Legal question? John T, Help

Gun guru · Feb 26, 2011

2 days ago I had a guy from my church come over with his F-350 truck and plow my driveway. However, on the edge of the driveway I have a tree stump that sticks up maybe 1/2" from the ground. This guy hit this stump with his plow and bend the plow frame, it is damaged. I assumed that he would have a spring trip plow, nope he doesnt.
Should I flip this guy a $100 bill for the broken plow bracket and call it even, or pay his insurance deductable? He has a real snow removal business, with construction too.
He has not called me or asked me to pay anything....Yet. I heard that he broke it from another friend of mine that saw him this AM at a church breakfast.
My wife said I should not admit liability.
I have no clue as to what this will cost him to get fixed, I may be just a torch and sledgehammer and he is back in business, but I dont know.

Jim Plunkett · Feb 26, 2011

Send him a bill for damage to your stump

Sure · Feb 26, 2011

Sure Thing,,, He's in business to take any breakdown's If he had the Right equipment to do the job, he would have no problem when he hit's something. that's just common sense...

Gun guru · Feb 26, 2011

U R a funny guy.

Is that what you would do?

Do have any serious feedback?

1950whiteC · Feb 26, 2011

Did you pay him to plow your driveway?
If you did......your done. He was working his business and his business will cover his costs.
If he did this without a charge or trade....then you should talk it over about making good on his damages. He most likely would have to eat the repair cost since it wasn't done while operating his business.

Anonymous-0 · Feb 26, 2011

Did you pay him for plowing your drive? If so you have done enough.

Equipment breakage is just part of the snow plowing game.

BCnT · Feb 26, 2011

if he did it as a favor i'd at least call him and ask if you could help fix it...if you paid going rate then its his baby.

Gun guru · Feb 26, 2011

Yes I paid him $40

Gun guru · Feb 26, 2011

yes, I paid him $40

Gun guru · Feb 26, 2011

Yes, I paid him $40

Germ · Feb 26, 2011

What kind of plow did he use that didn"t have a trip mechanism? Every truck mounted plow that I am aware of has one. It appears he modified his plow and took off a feature that would protect his equipment. Since he"s in the plowing business, he"s on his own, unless he did it as a favor for you. If it was a favor, you could offer to help repair the plow.

Bspauld · Feb 26, 2011

I would think that hes in business and you hired him ,its up to him to fix it, But if hes a friend I would talk to him anyway.

Dialed In Restorations · Feb 26, 2011

gun guru you are wayyyyyy to nice of a guy! If I break a hammer or a screwdriver while working on a customers car or tractor I dont get to bill them to replace it. It is just part of the job, after reading all the posts you paid him to perform a service while on the clock. He messed up his plow I"m sorry but its part of the risk in that field. If you guys were friends and working on a case of beer together and he did the plow off the clock for the beer, then I would offer to poss do a repair to the plow. I wouldnt sweat it.

jokers · Feb 26, 2011

I don't think that this is so simple as you paid a professional to do a job at your place and he experienced an equipment failure. First of all, you have a hidden hazard that you knew about but he didn't, second, unless you quit going to church you're going to have to see this guy again and again. I don't mean to badmouth your wife, I doubt that there is anything but concern in her advice, but being sketchy only breeds animosity.

I believe that if you man up and approach the guy with what you've heard that you'll probably be able to come to some workable solution with him, that you'll feel better about a situation which obviously has you concerned, your reputation will get a lift, and God will look favorably upon your manner of dealing with a church brother.

It may very well be that the guy would accept the damage as the potential cost of doing business but would like to know that you aren't a schmuck who is only concerned with himself. I'm not suggesting that you be a pushover, just a brother to the guy. If he comes back with some outrageous demands then you know that he has unfairly redefined the event and then you are much more free to deal accordingly.

showcrop · Feb 26, 2011

It sounds to me like there is a relationship there and that neither of you would like to hurt it. I would say that it is not a legal question but a friendship question. I would not "flip" him $100. I would tell him that you heard about the damage and say that you want to HELP him with it. That way he has the opportunity to turn the money down and you can both go forward as friends. Just like when someone does a job for you when NOT expecting payment you still give them the opportunity to say that they don't want the money instead of looking like they should expect to work for you for nothing. Friendship is worth more than one or two hundred bucks.

Lou from Wi. · Feb 26, 2011

GunGuru. Read your post and I'll throw my meager .02c worth in, if you don't mind. Friendship is always defined(in my book)as a person who will go to the ultimate end to help with any problem that comes along. Having paid the tab for plowing, I believe your not obligated to do the repair cost to fix the plow.OR ARE YOU?Wondered if he knew there was a stump hidden underneath the snow.How many times prior has he done your drive way? Still even if he knew the stump was there, I'm certain he didn't intend to drive into it and wreck his plow.Wondered if you had a flag marker on it so he wouldn't drive into the stump ? Answering these questions would give you the answer to your question as to what friendship/liabilities is reasonable to keep trust and faith in the business relationship. ONLY YOU KNOW WHAT FAIR AND HONORABLE !! There will be lots of conjecture here but it all boils down to you doing what your heart says . REGARDS
LOU.

IOWA NORTHEAST · Feb 26, 2011

You are a good guy. Was he aware of the stump, did he screw up, or did you perhaps assume he knew where it was.

A offer is the right thing to do, then if he is reasonable help him out.

You are the type of person that I work for alot in my small rural comunity. I pay them back ten fold if I can without them knowing it.

flying belgian · Feb 26, 2011

Won't your home owners insurance cover that. If someone comes on my place and something of mine hurts them or their equip. I think I have insurance to cover that. That being said, I never heard of a p.u. plow with out a trip. He must bend that thing every time he goes out. On the other hand you should have told him or marked that stump. If you forgot to tell him, that is one thing but if you were just standing there waiting to see what happened when he got to the stump, that was a dirty trick on your part.

Brad Buchnan · Feb 26, 2011

Not to be a smatazz but I plowed commercially for several years and have never seen a pickup mounted plow that woulden't trip or ride over a 1/2 inch obstruction.

Unreported well casings sucked the worst, in my opinion.

Any time you plow or money or not it is a full-contact sport. Equipment damage is part of the game.

Brad

VicS · Feb 26, 2011

You know what you should do or you wouldn't have asked. One snowy day a neighbor called and asked if I could come plow his driveway, I wasn't home so my son went and plowed it out, about 4 miles away, bottom line he hit something and broke the blade in half. It broke everything from the center pin over, the blade is junk (kewanee). Did he pay? No. we never told him about it, We are just carefuller, and hope it doesn't happen again.

PJH · Feb 26, 2011

Let your concience be your guide. Sounds like he's part of your church family.

It's easy to forget about stumps, meter vaults, etc when they're covered with snow.

Paul

Anonymous-0 · Feb 26, 2011

When you cut off a stump. cut below ground level or leave it a couple feet high so people can see it, Ive seen alot of people run into stumps an inch or two high.

John T Country Lawyer · Feb 26, 2011

I doubt any court of law would find you legally liable for the cost to repair his equipment (unless you intentionally and knowingly set him up for damages which is hard to establish), since he's doing it for hire he assumes the risk for damage to his equipment, it sort of goes with the territory that if youre plowing snow and you cant see all the obstacles theres an inherent risk of hitting something such as that stump.

HOWEVER if you feel that morally your not warning him of the stump contributed to the damages and it bears on your mind theres no harm in offering to pay at least part of the repair cost.

You might consdider just asking him about it to avoid future hard feelings, I think I would.

NOTE I do not see this really as a legal question, its just a moral issue between you and him and your own conscious.

best wishes

John T

Anonymous-0 · Feb 26, 2011

Worry about the situation when and if he hits you with something,Listen to your wife.

Legal question? John T, Help

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Well-known Member

Member

Well-known Member

Similar threads