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Legal advice

Discussion in 'Too Hot for Swamp Gas' started by docspor, Jul 22, 2024.

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  1. Jul 22, 2024 #1
    docspor

    docspor GC Hall of Fame

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    Planning on filing in small claims court today. Only court experience is pleading no contest to vandalism & as a witness in a case where Allen Collins' daughters were the victim.

    About 5 weeks ago a sprinkler company came out to fix my sys. It was making a racket (the sys itself, not internal pipes). While I was explaining the problem the tech casually took off a cap, put some plumbers tape on it & wrenched it back on. This had nothing to do with the issue. The tech then speculated that it was a ball-valve. I had him replace the 1 in question & a 2nd 1 just in case. It did nothing to address the racket. He then replaced a spring in the bell part of the sys. That reduced the racket significantly.

    Three days later, I went down to my basement & it was flooded...no standing water, but soaked carpet. It affected 3 rooms. (I spent $3800 on mitigation & another $1000 or so on having the carpet padding replaced & carpet cleaned. There was no dry wall damage.)

    I went to the sys & the cap that he'd tightened was spewing water. The tech had cracked it upon tightening. Called the company. They made me wait for a 2 hour window until the org tech came by. He acknowledged the issue & apologized. A manager called about 30 min later giving me a 4 hour window for a senior tech to come out. Senior tech comes out. Takes the cap off & sez this was an equip failure. I ignored it the first time. He then repeated that it was not their fault, that it was an equip failure in an obv gaslighting attempt. I said so if I go stab a knife into your truck tire, would you say that is an equip failure? He stopped trying to BS me.

    They never offered anything in terms of money or sorrys, etc. They said contact your ins company & have them work it out with theirs. Their ins company called & first thing the guy sez, is so this was an equip failure right. I explained what happened & he let be known that it did not jive with what the company told him & that he'd continue to investigate. I learned today that it was denied.

    So, I want to take them to small claims. Max award is $7500. Any thoughts on strategies, preparation, chances of winning etc?

    thank you in advance.
     
    Last edited: Jul 22, 2024
  2. Jul 22, 2024 #2
    channingcrowderhungry

    channingcrowderhungry Premium Member

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    Have you gotten a 2nd company to inspect? And generally their first inclination is to deny and hope you don't fight it.
     
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  3. Jul 22, 2024 #3
    wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

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    Why was the claim denied? Were you going to DIY the small claims court? Because if you were planning on getting a lawyer, going after their insurance company might be a better use of your money/time. Before you do that there might be mediation options WRT the claim denial. I dont know if this is too small potatoes for a public adjuster, but that might be an option too.
     
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  4. Jul 22, 2024 #4
    OklahomaGator

    OklahomaGator Jedi Administrator Moderator VIP Member

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    Sorry to hear, do you have an attorney or are you doing it yourself?
     
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  5. Jul 22, 2024 #5
    GCNumber7

    GCNumber7 VIP Member

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    It’s been like 20 years for me. But I took a vendor to small court in Tampa. The beauty of small court was you don’t need a lawyer. In my case, filing was enough for the vendor to back off and give me a full refund for a ‘custom’ item I was not happy with.
     
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  6. Jul 22, 2024 #6
    GCNumber7

    GCNumber7 VIP Member

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    The business should be insured for this type of issue right? We have no shortage or lawyers on this site so hopefully they chime in.
     
  7. Jul 22, 2024 #7
    docspor

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    doing it myself. to ans the Q above, the ins report I saw, only sez that their investigation revealed it was not their responsibility. I do have access to the statements they made. I suspect they pulled the same equip failure story.
     
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  8. Jul 22, 2024 #8
    docspor

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    they do & they denied. Mine will not cover water damage if the water comes from outside which it did
     
  9. Jul 22, 2024 #9
    GCNumber7

    GCNumber7 VIP Member

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    At the very least, document this on every review site you can find.
     
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  10. Jul 22, 2024 #10
    docspor

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    Hell yes!!
    they don't even have a physical address, so cinderblock justice is not an option.

    You know, despite the role I play on here, I am not an asshole. Mistakes happen. What pisses me off is their treatment ever since. They literally coulda turned this into a win. I sent exactly 2 emails & the manager told me to leave him alone.

    "If you hit a wrong note, it's the next note that you play that determines if it's good or bad." Miles Davis

    they hit a really bad next note
     
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  11. Jul 22, 2024 #11
    wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

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    If you can get someone qualified to go to bat for you and make a case as to why it wasnt product defect but rather bad workmanship, that might be a help, but ultimately in a your word vs their word situation, the insurance company is going to go with their insured.
     
  12. Jul 22, 2024 #12
    docspor

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    I was braced for the denial for the reason you state.
     
  13. Jul 22, 2024 #13
    wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

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    With small claims you have to be prepared that your victory may only be moral even if you win the judgement. But if you are annoying enough, it just might work out as it did for you.
     
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  14. Jul 22, 2024 #14
    G8trGr8t

    G8trGr8t Premium Member

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    any previous history of similar failure in the system elsewhere?

    can you get a statement or report from the first tech?

    document, document, and document has been my limited experience.
     
  15. Jul 22, 2024 #15
    AgingGator

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    They do have trucks!

    I believe that there times where cinder block justice works best.
     
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  16. Jul 22, 2024 #16
    docspor

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    prob relevant. this company installed the sys 3 or 4 years ago. so the failed quip is what they installed.
     
  17. Jul 22, 2024 #17
    tilly

    tilly Superhero Mod. Fast witted. Bulletproof posts. Moderator VIP Member

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    My daughter totalled her car recently. My insurance low balled us. I was Informed of my rights to know exactly what criteria my insurance company used to establish a settlement amount. (Comps, valuations etc in writing.) Upon demanding this they immediately upped my settlement by almost $3k. Which was the proper amount. They didnt want me snooping around their strategy of valuation so they jumped straight to my demand. They knew that the law required their disclosure if I demanded it.

    I wonder if the same applies here. Can you demand written explanation for their reasoning?

    I read about this and then found it to be true that they are depending on you just giving up, but can back down real fast if you demand to see the facts
     
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  18. Jul 22, 2024 #18
    wgbgator

    wgbgator Premium Member

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    Laws are different everywhere, but insurance companies do have to issue a formal written denial and an explanation for that denial.
     
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  19. Jul 22, 2024 #19
    GCNumber7

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    It required patience for sure. Turns out the corporate lawyer was in a different state. Some bean counter must have figured out that flying and housing the corporate lawyer was going to be more than the $2k refund. Or maybe the lawyer had better plans that day. I get a call from said lawyer a few days prior to the court date saying he didn’t know how it got to this point but they would cut me a check.
     
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  20. Jul 22, 2024 #20
    tilly

    tilly Superhero Mod. Fast witted. Bulletproof posts. Moderator VIP Member

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    Yep and I was told they literally have a first ditch strategy aimed at people not knowing this.
     
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