OK so I split and deliver firewood for a living during the winter. Today I deliver a cord of wood and the guy who lives at the house is guiding me back to where he wants the wood dumped. I back into place, raise the dump bed, pull forward to get all of the wood out of the trailer and the guy starts yelling. I stop immediately and get out of the truck. The top of the trailer has hit his rain gutter and squished it in. This is on a corner of the roof. I squished the gutter in and the piece of wood that comes out of the corner at a 45 degree angle has a hairline crack in it about one foot out or so from the outside of the siding on the house.. Now I am no roofing expert but I do feel that a (very) small crack in a 2x6 in that particular location will not cause the structure to be compromised. I move all the wood from the back of the trailer enough to back up and lower the trailer. Wood is dumped, I pull forward and ask the guy how he wants to take care of all of this. He says well it will be cool if you can just give me a discount on the firewood. I normally charge $200/cord, he suggests taking $60 off, more than enough to replace the rain gutter I'm thinking. I have no problem with doing this though, it was a dumb *** mistake and I want to just be done with all of it. So I say yea that's cool, he gives me $140 (cash). Right after he gives me the money he says oh well let me just get your information anyhow, so I write down my name, address, and phone number for the guy. He then procedes to tell me "oh well I just rent the place so I'll call my landlord and he will probably get a quote on the work and get ahold of you to settle this stuff up." This just pisses me off because I gave this ***hole a discount thinking he is the home owner and that he felt that everything is cool for $60. So my question is this... Who is liable for the damage? Me for actually hitting the house or him for being the one guiding me? Maybe a combination of the two? I have full coverage on my truck. I ***ume that the homeowner has homeowners insurance if he is renting the place out. Will either of these cover the damage? What should I tell the homeowner about the renter taking the $60 and saying stuff will be cool? In hindsight I should've asked the guy if he owned the house instead of ***uming he did and cutting him a deal to avoid paying for this **** twice, but am I just ****ed on this deal?
Be honest with the guy and tell him the truth. His renter not only wasn't paying attention, but he settled it with you on the spot. If there is any additional money due, tell him to take it up with the tenant. I would guess that he ***essed the damage at $60 for your share only and that he planned on taking care of the rest........... Yea right. I doubt by your description that the damages will not exceed your deductible, so your insurance probably wouldn't even kick in.
no pics it never happened , if someone calls it never happened what wood? what house? i have no idea what your yakkin about..
I agree with Rustler. I would still get ahold of your insurance agent and let them know the situation. That way if the homeowner is an *** and decides to do anything about it, your insurance has a heads up. just my .02 Larry
I believe you share responsibility. The renter, by asking for a discount, has held himself out as an "agent" (someone acting for another) in this case the owner. You could ***ert that he made the deal on behalf of the owner, so it is now between them. He could not have made the deal for himself, since he suffered no loss. Whether the owner authorized him to act as his agent (doubtful) is also between them. I have studied law, I am not a lawyer.
The world has screwors, and screwees. It looks to me like you fall in the second group this week. I hope next week it better for you.
Many years ago I ran into my garage door with my car. My car insurance paid for the damages to my car AND a new garage door. It's part of the "PL/PD" portion of your auto insurance. (Property Damage). Doesn't matter if it's your property or someone else's, property damaged by your auto is covered. Because of Bellm's comment I'm going to add that Michigan is a no-fault state and your mileage my vary.
The deductible portion on our automobile insurance policy is usually for the comp and collision coverages to our OWN vehicle. Damage that we create to another person property is usually considered a LIABILITY and as such, there is no deductible on liability. Look at your insurance policy. I've never seen one that had a deductible on the liability portion, but of course there's a first time for everything. Stu
hate to say it but you will be viewed as the person responsible for the damage.. you as the driver of a vehicle will always be responsible for the damage your vehicle creates under your control..dispite who is guiding you..you are the one in control of the vehicle not the guiding individual..he cant stop the vehicle..you can. that said I would contact your insurance co. and heads up them..that way its not a shock to them..or if you can before it goes too far contact the home owner not the tennant and see if you can resolve this with out getting your insurance involved.
Laws are different in different states, so are coverages provided under insurance policies. In Denise's situation, had this been in Texas, she would have had to pay a collision deductible under her auto policy AND a deductible under her homeowners policy because here your LIABILITY insurance coverage will not pay for damage to your own property. Most liability policies do not have deductibles. If you have a personal auto policy there may be business exclusions, if you do this for a living and have a business auto policy should be covered. I wouldn't worry about it unless the guy contacts you, if he does turn in a claim to your insurance company or just pay it if it's not too much, less the $60.00. This is not a big deal, sounds like minor damage. Maybe you will be lucky and there are stink bugs in the guys firewood.
You are responsible/liable. The liability portion of the tow vehicles insurance extends to the trailer. Comp and collision does not extend and you would need an additional policy/rider on the trailer to cover any damage to it (I understand there was none this time). In most states you would be charged with an "at fault" accident if this claim is paid. Try to work it out with the homeowner if the damage is that small $. Do you have a "personal" policy or "commercial"?
If you hear from the landlord tell him the truth, you already paid the renter what he wanted for the damages. Get h is *** in a sling with the landlord in the process.
I believe in Karma on things like this. Just my 2cents.......... You're liable, because you were in control of the truck, and you chose to rely on his directions. He took it upon himself to settle for $60, you didn't know at that time he wasn't the owner. You did your part. You settled your debts when you handed over what he asked for. If the landlord wants more, he can squeeze the tenant. You settled your score, hold your head high and move forward.
It's your problem. You were operating a "business" and bear all of the liability. Is your vehicle listed for business use on your car policy? If not, you have trouble there too. The tenant has no authority to "settle" anything. The problem is between you and the owner of the property you damaged. The tenant conned you out of $60, but that has no bearing on the damage you caused to someone else's property. If I'm driving a Hertz rent-a-car and you rammed it, could I settle the claim for pocket cash and just turn in the damaged car? Nope. They'd come after the renter but ultimately the whole thing would fall on the one who caused the accident. Your situation ****s, but it is entirely YOUR situation.
I am trying to think of "Judge Judy" First of all, the damage is probably lower then your deductable (and the homeowners deductable) so, it is gonna come out of SOMEONES pocket. In my opinion, it should be a 50/50 split minus the 60 bucks you already gave the renter. Personally, I would call the homeowner and explain the situation, The renter is resonsible for damages while he is renting above and beyond normal wear and tear. The fact that he was ground guiding you puts at LEAST 50% responsibilty on him. I would call the homeowner, explain the 60 bucks and offer to pay for half the damages less 60 dollars. Let the landlord get the 60 bucks from the tenant.
I think most everyone is partially correct here. You are liable, due to you being "one the Job" and having caused the accident. He has no liablity for being a poor direction giver. However, he does ***ume a degree of liability due to the verbal contract he made on the spot to invlove money. You insurance shold cover it if you are registered as a commercial vehicle. Your insurance might cover it anyway, depending on your carrier, your policy, your state, and your relationshiop with your insurance rep. Ultimately, call your agent, they "SHOULD" steer you in the right way!
I would do nothing and wait to see if anything comes of it. The home owner may not ever see the damage, or the renter may replace the gutter and never tell his landloard about what happened. Stuff like this blows over all the time if you just let it die. If you start calling the owner of the house he may see $ signs and try to extort a lotta cash from you. Just hold on and see if anyone ever contacts you, if they do then deal with it. Just my 2 cents.
Note quite your situation, but.. My 16 yo daughter was leaving a school parking lot -- 2 lanes of traffic approaching the intersection where a hired cop was directing traffic. Daughter in right lane turning right, other girl in the left lane which was being directed left (the intersection was a "T") The girl in left lane turned right, in front of my daughter, as she pulled into the intersection and minor collision ensued -- scratches on each car, only. The other girl kept driving, my daughter tried to keep up, but lost her as she turned a corner ahead. Blah, blah blah. So eventually all statements were made to the cops, and the 18 yo boyfriend / owner of the other girls car stopped by. He got a couple of estimates to fix his car, and since my daughter left scene/ didn't completely describe situation, he wanted me to pay. I talked it out with him and he realized that his GF was really at fault, but I felt bad for the guy and offered him half of the highest estimate that he got -- about $700, and he was happy he got it (I am sure he realized that in a no fault state and the whole situation he would likely only collect from his company) I was just hoping to make it go away because you can just imagine the insurance premium bump for a 16 yo with a possible chargeable accident. So a couple of months go by and my insurance company contacts me. The fellows mother (the actual person the car is registered to), decided to file the claim and sue my company to pay the full damage -- plus. So I had to then justify with insurance why I didn't report to them (I feel like I had to beg them for forgiveness and promise my next born etc. not to get on their **** list) Long story short, she was a total jerk about the whole thing, I got totally screwed by my insurance co any way. I went to the city police and filed charges against her son (theft by swindle) since, as she said he had no authority to make a deal with me.
FWIW, The "structural " part of the house ends at the exterior wall. All rafter (hip in this case) tails are not considered structural. If they were all cut off the house would remain standing.
I would suggest contacting your insurance guy and advise him of the situation and have a claim opened. If the home owner does not contact you to discuss the situation and talk with you to get that claim number you can dispute any and all claims to your insurance if they do not use the claim already opened by yourself. This way you open the claim and you can somewhat control the repair costs, if the owner opens the claim he and his insurance is in control. Better if you can control the outcome from the get go. If you open a claim and nothing happens with it, the insurance co cannot mess with your premiums. If you do not contact your insurance it looks like you are trying to hide the incident.
Another funny story relating to the daughter accident... My wife was backing out of a parking lot in our Blazer when she backed into someone that was also backing out of the lot across the lane. In my opinion, it was both of their faults since they were both not paying attention. Anyway, at the time I was doing scratch and dent repair. The other lady had three kids in her van and my wife felt bad and offerd to have me fix it (thanks honey). I looked that the damage on my car and figured that the other van could not be that bad. I went to the ladies house to take a look and the bumper was only scratched. I told her I would be back on Saturday and I would respray/clear the bumper and it would be as good as new. I get there Saturday and her husband answered the door. He had gotten an estimate for 900 bucks to repair the bumber. I laughed at that and made the remark that "Man, I guess I don't charge enough". He then informed me that I could simply write him a check. I laughed again and said that I was here to fix the bumper free of charge. He took the opportunity to let me know that "I happen to be a Palm Beach County deputy". I took a look and said, well deputy, can you show me a copy of the accident report please? He responded by saying that my wife left the scene. I reminded him that his wife did also. We went back and forth a little before he finally relented and said "fine, just fix it" What was my reply? "No, I changed my mind. live with the scratch."
It's been my experience that whenever I notify my insurance company about ANYTHING then they keep it on record - and later use it as justification to jack my rates up. Did you give the guy a receipt for the firewood, showing the 30% discount? This'd go far in small claims court. Personally - I would make some notes NOW while this is still fresh in your head. Write down everything you can think of and/or remember. Even if the owner of the house calls your insurance, you've got some information about how you settled it - regardless of whether or not the renter had the right to settle or not. You settled the issue with 'good faith' as the settlement offered by the individual you dealt with you thought was the owner of the house. If it isn't in writing, it doesn't exist. The other thing is - can the guy prove you were even there that day and did the damage? If you've got the info in writing on a receipt, screw'em - let'em sue. Otherwise, I don't know much else to help you with.
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