Chemical spill by third party. Can my auto insurance deny coverage?

[eguerrer]

I temporarily stored a container of muriatic acid in my car's trunk. I drove for a few days with no incident. Then, negligent driving of valet parking in my building caused the container as well as other heavy boxes in my trunk to flip and turn considerably. The muratic acid container broke and acid spilled throughout the entire rear of the car causing considerable damage specially to expensive electronic circuitry.

Now I am entering a long legal battle with the valet company. Should this be something I should handle through my insurance company? Is there a chance they can deny coverage for this type of incident?

 

[dee_dub]

You should definitely try to get compensated by your insurance company first. Whether they can deny coverage depends on your policy. I hazard a guess it doesn't specifically mention damage caused by dangerous chemicals stored in your trunk leaking through the negligent actions of persons you allow to drive the car.

If there's a claim to be made against the valet company, your insurance company can turn around and seek to recover from it.