Poughkeepsie woman says city’s insurance won’t pay up after on-duty city worker struck her parked car
Jackie Alois says the city’s insurance, New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, is denying the claim to pay for more than $9,000 in damages citing the employee suffered a medical emergency during the incident
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A Dutchess County woman is fighting with the City of Poughkeepsie to pay for thousands of dollars in damages to her car after it was allegedly hit by an on-duty city employee.
Jackie Alois, 44, says her 2018 Nissan Rouge was parked on South Cherry Street in March when the city worker, who was driving a Poughkeepsie-owned vehicle, struck her car in the rear bumper and pushed into another parked car on the street.
Alois says the city’s insurance, New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal, is denying the claim to pay for more than $9,000 in damages citing the employee suffered a medical emergency during the incident. She gave News 12 a copy of the denial letter.
“The operator of our insured’s vehicle experienced an unforeseen medical episode at the time of this incident,” the letter states. “For this reason, the city cannot be found at fault for this loss.”
Alois says she has her own insurance but that her deductible is $1,000 dollars.
“It’s just been a struggle. I’ve been very stressed out,” says Alois. “I feel like the city should be held a little more accountable for like fixing the problem instead of having other people do it for them.”
A representative for the City of Poughkeepsie tells News 12, "The procedure in these matters is that the individual’s car insurance company will typically pay repairs and to some extent injuries suffered by their insured, {and} they will then sue our insurance company. We are unable to override the determinations of our insurance company. If we do so, we run the risk that NYMIR will refuse to continue to cover us."
