Car versus my house

[Denny Unfried]

The other night right after going to bed there was an explosion. I hopped out of bed and the floors were covered with stucco and broken glass. Lots of smoke. Anyway a 2006 Impala was estimated to be doing between 80 - 100/mph and jumped the curb down the street. It mowed down three trees, the corner of my neighbors garage which ended up in my living room and then my 30' long brick porch stopped it but not until all the bricks and front brick facade of the house shifted almost an inch. The engine was in the front seat and car parts were even on the roof.

The driver was arrested for felony driving under the influence and sorry to say his passenger perished. Passenger air bag was shut off and he will be forever 28.

Not a fun way to make page 3 of a Los Angeles newspaper or be interviewed on TV.

[sweetnotes]

Glad to hear that you are alright

What's the estimate on the house damage?

Lynn

[Gage]

Your right, that's a hell of a way to make the paper but glad your all right.

[Denny Unfried]

Your right, that's a hell of a way to make the paper but glad your all right.

Thanks Gage. Was going on another tear but it will have to take a back seat for a while. No estimate on the damage as of yet. I will probably do the work since I did all the bricks, wrought iron etc. originally. Luckily he missed the natural gas line by about a foot or things might have ended up very different. The fire dept. red tagged the house till they checked it out.

[Gaston]

when his insurance adjuster shows up just say no and smile a lot.... his butt is your to do as you please with. no excuse for the action of his insured. PS get a lawyer BEFORE you talk to the guys insurance co. Be aware that with a wrongful death claim faceing them they usually will do anything near reasonable to pay you off. DON'T make it easy for them. If you cost them enough maybe they will charge Idiots and drunks enough to make them change their wrongful ways.
as a side note, insurance co.'s have been known to pay as much as a million dollars to people claiming extreme emotional distress for just having viewed a death causing event let alone someone who had to face one in his living room! sock it to em! (I was once employed briefly as an insurance adjuster)

[Woodbutcher]

when his insurance adjuster shows up just say no and smile a lot.... his butt is your to do as you please with. no excuse for the action of his insured. PS get a lawyer BEFORE you talk to the guys insurance co. Be aware that with a wrongful death claim faceing them they usually will do anything near reasonable to pay you off. DON'T make it easy for them. If you cost them enough maybe they will charge Idiots and drunks enough to make them change their wrongful ways.
as a side note, insurance co.'s have been known to pay as much as a million dollars to people claiming extreme emotional distress for just having viewed a death causing event let alone someone who had to face one in his living room! sock it to em! (I was once employed briefly as an insurance adjuster)

WOW, sock it to all of us. I thought that insurance was to make you whole, not a millionaire.


Sorry for your loss. I hope that your home gets put back as good as new.

[Outlaw]

Sorry to hear about the accident. I hope you don't think I'm crazy, but I noticed a ghostly apparition on the hood of the car. Does anyone else see it? Maybe I should just get some sleep.

[Spadinator]

COOOOL..I never noticed the face in the hood!!!

[bledsoe3]

I noticed it too. I thought of George W when I saw it.
P.S. That is not a political statement, just who it looked like when I saw it.

BTW, Sorry for the whole ordeal you are having to deal with Denny.

[48Rob]

DON'T make it easy for them. If you cost them enough maybe they will charge Idiots and drunks enough to make them change their wrongful ways.
as a side note, insurance co.'s have been known to pay as much as a million dollars to people claiming extreme emotional distress for just having viewed a death causing event let alone someone who had to face one in his living room! sock it to em!

While insurance companies should certainly pay when the insured has a claim, the general sentiment that big business can and should be sued to "make them pay" or "sock it to them" is wrong.

That (some) companies should be forced to change is correct, but suing them on the basis that if they have to pay, they will "change" only hurts us all.

Suing them in an attempt to take advantage of the situation to line your own pockets is also wrong.
You and a few others might win, but what happens when the company has no more money, and folds?
What about all the others they insured, but now cannot pay?

Golden Rule?

Sure, you might win a big judgement against xyz corporation because you slipped on a piece of paper the fellow in front of you dropped (negligence because the store didn't have someone there to grab it or warn you to "be careful" but whe the company is forced to pay, the company just raises the price the rest of us must pay for our goods.

If you think for a moment that a corporation is going to open their pocket book to cover it, you would be wrong.
This goes along the same lines as the people that think big (or small) companies "have more than they need anyway"...they can afford the loss...sure they can, they just pass it on to the rest of us...and we all complain about the high cost of this product or that...

Doctor bills anyone?
So many insanely high awards have been given that insurance premiums are out of sight for doctors.

But its okay, doctors are "rich" right? And they have insurance anyway.

Sure, and where does the doctor get the money to pay the insurance bill?

Rob

[Steve Frederick]

I woke up in similar circumstances a few years ago!
Drunk vaporized his jeep in my front yard..walked away!
Not the way anyone should be awakened!
Glad that you're ok..too bad about the poor soul who perished!

[Jiminsav]

yeah..I see the face of GW in that hood..

[Laredo]

I would say that it would be wrong to have the insurance pay for an upgrade, but it is not fair for the insurance not to repair your home to its condition before the wreck.

Unfortunately in all probability the insurance doing the paying will be yours, and your premiums will go up. Your house doesn't come under the "uninsured motorist" clause, and the driver who destroyed a car, killed a friend, and damaged your home is certainly not going to be held accountable.