Recently I was in a friends car, and they parked right beside a homeless person and a light pole that was painted black. As I opened the door I was watching the homeless person as I did not want to disturb them and that was when the wind blew the door into the pole. Causing a minor dent no bigger than a thumb and a hair like crack. The person got a quote of $1400 to $2500 and expects me to pay for it fully. Who should pay?
This is located in Alberta Canada
Passenger opens door, wind blows into a pole, who should pay?
byu/tacotuestaco inInsurance
Posted by tacotuestaco
3 Comments
https://preview.redd.it/cmbhxfnrxv5d1.jpeg?width=828&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e7ee96fcb2f69f6860353e4a68958a7c247189d6
Here’s some photos
Who should pay morally? If I were you, I would feel responsible to pay. Unless you had gale force winds, if you had been paying attention, this would not have happened.
Can you work out a payment plan? Pay over time? Can you ask your friend to find cheaper quotes (I am not sure about canadian dollars/rates in Alberta)?
The rest is American specific, as most of this sub will be:
In America, legally, your friend could sue you in small claims court with varying success rates, or use their comprehensive insurance, if they have it. In that case-100% you should pay their deductible. Many deductibles may be higher than the repair cost so this wouldn’t make sense.
If I was your friend I would try and DIY as much as I could and drive the price down, but I would really be hurt if you didn’t take responsibility for what your actions did to my car, even if it was an innocent mistake.
Probably pricey due to pearl paint and damage location. If it was me I’d offer the pay their deductible (assuming they have one, I’m USA based).