The Case of the Troubled Tower

On my way home from karate class I spotted my friend Lydia pulled over on the side of the road behind a tow truck. It was easy to spot her light gray Honda, because it was hard to miss her vanity tag that read “LYSNPL8.”

As I pulled over, I noticed she was arguing with the tow truck driver, a short Asian man with gray hair who looked so much like Mr. Miyagi from “The Karate Kid” that I suddenly had the urge to wax his deck.

Not one to let a damsel distress, I immediately jumped out to help. “Lydia, is everything OK?”

“Ace, am I glad to see you,” she said, suspiciously eyeing my karate outfit. “Did you just get out of bed?”

“No,” I replied, tucking my shirt into my brown belt. “It’s my karate outfit—not like I have to explain myself to him.” I gave Mr. Miyagi a respectful nod, just like I do in karate class to Sensei Silverstein.

The tow truck driver did not nod back. Instead he stared at me with did-he-just-say-that eyes. “What? Just because I’m Asian I’m supposed to recognize a karate outfit? I’m from Jersey pal, and if you nod at me like that one more time I’ll shove a pair of chopsticks up your…”

“I get it. So what seems to be the problem?”

“Well, Ace,” Lydia said, “My car broke down, and now Tony here won’t give me a tow because he’s worried he has the wrong insurance.”

“If insurance is wrong then I don’t want to be right. What’s the deal, Tony?”

“Well, I own a garage operation with trucks to tow my custom¬ers’ vehicles. I know the difference between a crankshaft and a crank caller, but I don’t know if my garage-keepers liability extends to cover the customer’s vehicle while on the tow truck or if I need to get on-hook coverage instead. What do you say, pajama boy?”

Much like the haikus I write about Ryan Seacrest, this coverage has always been misunderstood.

“Tony, garage-keepers and on-hook coverage are similar in that they both exist primarily to override the care, custody or control exclusion in the business auto and garage policies with regard to customers’ autos.”

Before I could explain any further, Tony jumped in. “So they’re identical like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen?”

“No, they are not identical! Ashley is much more intellectual! But back to your question: Whether garage-keepers suffices without on-hook coverage depends largely on the insurer’s interpretation of ‘garage operations.’”

How do you interpret what Ace said? For help solving this mystery and to check your solution against Ace’s, click here.

Jonathan Hermann (hermannism@gmail.com) is an IA contributing editor.