Unsure on how to go about this.

[kmk_7110]

A few weeks back my employer decided to have a paving company come in and repair a few big potholes in the pavement. They told us to make sure our vehicles were not in the way. They told us to park in the other parking lot, which we all did no hassles there.

But here is where the problem lies, the paving company's employees used a leaf blower to blow the debris out of the area they needed to pave which was mostly the sand and gravel. They blew all the rocks and debris at our personal vehicles. My paint is severely pitted as well as the windshield has many pits in it as well. We keep trying to get them to pay up but they haven't done anything yet, not even apologize that i know of. I took it to a body shop to have an estimate done and it comes out to be a little over $3k.

Two others that want their cars fixed as well said they were going to contact their personal insurance companys and have it corrected that way. Problem is my deductible is set very high because of a past driving record when I was younger and the fact that I moved close to work(less then 1.5 miles) that I figured this wouldn't happen having garage parking at home.


I dont want to go thru my insurance company because it will be more of a hassle then this ordeal already is to get them to do anything about it.

Im not sure on how to go about getting the money to fix the car. Do I contact a lawyer, or contact the paving company on my own terms instead of the company I work for? Just looking for some ideas and what would be the best way to move forward.

Thanks In Advance

 

[paultjohnson]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

small claims court perhaps

 

[foodfisher]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

small claims court perhaps

x2 with proof.

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Well....... proof (spelled and pronounced EVIDENCE ) is mandatory.

You said "a few weeks back" which may be too late unless you notified the paving company the day of the incident......

Photos of where everyone was parked...... when di the other's report the incident?

I had a car damaged by rocks thrown from a mower where I was working........ I was on the phone with the company owner that day leaving messages. He paid the claim.

 

[Tim Frank]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Your employer should have some input.

 

[roscoe]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Get your employer to go to bat for you.
Convince them to retain final payment to the pavers, until after they fix your car.

 

[kmk_7110]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

There was a total of 5 cars damaged only 3 of the cars, one being mine that we want to get fixed. I dont PERSONALLY have proof because I cant stay at the shop and get anything done, but one of the managers saw them pull out the leaf blower and do this. All of our cars were parked next to each other as well.

My employer has been trying to get them to compensate us but the paving company never seems to respond with anything. The last time I sent the mediator being Johnson Controls he responded with an out of office reply from his email.

The paving company, in my opinion, acknowledged the damage by sending out a guy to repair the cars. It was some guy that does scratch and dings out of his car. Doenst fix pitted paint, its down to the metal on the hood of my car and front bumper. Doesnt make it to the condition it was before they came out, not going to settle for that.

Guess I'm going to have to get some more info and see if mentioning the small claims court will do anything to them.

They are a large paving company in southern wisconsin, and the job they did looks good but one of their employees had the smart decision to blow the rocks at our cars.

 

[lckstckn2smknbrls]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Lawyer up.

 

[64osby]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

I was once on a job site where the painting contractor was using a dryfall paint to coat a steel structure, we were told where to park and the painter went to town painting. His dry fall paint was not and he splattered about 50 cars that were on site. My truck was able to be buffed out, but about 10 of the newer vehicles were completely repainted. The painters insurance covered the whole thing with no questions.

I would call the owner and discuss the issue, follow up with a letter. In the letter state your points that were discussed, nicely state if corrective actions are not taken you will take legal actions to correct the issue. If there is no reponse then get 3 estimates, check the small claims $ limits, If within your estimates file a claim, if above then find a lawyer.

No company likes to have any legal issues filed against them. They have to report this when it comes time for bonding and insurance reviews.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Oh jeez, all you sue first people, stop it. Seriously.

kmk, contact the paving company directly. They have liability insurance exactly for these types of incidents. Don't be surprised if their insurance carrier questions the damages, but they do need to be made aware and given the opportunity to inspect the cars.
If you have any more specifics, you can ask me in a PM, as I have 10 years of insurance auto damage appraisal experience. If I don't know all the answers, I still have former co-workers that do. Good luck.

 

[Brewman61]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Geez, the voice of reason, finally. That is lacking on so many of these "What should I do" threads. Hiring a lawyer, small claims court, etc... are all alternatives that are availble after giving the responsible parties the chance to make it right. Legitimate contractors have insurance for this stuff- these things happen all the time, and usually have a way of working themselves out, especially when dealt with in a businesslike professional manner.
If you have to sue over something like this, it's probably unlikely you'll get any actual money- a legitimate contractor with proper bonding and insurance wouldn't let it get to the lawsuit stage to begin with. A fly by night outfit won't have money to pay any judgements.
And a lawyer would likely want a multi hundreds of dollars (at least) retainer to do anything here- there is no fat contingency award so they'd want bucks in advance.

 

[jkust]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Again TilliamWe is correct here. The paving company has insurance to cover this. Business insurance is a complex topic but complex situations are an everyday occurence for insurance carriers. You need to get the name of the company's insurer and go from there. The insurer can't and won't ignore you. Lawyers are a last resort. I can't imagine a guy with a high powered blower that dense and apparently unaware of the damage he is causing.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

... I can't imagine a guy with a high powered blower that dense and apparently unaware of the damage he is causing.

Unfortunately I can imagine it! eek! Just like most people wouldn't spray paint a building in 35mph winds, that are blowing directly towards 3 businesses with about 100 cars parked out front. But it happens.
I've handled several claims like the one described in this thread, and I'll bet the insurance carrier for the paving company has too.

 

[avenger79]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

yep and if the $8/hr guy calls his boss and says "I don't think we should spray this today because of wind", the answer he'll hear is.............

"I don't pay you to think, do your job or find another"

 

[Limited-Time]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Geez, the voice of reason, finally. That is lacking on so many of these "What should I do" threads. Hiring a lawyer, small claims court, etc... are all alternatives that are availble after giving the responsible parties the chance to make it right. Legitimate contractors have insurance for this stuff-................................................

Quote from the OP:

" We keep trying to get them to pay up but they haven't done anything yet, not even apologize that i know of."

Seems contact has been made.

 

[j_martin]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

I can't imagine a guy with a high powered blower that dense and apparently unaware of the damage he is causing.

All the safety gear that is required effectively insulates the operator from his environment..... to the point that he can't tell he's doing damage with hearing impaired and vision obscured.

 

[Solittle]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Seems to me that the paving company was acting at the direction of your employer. Your employer is therefore responsible for the actions of his contractor and should take the lead in getting the damages taken care of. The contractor would then deal with his insurance company. Your contact should be with your employer. Have you sought a remedy from your employer yet? If not - - -

 

[kmk_7110]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Well an update,

One of the other people whose car was damaged called his personal insurance company about the damage. They found the name of the insurance company that the paving company didnt seem to want to provide us. Things have started moving pretty fast now, supposedly the other persons insurance gave the paving company a week to start the stuff or his personal insurance would fix the car and they would sue for the payment, insurance company to insurance company. That got the ball rolling for everyone and today the idependant inspector came out and looked at all the vehicles.

Thanks for all the help. I did contact the paving company myself as well, and they never responded to me personally.

Originally Posted by jkust View Post
I can't imagine a guy with a high powered blower that dense and apparently unaware of the damage he is causing.

They paved right up to the opposite side of the fence that we were parked against. Im sure he probably could have seen the damage himself even with safety glasses on.

 

[TilliamWe]

Re: Unsure on how to go about this.

Seems to me that the paving company was acting at the direction of your employer. Your employer is therefore responsible for the actions of his contractor and should take the lead in getting the damages taken care of. The contractor would then deal with his insurance company. Your contact should be with your employer. Have you sought a remedy from your employer yet? If not - - -

You couldn't be more wrong if you tried. And it's because of people like you, who don't understand how liability works, that we have so many unfounded lawsuits.

Simply put, the CONTRACTOR was CONTRACTED to do a job. The CONTRACTOR's EMPLOYEE, acting on the direction of the CONTRACTOR, damaged the vehicles. IN NO WAY is the original poster's employer responsible for the damage to the cars. NO WAY. If you can't understand that, then you need to learn about indenmity and liability. Your opinion posted above is 100% wrong.

kmk, the reason the ball got rolling was the other carrier contacting the paver's carrier. See, if the paver's carrier doesn't inspect the cars at all, and make an offer to repair them, then when/if the case goes to arbitration, he has very little ground on which to stand to dispute the damages. All they can say is, "it's too much." Now, when they inspect the cars, even if some of the vehicle owners go through their own carrier, when it goes to arb, the paver's carrier can say, "that damage was not all caused by our guy. We inspected the car, and the damage was confined to the this or that side and the glass. The other side that his company paid for was old/unrelated damage."
So, obviously them inspecting the cars is a good thing. But don't you or your co-workers start to think you're going to get every (old) scratch on your vehicles repaired. There can be damage to only 1 or two sides of the vehicle, the way you describe his position and actions. So if he blew the debris against the left side of your car, don't expect that key mark down the right side to be repaired. I am not saying you would try to commit fraud, but I'll bet you a quarter at least one of your co-workers tries to get unrelated damage repaired, or get an entire paint job, when only one side is needed. 10 years of experience tells me that "innocent" people like you and your co-workers can lose a lot of innocence when they think they can get something for nothing.

Best of luck to you.