy Klimkowski