Washtenaw County family offers warning after insurance denies claim

A Chelsea area family says they were told a Christmas Eve car accident wouldn’t be covered because their children under two years old were not listed on their GEICO car insurance policy.  They found resolution, but now, they’re sharing their story as a cautionary tale.  On Christmas Eve, parents Kara Vogel and Carson Howatt got behind the wheel and didn’t know they may soon be out thousands of dollars.  “We were going through a roundabout and a driver came on our right side and just didn’t yield to the roundabout and just hit us right in the front of our car,” Vogel said.  Inside the car, they had their 1.5-year-old daughter and 3-month-old son.  “We weren’t thinking, like, ‘This is going to completely ruin our financial situation,’ like, it didn’t seem big,” she said. “The airbags didn’t go off.” But it had the potential to ruin their financial situation.  The damage could cost between $5 and $15 thousand. Soon after the accident, Howatt contacted GEICO to make the claim. The family has had the insurance provider for six months, since they bought their car.  GEICO called him the next day.  “They asked if they are my kids and if they lived with me,” Howatt said. “I didn’t think anything of it, so, I was, like, ‘Yes, of course, they are my kids and they live with me and they were in the car when the accident occurred, in their car seats, but no one was injured.’”