In the interest of keeping this simple, I’m just going to post my question. After I calm down more, I might post the Director’s Cut version in MPSIMS or IMHO, perhaps.
This morning, a jackass plowed through a telephone pole, through a metal (concrete anchor) school zone sign, and through my six-foot cedar privacy fence. I have not yet been provided with a copy of the police report (the cops up and left after promising us they’d give us one when they were done at the scene!) My insurance agent hasn’t answered his voicemail (typical); I have no idea what’s going to happen in that department.
Is this as clear-cut as I hope it will be? Can I reasonable expect that Captain Leadfoot (or his insurance, assuming he has any – gah, I hope he does) will pay to have my fence fixed? Or is this going to turn into some sort of Twilight Zone nightmare where, because he was ‘injured’ on my property, I’m going to be liable?
Should I just calm down and wait for the police report? Should I be suspicious that instead of talking about his (obvious!) excessive speed, the cops focused on saying they were marking it as a diabetic seizure? Should I be worried that they seem to be trying to keep information from us, or am I just being paranoid?
I did go get some pictures before the tow truck arrived, at least…
My ex did this with my car back in the day. He wasn’t injured, and I was responsible for the stockade fence (that actually belonged to the shopping center; not the homeowner).
The driver (or his insurance) are liable for the damage to your fence. If he is uninsured, your homeowner’s policy should cover it. (Careful about making a claim on your homeowner’s policy – they look for any excuse to drop you or raise your rates.)
This is what I’m afraid of. Plus, our deductible would be difficult to come up with right now.
On that note: what sort of results could I expect from, say, small claims? I know I’d be out some for a filing fee and such, but if that’s less than my deductible, would it be worth it? I’m estimating (ballpark) that this is going to run in the neighborhood of 1k to 1.5k to fix; at the very least, that pole is going to have to come out and be replaced, and it’s adjoining the concrete of the sidewalk (we have an easement), which means that we’ll need to hire a crew to hammer it out, replace it, and fix the sidewalk afterwards.
My parents got dropped, too, after they’d made a claim because a rabid raccoon attacked the house.
You read that right - the raccoon was so far gone it was attacking a thirty foot tall wood, concrete and steel structure.
ETA: It was the third claim within the year, for their policy - but they had an umbrella policy with the company, covering car, house and other liabilities.
The answer will depend on what jurisdiction you live in, and what types of insurance policies you and the wayward motorist have. As a general rule, motorists are liable for damages that the cause through negligence, including property damage. However, they are not normally held strictly liable (i.e., liable regardless of fault).
The fact that the guy ran into your fence obviously suggests negligence, but he could theoretically be off the hook if it was truly an unavoidable accident (e.g., the car had a freak mechanical malfunction).
Even if you can’t recover from the driver or his insurance company, I would think that this sort of thing would be covered by a typical homeowner’s policy.
I think your best bet at this point is to make contact with your homeowner’s carrier. If your policy covers the damage, then your insurer would have an incentive to go after the driver’s insurer and make them pay instead. (If your carrier pays for the damages, they will probably “subrogate” to any right you had to compensation from a third party.)
As always, I’m not your lawyer, this isn’t legal advice, and my remarks might not apply to your specific situation.
Edit: I see on preview that some people have expressed concern about making a claim on your policy, for fear of getting dropped. I don’t know if that’s a risk in your situation. However, bear in mind that your policy probably requires you to notify your carrier of the incident within a specific time, or risk losing coverage for the claim. Check your policy and keep that in mind.
To back up TJVM’s point - the claim about the raccoon was simply a notification, as required by the policy. The damage done was minor, claws really don’t do much to concrete casements on basement windows, and well below the deductable amount.
Just be sure if you get any estimates that they clearly show what was damaged during the accident. A repair man, whether good or bad, will try to expand the estimate to cover pre-existing conditions like rotted areas. While you probably want to fix them at the same time, don’t be tempted to try to hide those parts in the accident estimate, or you will lose all credibility.
Heh. Captain Leadfoot took out not one, not two, but three poles on his attempt to field-goal his car through my porch posts. He came up short, fortunately, but those poles are toast.
First one was a standard telephone pole (which is the one I think you thought I was referring to); it was clipped off about a foot and a half above the ground. It’s been replaced already by the phone company (I guess they have a lot of practice at these things?!?)
Second pole was a concrete-anchor, metal school crossing sign. It was ripped out of the ground completely by the impact, and the pole itself is bent. It’s been tipped back into place, but no fresh concrete has been poured yet and it looks like it’s drunk. Kinda funny, in a way.
Finally, the pole that stopped the car: my fence support post. They’re galvanized steel, painted (enameled?) to look like brass. It’s been bent and twisted beyond repair, but the concrete plug holding it in the ground was not pulled out. The problem is, that pole is going to have to be replaced, and since it is literally part of the sidewalk concrete, it’s going to have to be hammered out. Which means the crew what does the job is going to have to fix the sidewalk, too. This ain’t a cheap fix.
Plus, I dunno if we can get wood matching the cedar that makes up the rest of the fence. I hope we can, but I don’t know if we can for sure. Arrgh. That fence was one of the primary reasons we bought this place.
I dunno about anyone else’s policy, but mine has clauses that state that ALL damage, no matter how minor, must be reported. If it is not and it is later determined by an approved inspector (approved in this case meaning approved by the insurance co.) that the damage had any bearing whatsoever on a potential claim, that claim will be denied.
Granted, I can’t imagine how a rabid raccoon would fall into this category, but it’s one of those things that’s damned if you do, damned if you don’t. I despise homeowner’s insurance companies.
Ah, not here in the real world. If you think about what you wrote, an unscrupless insurance company would say every claim was the result of a defect in the car. Doesn’t work that way. In the real world one of two conditions exist.
Condition 1:Car company gets sued (along with the insured) It all goes to court. Everbody gangs up on the car company.* The court figures out that there was a defect or not.**
Condition 2: Accident occurs, insurance company pays.
Six months goes by, XYZ motors announces a recall on the ought 6 Rolls Canhardly*** steering mechanism.
Six months plus 2 days a letter arrives at XYZ motors headquarters from the insurance company demanding reimbursement for the claim they paid previously.
Can you say deep pockets? I knew you could
** FTR I was named in just such a law suit. The insurance company paid the property claim right away, the fight was over bodily injury.
*** Rolls down one hill Can hardly make it up the next.
I really don’t know what the exact clause was - it was my parents’ insurance, not mine. And, again, in partial exculpation of the insurance company this was the third claim on the policy in a year. (The other two incidents were a bit less huh inducing: a totalled automobile, and roof damage from a hail storm, IIRC.) And, frankly, the insurance company seems to have been annoyed that my parents weren’t using them for investing as well as buying the umbrella policy from them.
So, I do think it’s a matter of getting an excuse to do what they’d been planning to do anyways. It’s simply an incident that left us scratching our heads.
I predict that you’re going to an early grave if you stress out this much about every little thing that happens. Take things one step at a time and quit worrying about what might happen. It’s only a fence, how important is that in the grand scope of your life? I hope not very.
If it were me, I would try to determine who the driver is insured with and contact them about the damages. If you can’t get that info. within a few days, then report it to your homeowner’s company. If you can deal directly w/ his insurance, I see no reason to notify your ins. company, no matter what they’ve led you to believe.
Plus, our deductible would be difficult to come up with right now.