Do I have something to worry about? (tropical, outside, problems)
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This is a strange story but I'll try to keep it brief.
My next door neighbor came over to my house with a cast on his arm. He told me that a week prior, my dogs went into his yard and scared him and he slipped off of his deck (which was damaged and looked unsafe). He says that his little boy was outside at the time and he ran to help his son for fear of the dogs harming him.
I asked him if he could describe the dogs (since he has never met mine). He couldn't give me the colors of them or anything that could clearly identify that these were my dogs. Whenever I take them out, they go inside my fenced yard and they are never unattended. I know these couldn't be my dogs.
Now the neighbor is saying that his insurance won't pay since he told them that his neighbor's dogs caused the accident. His insurance company is saying thatit's up to our homeowner's policy to cover the damages. This guy is deathly afraid of big dogs and I feel like he's had a thing against my dogs since he moved in. My dogs have never caused any problems with anyone.
The dogs in question did not (according to him) snarl, bark, approach, or harm anyone. Now that this has happened, I think that this guy is a con. My question is, how do I protect myself against his claims?
Call your homeowner's insurance company right away and tell them exactly what you told us. Don't answer calls from his insurance company. And try to keep him from getting a better look at your dogs until he's gone on the record with your insurance company unable to describe the dogs that scared him!
I don't think you should have a problem. He has no proof and his details are too fuzzy. And if there were dogs in his yard, they were no more to blame for his accident than the ramshackle deck. I hope you don't need a lawyer for this, but if you already have one, I'd give him a call too.
Location: Montreal -> CT -> MA -> Montreal -> Ottawa
17,330 posts, read 33,052,827 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by subject2change
Call your homeowner's insurance company right away and tell them exactly what you told us. Don't answer calls from his insurance company. And try to keep him from getting a better look at your dogs until he's gone on the record with your insurance company unable to describe the dogs that scared him!
I don't think you should have a problem. He has no proof and his details are too fuzzy. And if there were dogs in his yard, they were no more to blame for his accident than the ramshackle deck. I hope you don't need a lawyer for this, but if you already have one, I'd give him a call too.
This is really solid advice.
I'll just add that your neighbor sounds like a total jerk. Don't let him intimidate you.
I am not an insurance expert but I would disagree about calling my insurance company. The ball is in his court...let him make a the first move . He is going to have to prove your dogs ( and your negligence in supervising them) caused his fall. It does sound improbable.
I had a situation in which I gave my insurance heads up about a branch from my rental property hanging over a neighbor'sshed after a tropical storm. I was in the process of having a tree company come and take care of the damage but they were overloaded with work orders so it took 1 day to get to my property. In the meantime,the branch did come down and damaged the shed. My insurance company would not pay for the damage because I had informed them of the situation and it then became my negligence in not taking care of it immediately. If I had not reported it, they would have covered the damage.
Sometimes, it does not pay to volunteers information.
The information that someone, false or not, about your dogs may follow you.
Agreed. Let it go. He can't prove anything. On the other hand, neither can you. Just set up a couple of nanny cam types for your backyard. You don't know if he baited your pets or not.
One thing, to me, is he definitely trying to get you to pay for a new deck. mod edit
Last edited by Sam I Am; 08-29-2012 at 04:22 PM..
Reason: unnecessary
Thank you all for such great advice. I'm going to be really cautious with this guy and of course, I hope I won't need an attorney ...
One thing I forgot to mention is that his little dog gets on our property all the time and he knows it. Never in a million years would I have the gall to make such statements against another neighbor (or total stranger for that matter) unless I had concrete proof.
The whole thing is just absurd.
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