Actual stories of lawsuits for doing tractor work for hire.

[Scooby074]

With the litigious society we got now, particularly in the States, the threat of being sued, even for damage you didnt actually cause, is very real. Insurance is a no-braner.

Have a look at some of Dirt Monkey's vids on YT. In one, he talks about being sued AFTER he does the right thing and repairing the neighbor of a customer's wall, because the neighbor asked him to. Other stories about suing and being sued on his channel as well.

A Sticky Landscaping Legal Problem - YouTube

 

[KubotaToy]

I had my lawyer, a few years back, draft up a release of liability for me. I make folks that ask me for "volunteer" help with any of my equipment, sign it. Lawyer told me it will not protect me from being sued but would go a long way in helping not lose a lawsuit (unless I was negligent in use of my equipment). I treat helping others as buyer beware, better know who your helping before you do. I tell neighbors that rentals are very reasonable per day or week.

I keep insurance as I have lost two cases (dog attacks on my property) that should have went to court but the insurance company paid out both telling my lawyer I did not have a decision in the settlements.

 

[newbury]

I had my lawyer, a few years back, draft up a release of liability for me. I make folks that ask me for "volunteer" help with any of my equipment, sign it. Lawyer told me it will not protect me from being sued but would go a long way in helping not lose a lawsuit (unless I was negligent in use of my equipment). I treat helping others as buyer beware, better know who your helping before you do. I tell neighbors that rentals are very reasonable per day or week.

I keep insurance as I have lost two cases (dog attacks on my property) that should have went to court but the insurance company paid out both telling my lawyer I did not have a decision in the settlements.

Could you post a copy?

 

[namesray]

Anecdotal evidence of someone being sued is pretty worthless. What is good evidence is go down to your local court house and see how many people are getting sued for stupid stuff.

The point of insurance is two fold. First to cover you if you make a mistake and hit that gas line or hit someones house with the loader or whatever.

Second is to cover you for the FALSE claims that will come up. Someone says you are the one that hit the gas line. However the line was not marked. Or they are inflating the damages to the car you hit etc. Insurance will hire you a lawyer and defend you.

While I have not been involved in litigation regarding tractor work, I have been involved in litigation. It is not fun. It is especially not fun when you know you have done nothing wrong, but you are still paying out thousands of dollars for a lawyer to defend you.

Agree here, although I am not going to spend my time at the court house, I wanted to go right to the source for my question, folks with tractors that see an opportunity for some extra cash and how they went about business, particularly if something went wrong liability wise.

I liked the point that having insurance could lend a hand with legal assistance financially. Also, yes it would be extremely frustrating to be spending your own money when you have done nothing wrong just because someone else wants an easy buck (most likely)

My point with this topic is 2 fold. First as one of those people with some equipment and wanting to do a small business with it (I do carry insurance) and second I thought this thread might become a reference for people asking about what they need to do to make some money doing side jobs with their tractor and why having insurance or forming llc's or corps, or the such could be so important.

Dirt monkeys video was very interesting and informative. Thanks for the replies and keep em coming.

 

[quicksandfarmer]

Keep in mind that the insurance company doesn't want you to get sued any more than you do. They will have real-world experience with things that get people sued and make them lose lawsuits, and they will insist that you do some things that are good ideas anyway -- like being appropriately licensed, always calling Miss Utility before digging, having appropriate training for all employees. Some of these things may seem like a pain but they are in your interest.

 

[TheMan419]

Remember for the insurance company it is a business decision to settle a case or take it to trial. Even if you have iron clad proof that you did nothing wrong it will cost $10K easy to take the case to trial in lawyer fees. If they can offer the plaintiff less than $10K to settle they come out ahead.

Of course no case is "iron clad". Who knows what a jury would say. So there is also a calculation of what the risk is a jury rules in favor of the plaintiff. At that point the insurance company has paid $10K to the lawyer PLUS has to pay whatever damages the jury comes up with.

Ultimately that is the whole point of insurance. To have someone else in place to handle these things. It is a shared risk. Not every person who buys car insurance has to use it. But the one guy that does costs the insurance company more than his premiums. The insurance company is betting on percentages. They know they collect more in premiums than what they will pay out in settlements (and overhead of course).

I cannot imagine doing work for someone else without insurance. Also without a liability waiver.

My wife teach horseback riding lessons. We have a waiver signed. Indiana law gives great protection to riding instructors. However we STILL have a $1M liability policy. If someone gets hurt they are probably going to get hurt pretty badly... and they are going to want to sue.

I think our deductible is $1k. We write a check for $1K and are done with the issue. Sure the wife will have to deal with telling the lawyer her version of what happened, but for the most part then the lawyer takes care of things. If the insurance company decides to settle..... we have paid our $1K and are done.

 

[coobie]

Ok as the title says. The topic of how to properly do side jobs for money with our equipment comes up a bit here on tbn, and it always leads down the road of telling the op they need to atleast get insurance or start a llc or such or they risk losing everything they own. Who here has "ACTUAL" Experience/ story of a lawsuit or a big insurance claim (almost lawsuit) happening from an incident with an unhappy customer.
Please provide rather you had insurance or not, were a llc/corp, or had customer sign agreement prior to starting work, etc.. and how it turned out.

Call your insurance company before you venture out to do any type of tractor work for $$.I was told by my agent I can do tractor work for free but once I collect $$ for that work the liability is on me.. That is the only story I have.LOL....

 

[LD1]

The chances of needing the insurance, is slim. Just like the chances of you needing your homeowners insurance because your house burned down.

Just because I cannot recite anything that has happened to me, or anyone I know, doesnt mean it dont happen. I have never had to use my auto insurance, or my homeowners insurance. Doesnt mean I am gonna drop it because I think nothing happens.

While not tractor related, related to commercial work......Was snow plowing a pretty tight parking lot at an appt complex. Was accused of scratching down the side of a car with my plow. I was a subcontractor at the time, and the guy I was plowing for and myself went out and looked at the damage after the storm.

Asked the lady if she had moved the car since we plowed. She said no. Told her there was no way it was me that caused the damage, because she was parked in a parking space, and we only clear drive lanes. Took her out and showed her, there was still 6" of snow beside her car as I didnt plow there, and with my long wheel base truck + 8.5' plow + wings....there is no way for me to even get in there if I tried.

She still was accusing me, wouldnt look at the facts. At this time, the property manager came out, asked what was going on. Explained the situation. She asked if we would like to see the surveillance videos of the parking lot for the night I plow. Before I could even say yes, the lady with the damaged car piped up and said just forget about it and stormed off back into the house.

 

[Luke'sScreenName]

Ray, you post inspired this one:

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/owning-operating/359081-anyone-actually-flipped-hst-cut.html

Both have come up empty so far....

 

[MX Dad]

The chances of needing the insurance, is slim. Just like the chances of you needing your homeowners insurance because your house burned down.

Just because I cannot recite anything that has happened to me, or anyone I know, doesnt mean it dont happen. I have never had to use my auto insurance, or my homeowners insurance. Doesnt mean I am gonna drop it because I think nothing happens.

While not tractor related, related to commercial work......Was snow plowing a pretty tight parking lot at an appt complex. Was accused of scratching down the side of a car with my plow. I was a subcontractor at the time, and the guy I was plowing for and myself went out and looked at the damage after the storm.

Asked the lady if she had moved the car since we plowed. She said no. Told her there was no way it was me that caused the damage, because she was parked in a parking space, and we only clear drive lanes. Took her out and showed her, there was still 6" of snow beside her car as I didnt plow there, and with my long wheel base truck + 8.5' plow + wings....there is no way for me to even get in there if I tried.

She still was accusing me, wouldnt look at the facts. At this time, the property manager came out, asked what was going on. Explained the situation. She asked if we would like to see the surveillance videos of the parking lot for the night I plow. Before I could even say yes, the lady with the damaged car piped up and said just forget about it and stormed off back into the house.

This made me think a Dash-Cam would be a wonderful tool to have. (Not to be confused with a low res backup camera). I have one on my truck that cost me about $ 75.00. Has great video, loops, records to SD Card and comes on automatically when ignition key is on, turns off when ignition is off. Plugs into cig lighter plug. If someone runs a stop sign and hits me, and claims it was my fault, I have a video that will show the truth.