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Yard damage from accident

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ricksam83

Member
Hi Everyone,
I don't really know what to do here. Last Friday a car hit ditch running down it 80 feet then took out my mailbox before hitting my driveway culvert. Long story short it was a rental car. His mom rented it and she was supposed to be the only driver. He drove the car with no license or insurance and wrecked on my property. The classic case of texting while driving they told me.

Called the rental car company to file a claim. I called again today and they said it would be a few more days because of the circumstance. They then went on to say that it'll probably have to go under my home owners insurance policy because the driver didn't have insurance. The way I see it is they rented the car to a customer. That customer made a mistake and let her son drive the car which ended up on my property. I think the insurance company should be liable to get me a check so I could fix the damage. Then they can go after them to recoup the costs. I don't want to spend the money or time going through my insurance policy.

I had this happen a few years ago and insurance paid out $1,500. Need an excavator to reassemble my ditch, replace mailbox, the culvert pipe under my drive is cracked 1'. That'll have to be replaced, new limestone, grass seed, etc. Last time it happened they add up every little thing from the mailbox 4x4 to every letter in my address.

In the meantime I get a call from his mom. She's very nice and sorry. I'm not going to hold a grudge against her or anything... she's trying to fix her sons mistake. But she said she would offer a check to replace the mailbox and fix the yard. But I don't know if she knows the cost that would go into this or if she's thinking she can give me a check for $200 to replace mailbox and some grass seed.

I plan to do some of the work myself like replace the mailbox, grass seed, spread gravel, etc. But my time is worth something. Biggest cost would be the excavator. I know I'll need at least $1,200 in repairs, but she may not realize this. I don't want to call back and be like 1200 and she's like for a mailbox and grass seed LOL. But I would honestly rather the insurance company write the check for this reason.

The last time this happened was in my front lawn. I was able to order dirt, do all the work myself and pocket the rest for my labor. But this time is different, it's in my ditch and has huge tire ruts. Plus my culvert pipe is cracked. I can't do any of that.
 
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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
If you're here in the US, the rental agency likely won't have any liability in this matter.
 

ricksam83

Member
If you're here in the US, the rental agency likely won't have any liability in this matter.
Why wouldn't they though? If there car ended up on my property? I imagine that the car itself would have insurance through the rental agency.

If this is the case for sure, I could call her up and ask for the $1200. If she says no I could go to small claims court. But she may say okay just to try to help fix her sons mistake without having to be sued.
 

Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
Why wouldn't they though? If there car ended up on my property? I imagine that the car itself would have insurance through the rental agency.
Because the law protects rental car companies in this type of situation.

If this is the case for sure, I could call her up and ask for the $1200. If she says no I could go to small claims court. But she may say okay just to try to help fix her sons mistake without having to be sued.
If she ALLOWED son to drive the car, then she may have some liability. Otherwise, why would she be liable (legally speaking)?
 

not2cleverRed

Obvious Observer
Why wouldn't they though? If there car ended up on my property? I imagine that the car itself would have insurance through the rental agency.

If this is the case for sure, I could call her up and ask for the $1200. If she says no I could go to small claims court. But she may say okay just to try to help fix her sons mistake without having to be sued.
The car rental company is not liable because the damage was due to unauthorized use of their property.

The car was rented to Mom. The son was not an authorized driver.

The son caused the damage. The son should be liable. If the son is an adult, you can sue him for the costs. If the son is a minor, then his mother is legally responsible for him.
 

ricksam83

Member
The car rental company is not liable because the damage was due to unauthorized use of their property.

The car was rented to Mom. The son was not an authorized driver.

The son caused the damage. The son should be liable. If the son is an adult, you can sue him for the costs. If the son is a minor, then his mother is legally responsible for him.
That makes sense... do you think I should hold off to see what the insurance company officially says or should I call the mom back with my estimate?
 

xylene

Senior Member
I think you are second guessing mom's reaction to the damge estimate WAY to soon. I also think you may be selling yourself short by basing your estimate on an previous accident that happened YEARS ago. Equiment rental and material costs are way up.

Mom seems keen on protecting the kid, you should ask her for 1500, maybe even 1800 and tell her if she doesn't pay you ASAP you'll take the kid to court and get a judgement. And that won't help when they are sure to be already dealing with the car rental people who will want repair and deminished value of their property...
 

quincy

Senior Member
I think you are second guessing mom's reaction to the damge estimate WAY to soon. I also think you may be selling yourself short by basing your estimate on an previous accident that happened YEARS ago. Equiment rental and material costs are way up.

Mom seems keen on protecting the kid, you should ask her for 1500, maybe even 1800 and tell her if she doesn't pay you ASAP you'll take the kid to court and get a judgement. And that won't help when they are sure to be already dealing with the car rental people who will want repair and deminished value of their property...
I agree but would add that estimates for repair should be obtained first (preferably from 3 different companies) to support any demand that is made.

In addition, I would not invest TIME in repairing the damage. Material can be purchased and receipts saved but any time ricksam spends on repairing the damage himself is not compensable.
 
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