Anyone Being sued

[keeney]

Its hard to win a lawsuit where a child is injured. Even if you are in the right, legally, a jury will almost always award the hurt child. Lawyers on both sides of these cases know this.

When I worked at Toro, I heard many stories of children hurt due to the actions or neglect of their parents. I was told that the company almost always ended up having to pay even though there was nothing defective with the equipment and it met all the safety standards.

Also, in the U.S., land of lawsuits, there is not much you can do to prevent being sued. Anybody can sue anybody for any reason at any time. If it has any hint or the remotest possibility or flimsiest thoery of liability, the case can be dragged out by the plaintiff to the bitter end.

If you do get a large umbrella policy it may not be wise to go telling people about it. To some people, knowing somebody has a lot of money or insurance is almost like an invitation to sue.

- Rick

 

[rdln]

You can fit your rifles in a closet????

 

[slowrev]

F47,
As I said I loan my tools to a few select people, they are the ones that go by the same rule as you and your neighbor. Also I won't loan out a tool till I am sure the person knows how to use it, both for the operator and the tools safety.

One quandry lately is that I expect my 78 yr old FIL to want to borrow my framing nail gun soon. He has never used one and has always been quite careless (scares the heck out of me) and does not have good balance anymore, poor eyesight, but still tackles anything anyway. I am amazed that he still has all his parts attached.
Oh well I guess I will try to work it so that I can do the nailing for him. Maybe I can sell him on the idea.
Ben

 

[Farmall47]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( He has never used one and has always been quite careless (scares the heck out of me) and does not have good balance anymore, poor eyesight, but still tackles anything anyway. )</font>

Ben, by ALL MEANS, work out a way to do the nailing for him. I had a similar issue with my father before he passed on, always wanted to do everything by himself....poor eye sight and balance, over 80 at the time, scared the he** out of me sometimes. I just had to make sure I was there when he attempted to tackle something, then offer to give him a hand. Ya gotta make sure you don't "take over" the job tho. Some of them ol' guys get really upset when they realize they can't do what they usta do..time to put on your "Diplomatic Corps" hat!
Good luck and Be Safe!

F47

 

[kn6md]

Somewhere on TBN there is another excellent tread on this subject, and it was pointed out, as mentioned here, that if you loan a tool (anything will do) to someone who uses it off of your property, your homeowners' insurance doesn't protect you. Umbrella policies as mentioned here are the answer if you feel you must test to see if you bought limits high enough.

Further, if you loan a tool to a neighbor, and someone else (other than the neighbor) hurts themselves with it, you are also automagically at fault. Umbrella again, and the limit test.

I just quit loaning tools since once they leave my property, it seems I would have to pay no matter what. This is truly sick.

Your neighbor or the third party may not sue you, but their insurance company probably will and the neighbor or third party can't do anything about it. At least that is my understanding.

The thread is excellent if you can find it.

 

[keeney]

" but their insurance company probably will and the neighbor or third party can't do anything about it. At least that is my understanding. "


Well, they could elect to not file a claim in the first place, but if they really are hurt, they probably want to have their insurance company pay, so they are stuck with a tough decision. I would imagine that the story always comes out "I didn;t know they would do that", or "There was nothing I could do", but thats not true:

I think it almost always pays off to stick to your guns when faced with litigation from an insurance company. They bank on the threat of litigation, because most people see the looming threat of litigation and lawyer fees as being a big scary risk.

However, the courts do have some sense, and if you truly are in the right, and the neighbor really did promise to indemnify you from any liability related to the borrowed tool, unless the neighbor is going to lie to the jury when the case eventually goes to court (if ever), you would probably eventually win the case.

It all boils down to if you trust your neighbor to do right by you or not.

 

[milkman]

About 4 or 5 years ago, a bunch of school kids were visiting the JD plant in Welland, On. and a gator with 2 kids wound up under a flatbed trailer, big suit, but didn't hear the outcome since I quit running there.

 

[Unclebuck257]

I've got a policy about loaning out tools and equipment to anyone. Sign a liability waiver before you get anything, IF I loan it out.

I'm in that business, and I carry a Farm and Ranch Owners policy on my place just because of the liability potential and that type of policy gives me broader coverage on various issues than a normal homeowners would.

Also consider this,... a child between the ages of birth and 7 years does legally NOT know the difference between right and wrong, and legally can not have any negligence. Who does that leave for a jury to get money from, even in a trespassing situation??.... YOU!!

 

[virgil]

loaning out my tools or machines is like loaning out my wife............ IF it comes back, it will never be the same.

if good friend needs to use tool or machine, the answer is no. However, I can do the job for him / her... they buy the steaks and beer....

 

[penokee]

Too many Ambulance Chaser and Slip and Fall Lawyers in our society. Firm where I used to live made a nice high quality gas powered hydraulic splitter. Shipped a few trailer loads to Mexico. Some incompetent sheared off his fingers. Monstrous lawsuit because the Safety Decals on the machine weren't in Spanish. Company went bankrupt putting 30 people out of work.
penokee /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif