Lawyer up or file Insurance?

[A_A_G]

Most insurance policies won't cover ice damage. My GF is an insurance adjuster and has had to deny nearly a couple dozen claims since the ice storm we had a couple weeks back. She just called me and told me she had to deny a claim for a board members in-law.

Please tell me what insurance company she works for so that I make sure I never get coverage through them.

[03mustangdude]

Had insurance cover my ex's car during the winter storm of 08-09? The car was a pos though and they only paid 1500, probably out of pocket, to get it to go away. The apartments had the same carport that collapsed.

[John -- '02 HAWK]

If the carport is up to spec for a building inspector

I'm doubtful that there is any city code for the inspector to adhere to. Maybe at the greatest a 2 line code, that doesnt cover the issue of structural loading.

For the OP this would probably be another point of interest to investigate and to see what the city code is

[jayjohnson600]

Get the insurance info of the Property owner, and have your insurance company pursue them. The property owner has liability coverage, they have to, in order to be in business renting apartments to the public.

It's their improvement of the property that caused the damage to the vehicle.

[SOLOW55]

So if you don't have renters insurance and someone breaks in a steals your stuff , you want the complex to pay for that also ?

[motoman]

Its negligent design that caused the car port to collapse. If they would used an angled roof design, the carport would have shed water, and would have lowered the amount of ice collecting on it. Additionally the design does not provide support for the outer edges of the roof. The carport would have supported more wight if the edges had better support.

Another factor in the negligent design is that the up member can and does get damaged by vehicles striking it. Any deformation introduces a point of failure when any loading pressure (the weight of the snow) is introduced

One other point of negligence could be the construction. If the up member bolts to a base, and is not a monolithic piece buried in place, those bolts become a point of failure under that loading pressure of the ice. This may be what happened in your friends case

It's going to come down to how the policy on the property is written. If the carport is up to spec for a building inspector to approve then it'll get denied for negligent design. My complex has car ports with 4"x6" iron that goes 2 feet into the ground holding up an A frame style roof, just like you'd see on a house, and we had 6 of those fall over due higher winds and the weight of ice on the roofs. The ones in my complex were built much stronger than what I see in this pic and they still fell over.

[John -- '02 HAWK]

The parking cover collapsed on a friends car when it iced over. The complex is basically telling him that it's an act of nature and he needs file with his insurance. Should he fight back? He still has a year lease with this complex.

Its negligent design that caused the car port to collapse. If they would used an angled roof design, the carport would have shed water, and would have lowered the amount of ice collecting on it. Additionally the design does not provide support for the outer edges of the roof. The carport would have supported more wight if the edges had better support.

Another factor in the negligent design is that the up member can and does get damaged by vehicles striking it. Any deformation introduces a point of failure when any loading pressure (the weight of the snow) is introduced

One other point of negligence could be the construction. If the up member bolts to a base, and is not a monolithic piece buried in place, those bolts become a point of failure under that loading pressure of the ice. This may be what happened in your friends case

[motoman]

Interesting, is that property or auto or both?

She's property specifically so I don't know how an automobile is covered. I would think an apartment complex would carry all types of coverage around here except for things like Hurricane coverage, just for a situation like this.

It comes down to how the policy is written and she's found that most people opt out of the coverage for ice damage here in the DFW area. She hates having to deny claims of any sort and she's been up late the past few nights just seeing if there's any way to cover the damage, but she has yet to find anything.

[Broncojohnny]

Most insurance policies won't cover ice damage. My GF is an insurance adjuster and has had to deny nearly a couple dozen claims since the ice storm we had a couple weeks back. She just called me and told me she had to deny a claim for a board members in-law.

Interesting, is that property or auto or both?

[Gaber]

Not a carport. Their carport. They are liable, the same as a tree falling out of your yard, onto your neighbor's car makes you liable.

Tell me how the tree or in this case ice caused the incident? The apartment complex is not a fault. My point was the ridiculous statement to lawyer up.

While the person who owns the damaged auto pays for a retainer, a claim will be filed with the complexes General Liability policy. An assigned adjuster will review and deny the claim as the policy does not cover Acts of God or weather.

In the meantime, the Mustang owner still has a busted ass car, and forked over a grand or so on a worthless attorney.

I would suggest negotiate splitting the comprehensive deductible with the complex.

[Broncojohnny]

The tree is a completely different issue because that is a true act of God.

This is a carport and is not the same. If this was an act of God then why didn't every carport collapse? Also, why wouldn't the apartment complex do something to remove ice or snow from the carport? Was the carport constructed properly to code? Have the carports collapsed in the past?

You can't answer any of these questions from the picture. Of course the apartment complex is going to do their best to say it is all his fault for parking there and the old "act of God" line of bullshit is their go to excuse because most people fall for it.

[motoman]

Most insurance policies won't cover ice damage. My GF is an insurance adjuster and has had to deny nearly a couple dozen claims since the ice storm we had a couple weeks back. She just called me and told me she had to deny a claim for a board members in-law.

[A_A_G]

The complex is liable and carries a policy to cover just such a scenario. Tell the shady mother fuckers to stop playing games.

Explain how an Act of God is the reponsibility of the apartment complex? Its the same scenario with a wind storm causing your neighbor's tree to fall on your car.

Unless you have evidence that the other party was neglient in any way, repairs are on you. A big reason why always recommend to keep comprehensive coverage on a vehicle. Its fairly inexpensive and covers such situations.

[YALE]

Lawyer up because a car port collapsed on someone's vehicle due to weather? Jesus

Not a carport. Their carport. They are liable, the same as a tree falling out of your yard, onto your neighbor's car makes you liable.

The complex is liable and carries a policy to cover just such a scenario. Tell the shady mother fuckers to stop playing games.

Bingo. Regardless of what his lease says, go after those mofos. They are covered, and they will eventually pay. Especially if he spends $150 to take them to small claims. I would NOT file under my insurance. Apartments SOP is to deny deny deny to keep costs down.