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 Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:32 am Post subject: who is at fault for damage when the garage door is opening a |
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I lived in a condo complex. last week, I was trying to open my garage door, and the edge of my door scratches someone's car.
That car was not suppose to be there (he parked kind of close to the edge of my garage door). There is even a big sign posted on my garage door said "No Parking otherwise vehicle will be tow away." That person knew that he should not park there, because he was trying to move his car before i opened my door. Unfortunately, it was too late. Now, he blame everything on me and wanted me to pay for all the damage.
What should I do? |
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susan327wang
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| Posted: Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:36 am Post subject: |
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Contact your homeowner/condo insurance company. Was he supposed to park there....no. Did you still put the door up while his car was there....yes.
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Dasfuk
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| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 5:34 am Post subject: |
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| I agree with Dasfuk. It's a shared fault. He parked his car somewhere where he's not supposed to, and you opened your door (perhaps with the confidence that whatever happens, you won't be liable). Worse, you opened your door when the driver was trying to move out of his way. |
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choco
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| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 7:42 am Post subject: |
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| i just realized that i said this part wrong...After I already opened my garage door, scratched the car, i saw the owner running towards me, trying to move his car. But it was too late. Do I need to pay for all the damage? Since it is a shared fault, is it possible for the owner of the car pay half of the damage? |
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susan327wang
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| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 9:14 pm Post subject: |
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I don't see any shared fault. You knew the car was there, and it is up to you to make sure that your door would clear the car and not cause damage to it while you operated the door. I understand that you may be upset that he was not supposed to park in this spot, but it would not change the fact that you operated the door in an "un-safe" manner with a vehicle that close to the door. (Un-safe would be their words, not mine.)
Now if you were inside your house and put the door up and that car was there without your knowledge... you might be able to fight it.
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Dasfuk
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| Posted: Wed Nov 11, 2009 10:21 pm Post subject: |
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Good point Das - if you didn't know the car was there you could quite possibly escape liability, however in this case you did know it was there.
Just becasue he parked it somewhere he shouldn't have, doesn't give you the right to damage his vehicle. I think this would create a dangerous precedent if accepted. You'd have people running out of office buildings trashing cars using their car parks when they shouldn't etc. Where do you draw the line.
Ok to scratch the car? Dent it? Break a window? set it on fire?
In truth though, if it's just a scratch you're probably best to try and sort it out amongst yourselves and keep your insurance out of it. might be less than you deductible anyway and even if it's not claim ing could cause your premiums to go up anyway.
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heidrek
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