Stationary Object Damage Considerations

[mjwalsh]

Most of us who have been car wash operators for many years ... know the reality of drivers hitting our stationary objects that we need for our car wash. How many of us go to great lengths to have in storage such things as overhead door panels &/or other expensive items? Sometimes many years go by ... so much so that it seems like somewhat unnecessary.

The reason why I am asking is because recently we had a big semi trucking company driver bend beyond straightening the bottom part of one of our 11'2" wide polycarbonate Alaskan doors not paying enough attention to the potentially less than 13' height. The driver did leave the scene & did not leave his contact information as if he did not do it. The camera shows 100% for sure that he did the damage. The driver only owned up to the damage from him as a possibility later on.

After finally getting the company to admit they knew through GPS the precise time & place where each of their Semis are ... along with its specific driver ... it appears as of last Friday ... the company was going to co-operate without law enforcement getting involved because of the "leaving the scene of an accident violation" consideration.

Now the company appears like they do not want to consider to what lengths we went to mitigate the amount of downtime. To what extent should the company be liable for downtime vs to what extent we needed to have the items in stock & our own "johnny on the spot" "ready to go" "in house manpower" to prevent being at the mercy of a contractor or a distributor on a Friday (potential loss of weekend) Also the potential for the American Garage Door Company or Airlift not having the items even able to ship for a minimum of one week or more should be a consideration that they seem to be completely ignoring.

I know many of you have collision proof doors or no doors because you are far enough south ... so my question should extend to other stationary objects that are hit by an extremely careless customer.

What bothers me about the response from the company is that they feel that there is just a bottom plate that needs to be replaced & that it is that simple .... when it is far from that simple ... how many local overhead door companies are going to use that higher risk approach to repairing the bottom panel? There certainly is less labor involved & less chance of complications if the whole panel is replaced ... & it is not like we want the whole door replaced! The company has in its possession estimates from us from 2 different contractors but is balking. Do some of my fellow operators with Alaskan doors find contractors who replace just the two bottom aluminum structure parts of the bottom panel (drilling & screwing involved) with the rubber seal & also do it in as timely of a matter ... as if they just swapped out a complete pre-done bottom panel?

mike walsh www.kingkoin.com

 

[soapy]

Turn it over to your insurance company. They will pay to get it fixed properly then go after the company that did the damage. I have been surprised a couple of times by local companies that have done similar damage at my washes. In both cases thousands of dollars of damage was done to my equipment. i reviewed my cameras and called them several hours later. They both said " Oh we were just getting ready to cal you" No they weren't, they only admitted to doing it after they found out I had it on video. I got bids from contractors and presented them with the bid and picked up a check before work was done. If I would have had any question I would have just turned it over to the insurance company.

 

[mjwalsh]

Turn it over to your insurance company. They will pay to get it fixed properly then go after the company that did the damage. I have been surprised a couple of times by local companies that have done similar damage at my washes. In both cases thousands of dollars of damage was done to my equipment. i reviewed my cameras and called them several hours later. They both said " Oh we were just getting ready to cal you" No they weren't, they only admitted to doing it after they found out I had it on video. I got bids from contractors and presented them with the bid and picked up a check before work was done. If I would have had any question I would have just turned it over to the insurance company.

Soapy & others,

It seems like if the amount of damage is smaller than the operator's deductible, the choice is better to assist the local PD in making a "leaving the scene of the accident" charge if one has 100% proof video wise ... if that is what they did ... & never really came around for full restitution. It seems like it would make an operator's case stronger in small claims if the operator could help make the "leaving scene" stick. Small claims in our area is up to $5,000.

mike walsh www.kingkoin.com

 

[Jeff_L]

Give them a deadline to pay one of the quotes. Let them know if they exceed that deadline that your next step is to file a leaving the scene report with the PD. Might want to get in touch with the district attorney first and run it by him to see if he would prosecute the case. Otherwise, you'll have to go to small claims court. It's a pain in the ass and a lot of legwork for you.

Ever think about contacting local news to see if they're desperate for a story about a local biz owner being slighted by a trucking company? Post the video on social media using all kinds of hashtags?

 

[pgrzes]

I would get a local door company, hopefully someone you know to right up the quote to "properly repair or replace" door to working condition as was before damage occurred, have them include "emergency repair to make operable" costs!! Good luck on "Loss of income" Tell them they have to a specific time and date to rectify or you will turn video and other info into police!! Unfortunately "our time to fix our own things" doesnt get paid by insurance companies!!!! Another company can bill any amount for emergency repairs(within reason) and it is hard for them to argue it. I had a company truck go into my automatic after clearly hitting my clearance bar twice, each time driver stopped and got out and looked up at it moving and ripped half my equipment apart and left. Once I talked to the owner and showed video he didnt complain!! But I never got any loss of income!! If you turn into your own Insurance Co. You might get some loss of income!!! Good Luck!!!

 

[Earl Weiss]

. Liability for loss of use - "Reasonable" . Would need to prove with perhaps a weeks a weeks worth of records as to revenue generated when operational vs time out of service.

2. Length of loss of use - Reasonable. I.E. if it would take 2 weeks to repair a car measure is 2 weeks rental of comparable car.

3. Damage value i.e. replacement of parts vs repair with less parts cost - depends. Cost of extra labor likely equals cost of parts to use less labor.

4. Leverage. As stated deadline to report to police and their insurance company which will increase their rates.

5. Video? Advise you will post on the net - Priceless.

 

[mjwalsh]

. Liability for loss of use - "Reasonable" . Would need to prove with perhaps a weeks a weeks worth of records as to revenue generated when operational vs time out of service.

2. Length of loss of use - Reasonable. I.E. if it would take 2 weeks to repair a car measure is 2 weeks rental of comparable car.

3. Damage value i.e. replacement of parts vs repair with less parts cost - depends. Cost of extra labor likely equals cost of parts to use less labor.

4. Leverage. As stated deadline to report to police and their insurance company which will increase their rates.

5. Video? Advise you will post on the net - Priceless.

One thing its seems an operator should consider is the fact that I have been told very firmly by a local PD officer not that long ago "If you do not file a complaint or press charges (assisting?) after we go through all the trouble to ID & find the individual ... we will never help you again. So ... it appears on a "leaving of the scene" case ... it is not just simply the like Earl said "reasonable payment" for the damages.

In the case of a huge company ... I wonder if they possibly will have one of their lawyers to somehow argue that the driver did not leave the scene ... but was not aware that he hit the item &/or did any damage!

 

[soapy]

I do not think your deductible will apply in this case. Your insurance company will go after the entire amount of the claim and not subject you to a deductible. Have you talked to your insurance agent? He might have some key insight on this.

 

[washme1]

I have Alaska doors and have been paid for loss of use but it was settled with the drivers insurance company each time.

I would never consider replacing just the hardware on a door panel. Take photos, get it repaired and present the bill including lost income calculation.

If you have a convincing case you may want to consider filing a small claims court case depending on what the courts limits on amount of recovery are. I doubt the company you are dealing with would want to devote time to defending themselves in a case they're not likely to win.

 

[mjwalsh]

washme1,

Since you have the same kind of basic polycarbonate Alaskans ... does anybody in your area stock the panel size you use? I am asking for the purpose of the possibility of a judge saying that the operator should have stocked his own so he would be able to mitigate a possible 10+ day wait ... including shipping time (DOWNTIME).

It appears like the mega trucking company insures themselves so that is part of the dynamic it seems. The company spokeperson says that they have a large number of claims every year with minor incidents with their drivers in their Semis ... & that standard procedure for them is to look very carefully at the claim pictures etc. & seek ways that the repair can be done for less!

 

[washme1]

I would have my equipment distributor order the door panel from Airlift. He would install the door and send me an invoice for panel, labor and shipping cost which i would pay. I would add loss of income calculation and submit for reimbursement. I would only try to recover lost income for the time the bay would have actually been needed. Whatever period the car wash running at full capacity is the time I used for lost income. I sat down with the adjuster one time and pulled sales figures for comparable periods based on weather and time of year. In the two cases I recall, both were for my one automatic for which it was easier to estimate revenue loss. I have nowhere to store door panels so that is not even a consideration.

washme1,

Since you have the same kind of basic polycarbonate Alaskans ... does anybody in your area stock the panel size you use? I am asking for the purpose of the possibility of a judge saying that the operator should have stocked his own so he would be able to mitigate a possible 10+ day wait ... including shipping time (DOWNTIME).

It appears like the mega trucking company insures themselves so that is part of the dynamic it seems. The company spokeperson says that they have a large number of claims every year with minor incidents with their drivers in their Semis ... & that standard procedure for them is to look very carefully at the claim pictures etc. & seek ways that the repair can be done for less!

 

[washme1]

washme1,

Since you have the same kind of basic polycarbonate Alaskans ... does anybody in your area stock the panel size you use? I am asking for the purpose of the possibility of a judge saying that the operator should have stocked his own so he would be able to mitigate a possible 10+ day wait ... including shipping time (DOWNTIME).

It appears like the mega trucking company insures themselves so that is part of the dynamic it seems. The company spokeperson says that they have a large number of claims every year with minor incidents with their drivers in their Semis ... & that standard procedure for them is to look very carefully at the claim pictures etc. & seek ways that the repair can be done for less!

No one in my area carries panels. They are all custom ordered from Airlift.