Opinion please

littlepint · Mar 25, 2021

A guy hits a telephone pole that breaks off and falls on an old shed that two of my brothers and myself own. The shed is very old but was usable. I had a Ford 8N in it. Anyway the shed is now almost on its side. We had an estimate of $10,000 to fix it back up. The guy that hit the shed only has $5,000 of insurance. He has no assets. I'm sure the telephone Co. is going to want some if not all of the insurance money. Is there anything we can do about this? Thanks for any thoughts.

Roger Tomfohrde · Mar 25, 2021

Did you have insurance yourselves on the building? Trying to get money from the other party will only cost you grief.

Keith Molden · Mar 25, 2021

I had a situation similar. I called my agent and they took care of everything then went after her insurance company. I got my money and never heard anything about it again. Did not increase my insurance any at all

gmccool · Mar 25, 2021

Contact your insurance company. They will chase his insurance company.

1948CaseVAI · Mar 25, 2021

If you did not have insurance on the shed or tractor you are likely out of luck. If you had none then shame on you. Do not expect anyone's insurance to rebuild the shed to new condition.

johnofnewhaven · Mar 25, 2021

I agree with everyone about contacting your insurance company and let them handle it. But my question is was he driving in a vehicle on the road and then hit the pole? Or did he hit it with a piece of equipment or something? What state are you in where a driver can only carry $5000 in insurance? I think here in Indiana minimum is $25,000 in property damage.

Crazy Horse · Mar 25, 2021

Expect a ton of different answers, there's a lot of unknown factors in your post and even then, rules can vary quite a bit depending on so many things. Up here for example for vehicle insurance, if you have liability insurance but not collision coverage on your vehicle which is older and maybe not worth having that coverage, if you get in an accident and it's the other guy's fault, your insurance company will not represent you in any dealings with the at-fault driver's insurance company. You're on your own. I suspect you might not have insurance at all because if you did, I'm sure you'd have an answer to your question already from them. You would contact them first I suspect before asking the YT Insurance Corporation of North America right?

504 · Mar 25, 2021

I can't believe he only has five grand in insurance. Most states have miniums set by the state.

JK-NY · Mar 25, 2021

I agree with everyone who suggested to call your insurance man.

DavidP,South Wales · Mar 26, 2021

Comment from the UK YT Insurance Corporation;
I dont see that it makes a lot of difference whether it was an old or a new shed. It was quietly minding its own business before the accident occurred. You are not to blame in any way. You pay insurance for unfortunate events such as something like this. Push your insurance hard for some action on this. How they recover the money is up to them.
DavidP, South Wales

Geo-TH,In · Mar 26, 2021

In most cases your insurance company will pay you and deal with his insurance.

I've been thinking, yes dangerous, with the spike in building materials do any of us have enough insurance to cover a total loss, a fire, tornado, flood?
George

oldtanker · Mar 26, 2021

504, I was with you so I checked. CA, PA and NJ all have a minimum of 5,000 property damage coverage.

Rick

Crazy Horse · Mar 26, 2021

It would be nice if the OP let us know if he has his own insurance or not and eventually, how he makes out with this. Ask for advice but never fill in the blanks .... happens all the time. One other thing I have been told (but never experienced myself) is that if a neighbor's tree for example falls on your house say in a wind storm, it is your insurance company that deals with the damage. If you don't have insurance, you're out of luck. Like John T says, this isn't expert advice or information, just passing something along. Use at your own risk ..... ha!

Stephen Newell · Mar 26, 2021

I think it best to throw in the towel now. You could spend a lot of time and money trying to collect but in the end I bet you get nothing.

jimg.allentown · Mar 26, 2021

Really not enough information to form a good opinion.

First thing is I don't know how big or valuable the shed is. Also do not know the extent of the damage to the tractor. How reasonable does your $10,000 estimate seem to you? Does it seem inflated or padded in any way?

The letter of the law basically says that the person causing the damage should be liable to make you whole. That means that he is responsible to return you to the pre-collision condition. Whatever his insurance limits and assets are is irrelevant. His responsibility is to make good on the damage he caused. At least according to most laws. If you want to be a nice guy and let him off the hook, that is your option.

In any case, I agree with the consensus and say that you should contact your own insurance company - assuming that you do have some sort of insurance. If you do not, I would file a claim with the other guy's insurance company. Under any circumstances, you are entitled to at least some compensation for your loss. It isn't your place to figure out how insurance money is distributed. That is up to the claims adjuster.

Geo-TH,In · Mar 26, 2021

There might be some hope if he gets nothing.
Talk to CPA and see if the loss could be considered a capital loss.
George

JK-NY · Mar 26, 2021

I agree , more details equals better advice/guidance whether it is a tractor question or something else .

Crazy Horse · Mar 26, 2021

JK ..... I'd guess that he has no insurance, at least none on the building (and maybe the tractor) that was damaged. Maybe some for coverage of personal injury on the property, who knows? That $10,000 repair bill on what sounds like an old structure seems steep, mind you things are pricey nowadays. No further answers today will pretty much tell us the story I would guess.

Dave41A · Mar 26, 2021

I agree with the others. Call your own insurance company for the building, assuming you have property owner's insurance. I would not worry about the utility company. They have their own insurance on the pole, and do not have any claim to the $10K for the shed.

If you did not have insurance on the building, then you're going to have to deal with the driver's insurance company to try to recover as much as you can. How much they pay depends on the fine print of the policy and the laws of the state you live in.

MarkB_MI · Mar 26, 2021

The only reason you would deal with the driver's insurance company is if your building is uninsured. If you have a typical homeowner's policy, your outbuildings and their contents are covered up to ten percent of your home's value.

If you don't have insurance on your building, you can always take the driver to court. Small claims court might not get you enough to fix your shed, but it will be cheaper than hiring a lawyer. Of course, getting a judgement against the driver is only the start of a long journey in your efforts to collect damages.

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