Property damagae by Fedex

[dasad]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? SC - Fedex made a delivery to my home. I have an 800 ft dirt/grass driveway and it had been raining for three days. His truck got stuck in my driveway. I was not at home. The Fedex driver called a towing company to get him out. Between the two trucks, they left large ruts (some 1 ft deep) in my driveway and in my yard. They even knocked over a tree. Who pays to have this fixed? Is is my responsibiity to contact the towing company when I did not hire them?

[ecmst12]

You can let your insurance pay and then THEY will figure out who to go after.

[justalayman]

You can probably argue it out with them when the send you a bill for the towing and damage from the tree.


let's back up a minute:

why was FedEx delivering to your home? If it was at your request, you actually have a liability to FedEx to either provide a reasonable access, which they would typically accept as your driveway unless you provided alternative direction, or be required to warn of any known hazards.

I am an owner of a long dirt drive myself and I know what happens to my drive when it rains. It happens every time. I am sure you are aware of your drive in the same manner so you cannot claim ignorance.


Now, if they were coming into your drive totally unkown to you (you did not initiate nor were aware of a delivery), you can claim they were trespassing and quite likely able to escape any liability and even claim damages. If this is the case, contact FedEx and find out who the driver was, if he is an independent contractor, and how FedEx expects to remedy the damages.

[dasad]

Thank you for the reply. Doesn't Fedex have theit own responsibility to deliver safely and if can not either stop and walk the package to the door or leave a note stating he attempted deliver. I did order something but did not trace the package to see when it would arrive. Plus I could make it up my drive but I would have no way of knowing what kind of vehicle they were going to use nor the ability of the driver. I just found out the first tow truck driver broke down and a bigger tow truck had to come in and tow him out.

[justalayman]

this gets in to duty of care you are required to exercise to those entering your property.There are generally 3 levels of visitors

Invitee

An invitee is person who is invited to enter or remain on the property for a business or commercial benefit to the possessor of premises. An invitation may be either express or implied- a store’s "open" sign is an express invite. An open gate may be an implied invite. A property owner owes the highest duty of care to an invitee.

Typically, one who owns or controls property has a duty to use ordinary care to warn or otherwise protect an invitee from risks of harm from a condition on the premises if:

The risk of harm is unreasonable and
The possessor knows or in the exercise of ordinary care should know of the condition and should realize that it involves an unreasonable risk of harm to an invitee.
The possessor may have a duty to periodically inspect the premises for the introduction of hazards to invitees. For example, a grocery or convenience store may be obligated to periodically check its floors for spills or broken merchandise

.

Licensee

A licensee is a person who is invited to enter or remain on the premises for any purpose other than a business or commercial one. A social guest is considered to be a licensee, not an invitee.
Typically, a property owner is liable for harm caused to a licensee by a condition on the premises if the victim establishes:

The owner knew or should have known of the condition, should have realized that it involved an unreasonable risk of harm to the licensee, and should have expected that the licensee would not discover or realize the danger;
The possessor failed to exercise reasonable care to make the condition safe, or to warn the licensee of the condition and the risk involved; and
The licensee did not know or have reason to know of the condition and the risk involved.
For example, if a homeowner knows that one of the steps leading into a basement is broken or that the rug is loose (but this danger wouldn’t be noticed by a guest), the homeowner may be liable to a guest who is injured by the condition.

Trespasser

A trespasser is a person who enters the premises of another without an invitation, for his or her own purposes. Where property owners are not aware of the presence of trespassers, they typically have no duty to warn a trespasser of any dangers or to make their premises safe for the benefit of a trespasser. If the property owner knows that trespassers could be on the property, the owner owes a duty, but less than the one to invitees or licensees, to make the property safe.

which one do you think applies to you? Any resulting liability on your part due to that classification?

[dasad]

Wow! very interesting. Then would the tow truck driver (s) be trepassing? or
would they be invitees of the invitees? Had I known the tow truck driver was called, I would have been able to tell them the driveway was very wet from the rain but I was not given the chance. Should I just post a sign that says "slippery when wet"? of No large vehicles allowed?

[justalayman]

Originally Posted by dasad

No large vehicles allowed?

BINGO!!!!

the tow truck was there to remove the Fed Ex guy that got stuck in your drive. Are you implying that the FedEx guy should have been required to wait until such time you showed up and personally removed his truck, risking liability for any damage to the truck due to your actions should there have been any?


the tow was to remove those already injured and unless negligent in their actions, are not going to be liable for the consequential damages.

Unless this tree was of great value, I would simply roll out the ruts and bandage the tree and leave it be. It will not be an easy win for you and could easily be a loss for you.

[dasad]

thank you for your help

[JustAPal00]

Put some gravel down. Had the Fed Ex driver walked up the drive and slipped and injured himself, you would have been responsible. Your insurance would have been paying out a hefty sum!