Legal Question in Real Estate Law in Connecticut
A tree fell on my car, who is responsible?
My car was parked in my employers designated employee parking lot. There were some strong wind gusts in the afternoon that caused a tree to fall on my vehicle. The tree is located on a residential property next to the parking lot. I was told that the homeowner was not responsible because he did not know the tree was rotten, and my employer is not responsible because it was not thier tree. My insurance has a $1,000.00 deductable, the total damage to the vehicle is over $3,000.00. Does anyone bear any responsiblity other then me?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: A tree fell on my car, who is responsible?
If the landowner had no inkling that the tree was rotten inside, you probably can't tag him with the responsibility - there's no negligence on his part. You could argue that your employer bears some responsibility because he should have made sure that trees on adjoining properties didn't hang over the property line (if that was the case), but that's an iffy argument, and do you want to get into that kind of a spitting contest with your boss. This looks like a case of stuff happens, suck it up.
Re: A tree fell on my car, who is responsible?
Maybe no-one. Where was your car? Public street? Strip mall parking lot? Foxwoods? Your driveway? What caused the tree to fall? High winds? Rotted core? Asplundh taking it down? If the tree was in a public right of way (the street) the state or town is potentially responsible; if on private property, probably the landowner; if a mall, could be the mall landowner, the shopping center operator or a lessee, depending on the lease. If it was knocked down by a hurricane, maybe you have to look to your own insurance. If you'll email me the details, I can better assess.
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