QUESTION
Is there anything I can do? Will a lawyer help me?
Asked on Jul 29th, 2021 on Litigation - North Carolina
More details to this question:
My car was parked in my parent's driveway over Memorial Day weekend. During a storm, their neighbor's tree fell on it and totaled it. The neighbor's homeowner's insurance would not cover it due to it being "an act of god," so we had to file it under our auto insurance. The neighbor offered to pay our deductible of $500 which we thought was fair, but is now refusing to pay anything. Is there anything I can do? I am out over $2500 from this, and our insurance rate has increased because of it.
1 ANSWER
You can sue the neighbor for the damges you have incurred, although I do not think that the increase in your insurance rates would be recoverable. You have a claim based both on the original incident (i.e. claiming that the neighbor is responsible for the damage caused byi its tree falling) and the settlement agreement (where the neighbor agreed to pay your deductibe to settle the matter). To the extent that your insurance company paid anyghing due to the incident, it is subrogated to your rights against the neighbor, meaning that the insurere has the right you would have had to sue the neighbor, had you paid for those damages yourself.
Answered on Jul 29th, 2021 at 2:16 PM