Truck Damage.

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I have a 2008 for ranger. It was parked outside a friends house around a month ago, for one night along side the street curb. I had gotten there at around 10:00. I woke up around 1:30 and went out to grab an extra blanket I had brought with me. When I went outside I found a giant tree limb had fallen on the hood and front windshield of my window. Leaving dents and a hole in the middle of the front window. I put in a damage claim with the city and just got back mail stating they rejected it..

I thought that the city was responsible for that kind of damage. There was literaly two branches on this tree, and this one was almost the size of the tree itself. about a car and a half distance away, sidewalk and then about 4 feet of dirt was the distance from my truck to the tree base. I unfortunatly did not have insurance on this night, it went into affect 2:00 pm the next day!

I spoke with a lady who said they were "still investigating" before I recieved the mail. I had attached pictures of the tree on my truck, the tree itself, the branch, the distance and the damage. That I still have copies of.
She gave me some bs answer about how sometimes the city isnt responsible if no one had noticed it before??

Would greatly appreciate some advice! either way , if im totally wrong that is fine, I already paid for my window and the dents dont affect the engine any. the hole in my dashboard sucks, but now much I can do about that one. I wasnt even going to have them pay for the hole in my dash, are they playing me because I am young possibly/?(23) and they know I didnt have insurance that day?
Thanks for advice.

The only way the city would be responsible is if the city owned the tree, AND the tree was diseased or an obvious hazard, AND the city had been NOTIFIED of the hazard at least 30 days prior to the accident. In any other circumstance, it was an act of god and the city is not responsible. That's what Comprehensive Coverage on your insurance is for.

ok thank you for help then.
It is a city owned tree btw. if I could post a picture I would. The size of the branch to the tree is ridiculous..

The size of the branch has nothing to do with it. You shouldn't have let your insurance lapse.

So if there was a branch that fell on your car as you were driving on the road, it would be your fault? doesnt the city pay workers to trim branches for just such a reason? its only a hazaard if someone notices it? wtf?

What if I had been standing by my truck on that short time? it would be no ones fault right. just this massive oversized branch to tree that no one took notice right.

Doesn't matter if you were driving or standing still. It's no one's fault, an act of god. You can't blame the city for it.

I cant blame them for not trimming there oversized tree branch? yes i can.

Not LEGALLY you can't. Just because a branch is large does not make it a hazard. The main reason cities trim trees is so they don't interfere with power lines.

BrandonRhoades said:

I cant blame them for not trimming there oversized tree branch? yes i can.

Click to expand...

so, you figure the state should hire a bunch of people just to run around and inspect trees?

How about the citizens having a little responsibility and when they notice a dead , dying, or dangerous tree, they report it so the tree trimming crews can take care of it.

How do you know for sure that it's a city owned tree?

BrandonRhoades said:

She gave me some bs answer about how sometimes the city isnt responsible if no one had noticed it before??

Click to expand...

It's not BS, that's the way it works. Same here in NYC with potholes. If the city had no prior notice of the condition it's not responsible.

A municipality can't be all knowing and cannot be expected to know about every problem within its jurisdiction. You may not feel it's fair, but that's the way the law works in these types of cases.

Of course, you don't see yourself at fault for failing to maintain an insurance policy on your motor vehicle while it was parked on a public street. So I guess that means you were operating it without insurance also?

BrandonRhoades said:

So if there was a branch that fell on your car as you were driving on the road, it would be your fault? doesnt the city pay workers to trim branches for just such a reason? its only a hazaard if someone notices it? wtf?

Click to expand...

Now you're being illogical.

If your "ideology" on how the city should maintain its landscape 24/7 should ever come into effect, you'll be coming right back on these forums the next day with a new thread stating

"The city is increasing taxes through the roof"

Live and learn.

This is not a perfect system but one thats dam near close to as best at it'll ever be. Applying absolute rules to a mortal world is futile.

Is it the city's fault you didn't have insurance?

Here is what you do...

Find an attorney with a chip on his/her shoulder and a way to legally sue the city (you see, the city has to basically allow itself to be sued).

Then, you take your pictures and your testimony into court. Don't forget the piece of the tree branch you kept.

Then, make sure you have a VERY good story about how your truck got to that place uninsured in direct violation of law.

Thanks.