My 12 yr old imp of a cousin and was playing golf in the back yard and accidentally shot a golf ball over the fence and into a yard across the alley behind his house. The ball dinged the neighbours above ground pool twice and caused some cosmetic damage. The neighbour called the cops and my Uncle was very receptive, accepted responsibilty for the actions of his son and said he would pay for whatever repairs necessary to “un-ding” the pool. They had 2 independent pool repairmen come and they both gave estimations so my Uncle agreed to pay. Well the repair guy came and according to the owner of the pool said he can’t “un-ding” it without the chance of causing cracking. He too affirmed that the damage is only cosmetic though.
The pool owner now wants my Uncle to pay $8000 to buy a new pool. The pool is in ok shape, rusted a bit and 15 yrs old. Is he really liable for replacing the entire pool when the damage is entirely cosmetic? He is going to consult with a lawyer but I was wondering what impartial people think?
Holy crap. IANALawyer or a pool-repair person, but I think your uncle should get his own pool repair person in to look at it and get an independant estimate. Maybe his (your uncle’s) homeowner’s insurance will pay the current value on it towards replacing it? No way is a rusty, 15-year-old pool worth $8,000.
Oh, I also meant to say, if it’s only cosmetic, what’s the big deal? It sounds like the neighbor is using this as a way to get a new pool. How big are the dings?
My Uncle checked out the 1st two they were independent (as far as he could tell-they both gave the same reasonable repair fees) but the third one now seems iffy-wouldn’t the first two have said it can’t be fixed instead of both giving similiar repair figures? My Uncle thinks it’s fishy too it just sucks he has to spend money fighting this now (though of course it will be better than paying this guy $8000 ).
I agree that it’s unreasonable for the neighbor to expect your uncle to pay for a new pool. If he wants to be generous, he can offer to pay the amount of the estimates already received. If the neighbor is being difficult about it, your uncle might offer to take the matter to arbitration.
Have your uncle prepare the guy a check in the amount of the highest of the first two estimates, and write on the memo line “payment in full”. If the neighbor accepts the check and then tries to bring suit for the replacement costs, the memo line will go a long way to prove your uncle made a reasonable offer and it was accepted as full payment.
It would be better to get an attorney to draw up a release that the neighbor would sign when he gets the check. It shouldn’t cost very much for a straightforward release.
That “payment in full” thing is a major asshole maneuver. I recommend against it. I’m not sure that it means shit legally and only escalates the situation.
I am pretty sure that your Uncle isn’t liable for his minor child’s careless negligence (I saw that on Judge Judy) so he is being cool to pay for the reasonable repair charge. It is the right thing to do so he should do it. The neighbor who now wants a new pool is taking advantage but that’s no reason to be a prick in return.
The best thing to do would be to get binding arbitation done by an impartial mediator. It won’t cost that much and the two of them could split the fee.
Sorry for the delay…I’m honestly not sure. I did see it but all above ground pools look the same to me.
Update for anyone interested…
My Uncle got a 4th pool repair guy to come (as someone mentioned before he now thinks all THREE of the previous guys knew the pool ower who is in construction himself) and look at the damage and he said it’s all bullshit, pools get dents, especially pools that old and no one gets repairs for something so cosmetic. My Uncle talked to a lawyer and the Lawyer said to write this guy a letter telling him he wouldn’t pay anymore so my Uncle did, took it over and now the guy says my Uncle is harrassing him!
Arghh…sort of a bad time to be having money problems. My 12 yr old cousin (the imp) worked all yr to bring his grades up so he could go on a trip to quebec with the school and even though he caused the damage my Uncle doesn’t want to renege on the deal cause he really did earn it. Of course the family will cover what he can’t but he hates taking “hand outs” like that.
Am i the only person who thinks it’s strange that someone who describes his location as “the frozen tundra” is discussing outdoor swimming pools? Do you skate on it, or swim in it?
Anyway, sorry to hear about your uncle’s troubles. The neighbour sounds like quite a piece of work.
IANAL, but I do have neighbors, and I have a twelve-year-old, so I guess that qualifies me to comment.
If it was me, I’d call it quits on the whole deal with the neighbor’s accusation of harassment. Your Uncle made a fair offer, the guy pushed for more, so now he gets nothing. Your Uncle can use it as an object lesson for your cousin - do the right thing when you can, but don’t be a chump when someone tries to take advantage.
Maybe if the neighbor comes back in a conciliatory manner, your Uncle could consider springing for the repair. And, assuming he does get the repair done, if the repair guy breaks the pool, that’s not your Uncle’s responsibility. If a guy says the pool can be fixed, then he should be competent enough to do the job and guarantee his work without any further liability to your Uncle.
Laws undoubtedly differ by jurisdiction and IANAL but in Wisconsin parents may be held liable for “willful, malicious or wanton” acts of their minor children, to a cap of $25,000 per incident. I leave it to the lawyers and philosophers to decide whether smacking a pool with a golf ball is willful, malicious or wanton.
The neighbor sounds like a con artist. If it were me, I’d offer to pay until he started the con business, then I’d tell him to drag me to court. He’s over the small claims amount at $8,000, so he’d have to hire an actual attorney, file an actual case, and pay the guy a pretty hefty sum in the hope of collecting $8000 rather than a smaller repair bill. He’d probably just go away.
I had a similar experience (sort of) with a neighbour…
My bathroom sink overflowed and I wound up with some water on my bathroom floor - it trickled through my downstairs neighbour’s bathroom fan (I’m in an apartment condo).
I was contacted by the neighbour regarding damages which I was happy to pay - until I found out she was planning on having her brother intall a new celling fan, tiles, paint the whole bathroom, etc. She also expected me to replace her bathmat because it had gotten wet, as well as her contact-lens case because it too, had gotten wet. Add in a few more absurd items and you’ll have the idea. For the record, the fan worked, the tiles were unmarked and undamaged and there were no marks of any kind on her walls or celling - basically there was nothing you could see, even when you took the celling fan out and inspected it.
I promtly told her that if she wanted reembursment for anything she would have to get estimates from 3 independent repair people, including one of my choice and I would be submitting the estimates to my home-owners insurance company and they could decide how much they were going to pay her.
I never heard from her again.
Basically, if neighbour trys anymore shit your uncle should tell him that any damages or reembursments will come from his (your uncles) insurance company after they’ve conducted an appropriate investigation.
No he is basically a good kid. As I said he worked all yr to bring his grades up so he could go on an end of yr school trip and he really followed through we are all very impressed. He also joined the Air Cadets and spends most of his free time with them now (they are so good to the kids: discounted movie outings, plane rides, free uniforms, campouts). This pool is beyond his own fence past some shrubs, across the alley and behind the neighbours fence. You can’t even see it from his yard so I doubt he was aiming for it. Careless? Yeah but he’s still a kid and I don’t even think the pool guy thinks it was on purpose.
