Windsheild damage claim

[MowersAhead]

Yesterday when I came home from work
I had a message from someone who claimed I threw a rock and broke the window on her car.
I called and asked why she didnt stop and tell me about it and she said, she was late for work and couldnt .

I dont think its fair to have to just take the word of a stranger.

I think the person should stop and tell me so that I can at least make my own evaluation before paying out money.

I was wondering if anyone knows if there are any laws pertaining to

When or if a person has to stop.

[Randy Scott]

That's why people carry insurance. Let her try and prove you broke the windshield. People are always looking to screw someone. Tuesday this week a blue Dodge pickup passed me coming towards me and kicked up a stone and chipped my windshield. As soon as he passed me it hit, no doubt it was from him, nobody else on the road. Big deal, it was an accident, I didn't chase him down and tell him he broke my windshield. That's life, these people that pull this sh@% deserve no respect. Does she think she will scare you into paying for it? Was your vehicle lettered and she thinks you are afraid of her spreading rumors? She gets nothing! End of story. Even if you did break it, it was an accident beyond your control. Maybe you should go after whoever is in charge of keeping stones off the road in the first place, that's just as stupid.

[dhicks]

Ignor her (unless a good customer) or advise her to contact her insurance company. She cannot prove it.

[LoneStarLawn]

Hopefully you have insurance in the first place. Will be kind of hard for her to make a claim since she did not talked to you right after it happend. I don't know..I guess you will find out though.

[mdb landscaping]

its just an act of god. her insurance will take care of it. if im correct i think your insurance is prepared for two windshield claims a year. i know a guy who owns a fuel oil company. he gets people calling him all the time saying his truck kicked up a rock. he says "look ive got mud flaps im legal. and what does the truck say. im hauling oil not rocks". the only way you could get charged if you had rocks on your bumper that you didnt clean off and they called the police right away.

[wallzwallz]

I'm pretty sure glass is covered under all car insurance,i'd tell her sorry but you never saw anything so she's SOL.If you admit to anything you may get sued for negligence w/ thus sue happy world. There's a real big trucking outfit around here with signs right near there gvw that says not responsible for broken windshields.:blob2: people just trying to get something for nothing

[kris]

I would have a hard time with someone not stopping right away , but as far as the comments about not being responsible I think that is a bunch of bull.... Of course you are responsible if the trimmer or mower hits a rock and breaks something..We had a incident last year from a trimmer breaking a side van window...they were directed to the glass shop that we deal with and looked after right away...no it didn't go through our insurance. We have a thousand deductible. Take responsibility if you did it .

[CMerLand]

Dont know about where you live but here in NJ unless you have comp coverage on your car windshield damage or any non collision damage for that matter is covered. On top of that most carry a 500 deductible and most windshields would not cost that much.

Id ignore the claim unless she can prove that you caused the damaged, but make sure you have your ducks in a row. Do you have route sheets that indicate the where and what time you were at the property? How did she identify your company?? If she had the time to stop and get the number off your truck why not say question you on it right then and there?? Most importantly did you remove the shields from your weedeaters making it more likely to launch a rock? All good records to have in your possession for when these types of claims come up days weeks or months after the fact.

[crazygator]

As stated above, just leave it alone. She did not stop and make it a reported incident, so no proof you did it. You did not tell her your insurance carrier did you? If so I would call and tell them what happened, so she cant just run it through on you. But to have a claim, you have to get the report then and there.

[Got Grass?]

Just make sure you put the safty chutes back on the mowers if thay are not allready. Thay could prolly say it was your fault for disabling safty features and get you on that alone.
Glass is not always coverd under insurance I know I have to pay out a couple bux more for full glass with no deductable. Started pouring one day and the window wouldnt go up. so I rolled it even harder of cource it broke and I got soaked. Turned out the track got screwed up but thay coverd it.

Do not admit it could even remotly be your fault or even tell her you are sorry for what happened. Thay say if you apploigize you must have done something wrong and its the same as admiting guilt in most cases.

Can she prove it was you who broke it? Did she see the rock come directly from you? Or just see her window break and figured it was the landscaper? Was her window cracked before?

She didnt stop so she may not be able to get anything. Seriously if the rock really did break the window wouldnt there be glass all over her forcing her to stop right then? If the window was broke would she have really drove to work and let the car sit in the lot with the window broke? You wouldnt leave your truck window open would you?

If it was the windshild then she may not have anything even if it was you becasue she Illegaly drove the car with a broken windshild.

[wallzwallz]

I thought the rock came from his truck kicking it up,if you know you launch a rock w/ mower or trimmer I'd own up but sounds to me like she picked you out to blame,she had the time to get name and number but not stop? In massachusetts glass is replaced free, no deductable charge.I avg 1 free windshield a year:cool:

[Albemarle Lawn]

In 1995 we were mowing at a Golden Corral steakhouse.

A 12 year old daughter threw a tantrum in front of the store and her mother made her sit in the car while the rest of the family enjoyed a dinner.

When the family returned to the car, the door glass was kicked out with broken glass scattered outward. I noticed the commotion of a police car as we were working. Out of curiousity I came up and asked what happened. The officer said the kid kicked out the window.

The next day I get a call from the woman, who blames us and wants our insurance info. When I told her no way, she said that if we paid her deductible she would drop the matter.

I was very firm in refusing any payment and she went away. She probably got the "idea" to blame the lawn cutters after she had left. The glass was shattered outward, and she did not approach us at the time of the incident.

DON'T GIVE AN INCH TO LECHEROUS SLOBS!!!

Ken

[Mr.Ziffel]

I scratched the UNDERSIDE of a new VW!!??!?!

I'm driving down the road and a young [good looking] woman in a VW pulls up beside me waving, honking and motioning to me, so I pulled into the lot of the store I was going to anyway. The four other guys in the Suburban and I got out and this gal proceeded to tell me that something had fallen off my trailer and hit her car.

Since we were pulling a 16' flat bed trailer loaded with parts and supplies we had just bought at Boeing surplus [lots and lots of cool stuff there] I realized that this was possible, but asked her to show me where the damage was.

Well, she says, as you were driving down the freeway in front of me, something fell off your trailer and hit the UNDERSIDE of my brand new Jetta and scratched it up. I said the freeway is five miles away and you 've been following me since then? Yes, she said and you have to give me your name, drivers license and insurance information so I can file a claim. Wait a minute I said, you want my information so you can file a claim because I scratched the UNDERSIDE of your new car? Let me get this right, there are no scratches or dents caused by me on the hood or the front of your car, correct? You want to file a claim because I scratched the UNDERSIDE of your car? Well she says, I'm going to take it to a mechanic to get it checked out because I heard something hit the UNDERSIDE of the car and I'm sure it scratched it and I'm going to send you the bill. Well, I said, if you've been driving after me for five miles since the freeway and there's nothing leaking from your car then I couldn't have damaged it mechanically and even if something did fall off my trailer and you did drive over it, there's no damage visible to the front or hood or tires of your car and I'm not going to climb UNDER it to see if it's scratched or not, but even if it is, that's a pretty strange request and I'm not going to pay for a mechanic to look at the UNDERSIDE of your car and I'm not going to give you any of my personal information but my friends and I are going to be in this store for about 15-30 minutes so if you think it's necessary, why don't you go ahead and call a cop and let's see what he thinks.

I was actually polite the whole time and trying to understand just exactly what it was she wanted from me, but she kept insisting that I had scratched the UNDERSIDE of her car and it was a brand new car and shouldn't have any scratches, even on the UNDERSIDE and I was responsible. When I told her she better call a cop she started cursing me and drove off. Never did hear from her, but boy was that strange.
Will M>

[TJLC]

I accidently scratched a car on a property that I mow. I went in and got the person and showed them what I had done. I admited it and said I would take care of it. They were nasty about it. Kinda made me sorry that I even said anything about it! But I still felt I did the right thing. Stupid maybe, but that's just me.

[HOMER]

Had a similar incident happen a couple years ago, the guy came back and said my mower threw a rock and hit his windshield. We argued and then he left. My insurance company probably would not have paid because he would have to prove that I did it. There was nobody around to verify his story so he never got anything but a hard time from me, he was a prick!

Don't pay.

[AltaLawnCare]

Her insurance will cover it. Comprehensive - there will probably be no deductible.
There is always the chance she has already turned it in and pocketed the money - you never know.
The bottom line is is she wants to pursue you, then it has to be proven, and she may not get a settlement. If she turns it in on her automotive insurance, as just "a rock hitting it" she will be paid.

[Just Turned Pro]

Like Mowers Ahead.... I am more than willing to take care of something that I did... But they have to point it out when it happens. There are too many liars and scammers out there to just take their word. It sounds like there is no way to verify that you caused it. I would not worry about it.

[LAWNGODFATHER]

We broke a window on a car one time

Cop asked did we see it. Cop asked other person did you see it.
Both answerd NO! Cop said no one can prove.

We know we broke it but no proof or witnesses. With that said tell her to take a hike

And if you were going to be out some money would you stick around to get window fixed or go to work and try later? NOT

LGF:blob1:

[taz72373]

You know maybe we need signs like the dump trucks you see going up and down the roads STAY BACK AT LEAST 100 FEET. NOT RESPONESABLE FOR OBJECTS THROWN FROM THIS VEHICLE. As lawn care pro's we all know that there is a possible chance someone threw or kicked a rock into the grass and its not seen and its big enough that the blades hit it and it goes in the air. Where it lands who knows your truck someones car any where it wants and hits what ever is in its path. I try to look out for rocks I've hit them before and sure I will again you can't see them all. Just because it was'nt there last time you mowed does'nt mean it won't be there next time. Who knows. We can't point the finger at someone that we saw there as we are mowing and go to them and say I hit a rock in the grass and you put it there. Prove that. We would be as bad as the girl late for work and did'nt have time to stop and pointed the finger at you.:rolleyes: :confused:

[Nathan]

This is slightly off topic but very related. One of our customers leaves on long vacations. On our visit after july 4 we noticed a shattered window. It is on the back of the house and the only possibility came from us or the neighbors kids(the basketball hoop is in a direct line to the window. The problem is that we don't think we broke it, it is at such a distance and at such a weird angle that it seems very unlikely. Also when I have broken windows in the past (3 in 12 years) I have always realized it seconds after it happened.
The people are still out of town and we don't have any way of talkig to them, but when they come home we know we will be confronted. Since we can't prove innocence and they can't prove guilt what should we do?
I am kind of torn, because I would either make the claim and pay our deductible or ask them to claim on homeowner and pay their deductible if I knew we were guilty, but I don't want to offer any fault when I really don't think we did it.
The kicker is that the neighbors have moved away, so they can't be asked about it.

[Got Grass?]

How bad is the window broken? Does it look like someone could have broken in? Or if you thought the neighbors did it I would call the police and tell them that you noticed a broken window when you were at their house and dont know who broke it and that there is no way of getting ahold of the homeowner. I would also tape some plastic to the window to prevent damage from nature. Also leave a note stating that you noticed the window was broke when you arrived on the job and in good faith you told the police and prevented damage to the inside. This way when thay do get home thay will think your looking out for them. If thay see a odvious broken window and nothing done about it thay will think you did it becasue you were the only people there and will definatly get an angry call. This way your coverd.

[lawnMaster5000]

this is even a little bit more off topic, but today i was riding in a friends car and when he was pulling out of his parking spot he put a nice cut in the passenger side of the car next to us. We both went inside to find the car's owner and when we came back out the car owner was getting into his car (didnt notices nice new body damage) and left before we could stop him.
Trying to do the right thing we talked to a cop that was walking around and he said since the other car already left there is nothing that can be done and to just leave, no report can be filled against us after the time of incedence.

So I would assume the same goes for us, if the claim is not made at time of incedence then there cant be much done about it.

This is comeing from a guy that has paid for two windows this year. (the only two i have ever broken in 5 years)

Good luck with the claims, and even better with your insurance. - Mine said they would drop me if the claim was TOO high. Yet they couldnt tell me what TOO high was. o-well i guess thats the way it goes.