auntphibian
Junior Member
TN
I called a company to give me an estimate to get a tree off my roof. The company came out and spent an hour trying to manipulate me into giving them the job.
I told them no a bunch of times but they wanted me to commit insurance fraud. They told me the charge was 6500. I explained I had a 5k deductible and they said they have to charge high to cover my deductible. I told them I did not want to reach my deductible as I didn't believe repairs would come to that. They told me it would be 20-25k to fix.
They pushed a blank invoice in front of me and asked me to fill out the name, address,phone #. So, having asked for an estimate, that's what I thought I was doing. I could be more clear that I could hire them at that price.
They left without filling it out or giving me a copy.
The next day, I was asleep when I heard a chainsaw start. Not knowing if it was at my house or across the street, I called my sister, very groggy from medication. Then I heard big logs dropping on my roof. She told me to look outside. It was the tree company I didn't hire!
I went outside to tell them to leave, but the tree was down and they were just finishing with chipping.
I asked who hired them and said, "because I know I didnt"? He said the ins comp hired them. I spoke to my ins adj and that was a lie. You would think me asking a question about who hired them, they may want to stop and straighten that out. Instead, they lied and kept going. I told him ins better have, because I wasn't paying for it. My adjust told me they ask for 6k, which means they changed it without speaking to me. I, also, never signed anything approving them to do the job.
They harassed my ins Co for payment but not once asked me for the 5k deductible or anything else. They said in court they didn't want money from, so they never invoiced.
They did a lot of damage to my property. They refused to give me their ins info or biz license. Before 30 days were up, they sued me in small claims.
They called 4 times before coming, but my phone was on do not disturb. Most companies would wait until they spoke to the homeowner.
In the end I won my Motion to Vacate, so the case starts again.
Now, the father and son own the biz but only the father sued me, which I didn't understand, until later.
They called the son as a witness! He testified that he was just an employee that made a paycheck. On cross, I proved that was a lie. Judge didn't care.
So, I now need to file a property damage case but I don't know what to do. I want to sue all three. Is this a cross claim?
Also, what discretionary, emotional distress or other things can I add to teach them a lesson about filing a fraudulent case, committing perjury, etc.
Ive been calling lawyers for 2 years, but cant get past the gatekeepers, so Im on my own. Legal Aid doesnt do these cases.
Thank you
I called a company to give me an estimate to get a tree off my roof. The company came out and spent an hour trying to manipulate me into giving them the job.
I told them no a bunch of times but they wanted me to commit insurance fraud. They told me the charge was 6500. I explained I had a 5k deductible and they said they have to charge high to cover my deductible. I told them I did not want to reach my deductible as I didn't believe repairs would come to that. They told me it would be 20-25k to fix.
They pushed a blank invoice in front of me and asked me to fill out the name, address,phone #. So, having asked for an estimate, that's what I thought I was doing. I could be more clear that I could hire them at that price.
They left without filling it out or giving me a copy.
The next day, I was asleep when I heard a chainsaw start. Not knowing if it was at my house or across the street, I called my sister, very groggy from medication. Then I heard big logs dropping on my roof. She told me to look outside. It was the tree company I didn't hire!
I went outside to tell them to leave, but the tree was down and they were just finishing with chipping.
I asked who hired them and said, "because I know I didnt"? He said the ins comp hired them. I spoke to my ins adj and that was a lie. You would think me asking a question about who hired them, they may want to stop and straighten that out. Instead, they lied and kept going. I told him ins better have, because I wasn't paying for it. My adjust told me they ask for 6k, which means they changed it without speaking to me. I, also, never signed anything approving them to do the job.
They harassed my ins Co for payment but not once asked me for the 5k deductible or anything else. They said in court they didn't want money from, so they never invoiced.
They did a lot of damage to my property. They refused to give me their ins info or biz license. Before 30 days were up, they sued me in small claims.
They called 4 times before coming, but my phone was on do not disturb. Most companies would wait until they spoke to the homeowner.
In the end I won my Motion to Vacate, so the case starts again.
Now, the father and son own the biz but only the father sued me, which I didn't understand, until later.
They called the son as a witness! He testified that he was just an employee that made a paycheck. On cross, I proved that was a lie. Judge didn't care.
So, I now need to file a property damage case but I don't know what to do. I want to sue all three. Is this a cross claim?
Also, what discretionary, emotional distress or other things can I add to teach them a lesson about filing a fraudulent case, committing perjury, etc.
Ive been calling lawyers for 2 years, but cant get past the gatekeepers, so Im on my own. Legal Aid doesnt do these cases.
Thank you
Sometimes, however, even the most unlikely of claims turn out to be true. Convincing others of this truth can be a challenge, as auntphibian has discovered. It doesn’t help that she took so long to try to do something about it all.