Why is there a car in my backyard?
 

Sorry, no pics yet.

An hour ago a neighbors house cleaner lost control of her car and drove through two of my fences, knocked over a tree and came to a stop in my backyard. No one was hurt.

The driver is uninsured (of course). I'm still at work, but my wife tells me a tow truck is dragging the car out of the yard right now.

Looks to be a significant amount of damage. Here's the question; Is my homeowners policy likely to cover this?

Either your homeowners' or your own uninsured motorist auto insurance will cover it. Your auto insurance will have coverage for damage caused by uninsured/underinsured motorists. Turn the claim in to both and let them decide who has priority. Call your agent now and start the claim. They will take care of it without too much stress on you.

Can you file charges against the uninsured or is that automatic?

Your wife got all the drivers info, right?

Did you call the police, and get a police report?

did your wife get pictures?

suprised that they are moving it before an adjuster has shown up.

get real,

2 fences, a tree..and you think she has a Lis ..+ no insurance...
your on your own.

Rika

Sorry to hear this, Moses. Wonder how one can reach such speed as to cause so much damage in a garden..?

The house sits at the bottom of a small hill. Only 4 houses up that hill, but it's steep. Apparently the engine died and the power brakes went out as well.

The drivers husband owns a landscaping company and he has his crew at the house right now cleaning up and getting ready to fix the fences. He says he'll replace the tree as well.

No one was hurt and the driver and her family seem very serious about repairing everything, so things are going to work out just fine. I'm just so glad my kids were not in the path of the car when the accident happened.

sounds like the maid got into the cooking sherry...

That's because it's being moved privately...before the police arrive.

While you may not have a collectable claim against the housekeeper, you could sue your neighbor if housecleaner was acting in the course of her employment -which she likely was.

I don't think you're the "sue your neighbor" kinda guy, but if it was the firefighter next door....well...;)

THAT's funny!

I'm not going to call the police or file a claim. My wife took some pictures in case the drivers husband falls through on his commitment to fix the damage. I talked to the drivers husband (his English is pretty good). He seems like a stand up guy. I'll take a chance with him.

Geez.

"The driver is uninsured (of course).

.....you could sue your neighbor if housecleaner was acting in the course of her employment -which she likely was.

Unbelievable. You'd never think she might be going home.

Porsches and porcupines.

Did you educate her on the presence of this great invention called an EMERGENCY BRAKE? You know, that's cable-actuated in case of. . . you know. . . EMERGENCIES?!?!

I can't believe how stupid/uneducated people are today with respect to operating automotive machinery. This is precisely the kind of crap that SHOULD be tested for on driving tests. Not whether a person can fog a mirror or drive in a straight line for 30 seconds, but the same kinds of things pilots are tested for with respect to aircraft - systems, emergency procedures, etc.

It'll never happen though. Too many people make way too much $$$ off of licenses being handed out like candy.

Whew. As you said, so long as nobody got hurt.

Fences and property are repairable. If it were my yard in a similar situation, as long as they made good on the repair I would not involve my insurance either. As a backstop, I'd have a conversation with the neighbor as I'm just guessing their housekeeper is not a 1099 employee.

Whew. As you said, so long as nobody got hurt.

Fences and property are repairable. If it were my yard in a similar situation, as long as they made good on the repair I would not involve my insurance either. As a backstop, I'd have a conversation with the neighbor as I'm just guessing their housekeeper is not a 1099 employee.

Power brakes do not automatically go out when the car dies. In fact, they're designed NOT to go out when the car's engine dies.

So BS on honeymaid's story.

They should last for a little while (vacuum assist) although even once those are gone, you'd still have regular hydraulic (non-power-assisted) braking. And the afforementioned e-brake. Inexcusable.

Barreling down a hill, engine off, no power steering, freaking out as that fence looms ahead, and you're desperately stabbing at the brake pedal? I'd give her a pass on not knowing that they were still working.

Now, I could say something like she was probably 5 feet tall, couldn't see over the wheel, was praying to the Virgin hanging from the rearview mirror, all while feeding the 3 screaming kids who were in the backseat unbuckled...

THEN we could put the blame on here :D

What is the problem here....I don't see any problems...typical CA day in the sunshine...

Oh, and there are lots of people that don't even know what the e-brake is for, because they don't "need" it, since they drive an auto. They are the same ones that don't realize that, yes, there are actually times when you should use the "1" or "2" and not just the "D"...

too bad you don't have video, that'd be kinda fun to watch........since no one was hurt of course :D

LOL, you mean like country of origin?
I'm betting no license, no insurance, undocumented and soon to dissapear. I hope I'm wrong about that.

You'll probably get sued for having a tree in such a dangerous location. ;)

What a drag. I am glad to hear she and her husband are going to make good.

Moses,

You need to call the police. This accident will meet defination of "accident" in California by the amount of property damage. The fact that she did not injure someone is a big plus but does not negate the basic issue. She drove poorly, failed to control her automobile and shot willy-nilly down a hill mowing everything down in the path.

She needs to have an accident on her record. Even if she does not have a license, she needs to have the accident on her record. That the accident is uninsured will add weight to the issue. The sincere and quick attempt to fix the damage caused is basically shielding the accident.

Let's just take a guess and say with the landscaping, tree and fences that she did $3-5,000 in damage to your property. If she had driven into the side of your Porsche would you have been so lenient?

Report her. It's the right thing to do.

angela

Your tree and your fences became a danger to this poor motorist. (kidding)

Glad everyone is okay.

I wonder if bollards could help protect the property and inhabitants in the future. Maybe big things in the shapes of Fuchs.

Think she'll file the required DMV form within 10 days as required?

Doubt it.

I agree with Laneco.

Be sure to call it in. She can get some lessons at the very least. Right now, she is an uninsured menace.

what angela said, gotta report this to the cops

milt, he said it was the housecleaner up the street

Bad pic of the car in my yard. It doesn't show most of the carnage.


http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1216175585.jpg

+1 - Next time she hits you, your wife, your kids or another neighbor? She must be taken off the road.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1216181906.jpg
This was one of many dramas we've had in the building. Too many others to list.

Nice green backyard. You can tell you're in NoCal. Sorry about the loss, what others said about the DMV and insurance company.

I can relate...a car took out the corner of my house a couple of years ago...

http://i297.photobucket.com/albums/m...r/IMGP0702.jpg

It looks like "Back to Battan."

You could have a Japanese sniper hiding in there..:D

What Angela said!!

So no one was hurt, they apologized and they are fixing everything to new?

Why would he call the police? Just to be an over active hall monitor?

You live in a rain forest?