I REALLY need some other opinions..

[Amanda1989]

So, i made a arrangement with a friend of mine. I bought a Jeep from him, and while he was fixing some small problems (He's a mechanic) on said Jeep, he gave me permission to drive one of his other Jeeps during this process.

Sad to say, but while driving the loaned vehicle i was ran off the road and crashed. I called him, telling him what happened and i was told to just get it towed to his work (a Body Shop), and he mentioned his Insurance was progressive.
I told the tow truck driver where to tow the crashed vehicle, and was willing to pay for the tow, but i was under the impression it was covered.
So i went to the hospital after.
After the hospital released me, i talked to my friend again. He declined the tow and it was sent to storage.
Now he wants me to pay for the tow and storage fee (which is really racking up).

My question is, do -I- have to pay for these fees, or since he declined the tow, would HE have to pay it?

 

[jharris352]

The proximate cause of the storage fees is your friend's decision to decline the tow. You did what you were suppose to do by having the car safely towed to his place of business. His refusal is his own stupidity. You are likely responsible for the cost of the tow from the site of the accident to the body shop and for the deductible on his insurance. If he wants to sue you, he can and will likely be able to collect possibly even for what his insurance paid because his rates will increase if he doesn't reimburse them. The storage fees however are his problem.

 

[Amanda1989]

What if he has liability, not full coverage? What i'm asking is is there any way,shape or form he can sue me into paying? Its $65 a day and he hasn't even filed a suit yet. Its going to be in the thousands by the time he does and i cant afford that. It will bankrupt me

 

[army judge]

What if he has liability not full coverage

If all he has is liability, you're responsible for the damage caused to the vehicle.

You were driving it, remember?

It isn't just the tow and storage that he's going to want, eventually.

You asked about the $65/day storage fees.

Why not pay to have the Jeep towed to your proerty for safekeeping until he decided what he wants to do with the Jeep?

At some point soon, the storage fees will amount to MORE than the cost of the Jeep.

I'm assuming it was a used Jeep, probably worth less that $3,000, right?

Do you have automobile insurance coverage, or are you covered by anyone's auto insurance?

If you do, it covers you when you drive any vehicle, not just vehicles you won.

When he allowed you to use his vehicle, a bailment was created.

The bailment that was created was for your benefit, not his.

It is described in number two, below.

There are three types of bailments:
1. Those in which the trust is for the benefit of the bailor, as deposits and mandates.

2. Those in which the trust is for the benefit of the bailee, as gratuitous loans for use.

3. Those in which the trust is for the benefit of both parties, as pledges or pawns, and hiring and letting to hire.

According to our system of laws, you were required to exercise special care and return the object of the baliment (the Jeep) to him, in the same condition in which he gave it to you.

That didn't happen, and now he's wised up.

Someone is whispering what his rights are in this situation.

You might try to arrange a settlement with him.

If he agrees, get it in writing.

Both of you should state what was agreed upon, sign it, and date it.

Both of you should keep a copy and then you should do what you agreed to do.

You have no leg to stand on in this case.

If I were you, I'd try to settle with him, (for a fair price) before he decides that you destroyed a $30,000 vehicle.

Did you file a police report?

Not that it would help with liability issues, but it could be used to memorialize what happened.

 

[jharris352]

First, the storage fees can not exceed the value of the vehicle.

Secondly, he has a duty to mitigate the damages. He is aware that the property is in impound it is his property, he denied the tow, he is responsible for the impound fees.

Third: Army is right, you are going to owe for repairs on the vehicle up to the market value of the vehicle at the time you were given use of it.

Fourth: As Army has said, if you have insurance on your vehicle it may cover you while driving a loaner. Check that out.

As far as the storage fees though, I don't see you having any problem with those.

 

[mightymoose]

I would think that the OP would be responsible for the tow and storage fees. He arranged the tow but did not secure payment for the tow driver. The tow driver is not going to release the vehicle to anyone without payment. The vehicle owner obviously declined because the tow driver showed up and demanded payment, which the owner was not responsible for. Since the OP did not pay the tow driver he will be responsible for the associated storage fees.
If the vehicle owner or his insurance company should sue the OP, why wouldn't he be ordered to pay the fees? If someone crashed my car I certainly wouldn't want to pay the cost of towing either- it's the OP's responsibility.

Where the OP really screwed up was by not arranging the tow through the insurance company. The insurance company would have had the vehicle towed wherever they needed it to go, and it would have been paid for (assuming the insurance policy covers that).

 

[Amanda1989]

I went earlier today and paid the fees, to my surprise it wasn't as bad as i thought.

I greatly appreciate the replies on this issue.