Personal Proptery Damage - need assistance

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kelly_panici

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On July 7 early afternoon my 15 year old son had taken his new gocart out for a spin, while exchanging drivers the throtle stuck and ran into a neighbors fence.
The police were called and as far as I know no tickets were issued or at least we have not received one.
We took pictures (lots) of the 6 year old rotting fence. The only damage was to one 8 foot section. We offered to replace and fix the section that day and the owner declined. I offered money and she declined stating she would get her own estimates.
We received verbal estimates for the materials between $50.00 and $125.00.
On July 23rd she provided an estimate of $575.00. I contacted 4 fence companys and I was told again that the cost of the materials was only $100.00, the remainder of the estimate is a minimum labor charge of $450.00 because it is not worth the time to fix one section.
After speaking to other companys I contacted the Neighbor and once again stated we would fix. She flat out said NO. I told her I have an estimate from someone for $200.00 to do the exact same work and again she said NO. The only company she would use was the one she had come out that wanted $575.
I told her I was not going to pay that and she said she would take me to court.
Does she have the right to accept only her estimate. As the one who is paying the bill do I have a right to have my own estimates done? Do I have the right to pay the company of my choosing? If this goes to court what are my chances of winning?
Please help!!!
 
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While she has a right to refuse to let you or anyone you chose do the repairs, she also has a duty to mitigate the damage. So in court, if you can show that she picked the most expensive estimate and that most other companies would repair the damage for less, you might have good chances for the judge to award her less damages.
 
Thank you for your taking the time to read and evaluate my situation. I am still some what confused though, If I were to claim the damage on my Home Owners Insurance they would send someone out to estimate the damage and pay accordinly. The Insurance Company is not going to accept her estimate and she would have to accept whatever the Home Owners Insurance issues her. Right? So why does it not work the same for us?
 
she does not really "need" to accept the insurance company's verdict. The law basically says only: If someone interfered with your property, you deserve to get damages, that is a fair compensation in money. This is in two ways important: The law says, you have a right to get money, so you can refuse if the tortfeasor, that is the guy who damaged the property, offers to repare it himself. You can insist on getting paid.

Then the law only says the compensation has to be fair. It also says that you as the injured party have to avoid doing anything that would make the damage bigger ("mitigation of damage").

Now, if the tortfeasor's insurance says: "We think the damage is worth $ 300" and we are only going to pay that much" the injured party can say: "No way, we think the damage is worth $ 500." And they can sue.

In practice of course people often think twice before suing. They say: "Well, it means going against the insurance company. They have good lawyers, they have done this a thousand times. If their experts say the damage is only worth $ 300, maybe I should believe them." And so they often accept what the insurance offers. Sometimes it is true, the insurance actually knows better from experience and is fair. Sometimes they just want to save money. But the last word always is with the injured party, if they think it is not enough, they can sue. Then a jury or a judge will decide.

Same here in this case. If you offer only to pay $ 300 and they want $ 500 they can sue and it will end up in court.

You have to make the choice if you want to pay what they demand or risk being sued and they have to make the choice to take what you offer or risk going to court and lose. Often people negotiate on this basis and settle somewhere in the middle.
 
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