Look what I saw when I got back into the yard at work today.






I got the call from my boss while I was out driving the work truck that that happened. I park my car in front of an old, abandoned house, like 3 other employees do, that is on the work property. Well, apparently, a bird, or birds, did something to/with the chimney and knocked loose several bricks. The chimney is on the roof of the second story. And, guess who's car gets those bricks? At first, he believed it was just my rear windshield. Okay, cool, not a problem, my parts guy has a replacement for me for $50. 2 screws on both upper hinges, lift supports, I can do that, no big deal.

Until I get there and see that my front windshield got smacked, along with dents in my hood and wiper cowl. Now, THAT is going to cost me. My boss said he's going to talk to the owner, see what they can do about it. I'm going to find out to see if their insurance will cover that. My boss did take pictures as well.

Otherwise, I'm going to call my insurance company (I have VA Minimum Liability, cause I'm so broke right now) and see if I can claim it as an "Uninsured Motorist hit-and-run" and pay like a $200 deductible. However, since my car is now back at my place and I used my Shop-Vac to clean out all the glass, I don't know if that "claim" can only be done if at the job site with a policeman to take the report.

Damn, this is not a way to start a week. Especially, if it's coming out of my wallet.



EDIT: A good friend of mine found me a front windshield off of eBay for $30! It's off an '79 and they're (almost) local! A 3.5 hour drive, hell yeah, I'll do that. Now all I have to do is find someone to install it. That'll be fun (read: cheap). I'm going to see if I can borrow someone's Dodge Caravan to pick the thing up.

 

The hood got two dents, the wiper cowl got one, altho with it being a white paint job in pictures, it's hard to see.

 

Wow, that is totally not your fault. This should be a straight forward insurance case, the house owner's insurance should pay for all repairs, including a rental car, until the repairs are completed plus a little extra to keep you happy (maybe a paint job to cover up the scars?). After all, someone might have gotten injured or killed, then the owner and insurance company would have had some serious liabilities to deal with.

Don't back down on this one, this was a serious accident that was in no way your fault. The damage was caused by someone else's negligence in the maintenance of their property. They should be insured and the insurance company should quickly recognize their responsibility. Of course this will mean that the owner will have to pay his deductible, giving him or her a motive to try to sleaze out of it and not cover your damages.

Don't let that happen, you have been inconvenienced and there is serious damage to your property, you should get full compensation, including the rental car and an apology. You are most likely a nice guy who will let it slide but we all pay outrageous fees to insurance companies to protect us against these "accidents", make sure you don't pay even more for someone else's negligence. It wasn't the birds, it was the property owner that wrecked your car.

 

Thank you, Ray. Thank you very much. I'm going to print out your post and keep it in mind when I talk to my boss. He did say he was going to talk to the owner. I've already got a rear windshield purchased. I'll see about them replacing my front one with a brand new one and I'll resell the front one I just bought.

 

I`m with Ray on this one. The property owner should definately cover all costs. Poor 7.

 

That sucks man...

Look on the bright side? At least the whole chimney didn't collapse on your car?

 

You MIGHT get lucky and get it fixed by his insurance (if he has it on the property), but most likely not.

A friend recently had a similar situation happen to him. His Forester was in his driveway, which is shared with the neighbors driveway. A tree in the neighbors yard fell and landed on top of his car. The neighbors homeowners insurance would not cover it, and neither would his own (basic liability).

If this happens, you can sue the owner of the property, as long as you had permission to park there in the first place.

I'm not trying to be negative, but that stuff can get a little messy sometimes.

Good Luck!!!!

 

Hum.... I need your BODY.... !! (the car)...

 

The house is abadoned and sits atop a hill where most people park. The house is on the property where everyone parks, along with the trucks.

 

If the house has an owner, there is liability. But you need to know who the owner is and, more importantly, who his insurance agent is. I made out pretty well when one of my GSLs was rear ended by a semi that got into the back of some cars out on the highway, so I have a reason to be optimistic in your case - this is clearly someone else's fault. Insurance companies generally treat their own customers pretty badly but they have to deal with the people filing claims for damages caused by their customers, that is there legal responsibility.

Good luck!

 

I have a good hood and a spare hatch glass you can have but it might be a bit chilly driving your car here to get it. Id ship the stuff but a hood and a hatch glass are kinda tricky to ship.

 

Just put clear auto paint plastic and gorilla tape till the repair time.

 

Thanks everyone for the replies. I spoke with my boss and found out that the house and land where everyone parks, along with the trucks, is part of the bank's property. So, another member on here (y'know who you are) told me to go find out who the bank is and tell them about it.

Really, I think it'll be a bigger pain than it's worth.

 

Approach the bank like an adult and offer willingness to minimize all expenses and I think you might have some success. Source parts and provide a real world estimate and your actual estimate with no effort to recoup any labor and have a better chance of coming out in the green. You show an estimate of $2500 and an actual out-of-pocket with used parts,etc of $800 and things will go much better. Good luck!

 

Detail wasn't gotten into when I was talking with my boss. However, I'll ask him what bank it was and if it's really worth it. To me, honestly, it's not. The amount of time it'll take to get anything taken care, not to mention if anything will be accomplished, is really not worth it to me. I'd have to speak with whatever bank or property holder is in charge, convince them that it was their bricks that did what they did (that'll take a bit), and really I'm not wanting to deal with the headache. If it only costs me $150 to install my new windshield, I'll shrug it off and get it done.

 

Ive got a free back glass in my basement in Springfield, VA. (FFX County)

PM me if you need it. Its in my parents basement. I might have a couple other things you can have.

-Greg

 

Well, I asked my boss and he said he doesn't even know what bank owns the property. Not to mention that if I were to say something to the bank, if I knew who they were, they'd say that I was trespassing. My boss even said it's not worth the hassle.

I got the new back glass in, now all I gotta do is save up some money for installing the front one I'll be picking up on Saturday.

 

My Dad and I installed the windshield in my FB...Not that much trouble and it doesn't leak at all...I used the original spacers (found out later that wasn't recommended...oh well....) and a tube of window weld...some razors to clean the new glass and a wire brush atachment for my drill for the rust that settled under the seal over the years. A touch of rust inhibiting paint before the window weld and she's golden...Black Dragon Auto sells the clips for the trim for about $10 as well as having spacers and the insulation stuff that goes with the window weld....I didn't use the insulation, but this was my first windshield....like I said before, she doesn't leak at all...Good Luck!!!!!

 

Kymber, expect a PM from me later on about your whole windshield install ordeal.