Am I at fault if a car was damaged on my property?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
Am I at fault if a car was damaged on my property?
This past weekend i had friends over and an uninvited guest had his car damaged on my property. No injuries to any person but he is claiming my boyfriends car hit his. There were no witnesses but he wants me to pay for some of the damages. Do i have to?
Asked on April 5, 2016 under Accident Law, Alaska
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
No, you don't have to pay, based on what you write. A property owner is not his/her guests' insurer: you don't have to compensate them for losses that occur on your property *unless* you were at fault. If you were not at fault, you don't have to pay.
So if your boyfriend hit his car, your boyfriend would have to pay (assuming this could be proven). But you would only be liable if *you* were driving and hit his car, or his car was damaged by a dangerous condition on the land, like an obviously sick or dying or dead tree which you refused to trim or cut down and which fell on his car.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.