Anyone experienced with Small Claims Court?
lydia1959
21 years ago
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joed
21 years agoRelated Discussions
Who's Filed A Claim on Homeowners Insurance?
Comments (27)I am in the middle of a large loss fire claim. My sentiments pretty much echo juliatallmadge's (wish I could reach her to find out how it all turned out). Mine was a high-end single family residential rental. The renter was at fault, so not only do I have the experience of dealing with my own insurance company (State Farm), I will be getting experience dealing with the renter's TWO insurance companies (one is for the general renter's policy and the other is for a general liability umbrella policy). All I can say is, it has almost been one year and the house is still standing unoccupied and untouched. The inside of the home was completely smoked out and partially structurally damaged. Only now is the claim being subrogated by my insurance company, which has paid to term limits, to the tenant's insurance company. As juliatallmadge stated, it looks like the tenant's insurance companies will try to micro-negotiate everything, so I am in the process of shopping attorneys. Since the fire was the fault of the tenant's, I deserve to be compensated for my loss. But I get the distinct feeling at this stage this will not happen without legal representation and quite possibly a legal battle that may go all the way to court. I will know more as this situation unfolds in the next 2-6 months. I can only say that State Farm has been wonderful. But be very certain to read your policy thoroughly, because even your claims adjuster can make big mistakes that you might catch. We caught a 90K mistake in our favor. Also, DO NOT make the very common mistake of being underinsured. If we had not been underinsured, we would already be started on the construction while waiting for the tenant's insurance companies to settle with us. Take pictures and videos of EVERYTHING. Open your drawers and cabinets and shoot pictures. Shoot every single feature in your house. And then store those someplace safe outside of your own home. Also, because I saw it happen, keep your computer backed up on a hard drive and store it outside of your home or in a fire/flood proof vault, as well. In my opinion, $1,200 a year for homeowner's insurance is chump change. I was paying more than that and was still underinsured....See MoreMaking a Successful Claim
Comments (3)First you must determine what contractural responsibility was breached before worrying about who is insured. Everything will depend on the contract terms especially who was obligated to design the project, who was qualified to design the structure (probably not the architect but a structural engineer who is the most likely person to carry good liability/errors & omissions insurance) and who was responsible for hiring the subs and overseeing their work. Those terms are not always immediately clear in a design-build contract so you need a lawyer experienced in construction matters. Often the strategy is to sue everyone and let them bring their insurance companies in to defend them. Often more than one insurance company will offer to settle (usually for the deductible amount). You definitely want to avoid going up against lawyers from multiple large insurance companies in court no matter how good your case is. It is also possible that your contract calls for arbitration or mediation. At this point only an experienced professional who understands your contract and the nature of the dispute should be giving you specific advice....See MoreCourt with BM today... Me, not DH
Comments (12)Nope. The shoes remain in my closet. DH got another text from grandma... this time all sweet & nice since being nasty didn't work... telling him to have SD wear them back & they will keep them there for her to use. At this point, they've made such a big deal over those stupid shoes that it makes it harder for me to give them back when she does earn them. I really want to avoid the appearance of BM or grandma being the reason SD got her shoes back. That is what really pisses me off about the whole situation. We are trying to teach a lesson & they are too wrapped up in fighting with us to see that. If they are going to undermine everything we try to do, I've been inclined to ask DH to let BM have custody so it can be her problem. BM is teaching SD how to behave, but then complains when she misbehaves at her house. Our influence goes out the window when BM tells SD that what we say doesn't count. One thing I noticed when going through all our court documents from the past four years is that when DH asked for support & BM started making accusations that I am abusing SD, she also said SD was doing terrible in school. This was just toward the end of SD's 1st year with us when she was finishing 3rd grade. In reality, SD was actually improving. She had problem at the beginning of the year, I think because she was so devastated that her mom moved away. But, I worked with her a lot throughout the year & she was doing pretty well that year. When we pointed out she was actually doing better, BM's argument that she needed custody because we weren't helping SD with school went out the window. Coincidentally, when SD came back for 4th grade and immediately began failing. Five months later, she admitted to her counselor that she was failing on purpose so her mom could win custody of her. Hmmm, I wonder where she got THAT idea? I could have argued a little harder & gotten him to give me the money Judgment, he had no legal basis to deny it since she admitted she wrote it and offered absolutely no justification for it. It wasn't about the money at all because I would not likely ever collect on it anyway. It was about her being told what she's doing is wrong and hoping that by having a Judge telling her, not us... that it might sink in. That's two Judges in two weeks that have told her. She still told the Judge, in a tone like I was the bad person, how SHE put her phone on speaker while I was saying bad words to her and her kids heard the commotion & came running in to hear it all. She really expected the Judge to admonish me? Her attitude was like "how dare Ima talk to me that way in front of my kids!" but the rest of the world can put it together that SHE put the phone on speaker, knowing what I was saying... SHE left it on speaker when the kids came in & she allowed the kids to keep on listening because she wanted the kids to hear how bad Ima talks to mommy. What the kids heard was Ima telling mom to "be an F-ing mom to your kid!" and if SD has a problem with me for that, then I can live with that. I have only tried to do what I hope is best for SD & while I probably should have hung up when BM got on the call, I feel I said stuff that needed to be said & it was in standing up for SD....See MoreHelp filling a claim for destroyed garden.
Comments (35)Environova in Falmouth, or similar turnkey operation, should be able to give you an accurate figure on replacement cost. To replace any large/mature plantings that you lost may be very costly. But, particularly if the government entity you hold responsible ultimately foots the bill, it an be done. As John D described, it’s done all the time. If you look at the company’s website, you will see large mechanized equipment moving large mature specimens. If you think your project is too “small“ for them to be interested, ask what dollar amount would make them interested. That would be your replacement cost - the amount it would take to “make you whole”. Do not beat yourself up trying to come up with ”how much do I claim.” Let an expert company capable of completing the work prepare a written estimate, with the understanding that it be be awarded the contract once the responsible entity agrees to pay the full amount necessary to restore your property to it’s prior condition. What happened to you is very bad. Bad NS DOT. But do you believe you have a winnable legal case? Does Houzz have a Legal forum? Are any no/low cost legal resources available in the province?...See Morelydia1959
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