Driver hit chicken, wants us to pay for new bumper

[Coralietg]

Not sure if this is the best place, looking for advice.

We live on a country road with a 20mph speed limit. People never do 20, usually in excess of 40. Today someone hit one of our chickens in the road, stopped and said the chicken did damage to their bumper. My partner told them to get an estimate, but he thinks it's going to cost us upwards of $1,000.

Where do I start in figuring this out? I'm guessing we have no choice but to pay for the repairs. We spent $1,500 partially fencing the property, but the chickens came through the carport.

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

do you have homeowners ins.? if not, at the very least call one and ask about liability. pretty sure thats a no fault . so not your responsibility.did he call the police and report it? damage could of been there already.

 

[Coralietg]

We have homeowners insurance, but I'm pretty sure the deductible is $2,000. I'm finding it difficult to figure out laws for this state on the matter. They didn't call the police, did take pictures though.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

just ask them, dont file anything. no fault car ins. makes him pay for his,you for yours. he may not of even had ins. if he did and was legal, he would of called the police to make a report. you should find out about him. he might make a career of this, a lot of people do. so if i come to your home and take a pic. of my bumper thats dented and then tell you its your fault because as i was speeding by, i killed your chicken, are you gonna give me money too? well, im on my way !! what about reckless driving on his part causing damage to your livestock and mental distress? really?

 

[Granny Hatchet]

you know, you have to be going pretty fast to make a dent in a fender just from hitting a chicken. court will know that.

 

[Coralietg]

I think the only recourse we have is that she would have had to be speeding to damage her car. It's a 20 road, and a chicken is covered in feathers.

 

[Kevin565]

just ask them, dont file anything. no fault car ins. makes him pay for his,you for yours. he may not of even had ins. if he did and was legal, he would of called the police to make a report. you should find out about him. he might make a career of this, a lot of people do. so if i come to your home and take a pic. of my bumper thats dented and then tell you its your fault because as i was speeding by, i killed your chicken, are you gonna give me money too? well, im on my way !! what about reckless driving on his part causing damage to your livestock and mental distress? really?

X2. Scams like that are quite common in my area. I would do some further investigating into the situation before I handed him over that much money.

 

[Mtn Laurel]

We have homeowners insurance, but I'm pretty sure the deductible is $2,000. I'm finding it difficult to figure out laws for this state on the matter. They didn't call the police, did take pictures though.

Deductibles don't apply to claims paid under the liability portion of the homeowners policy.

He needs to present you with TWO estimates and you pay him the lower of the two. The insurance company will require two estimates if they don't have an in-house company auto damage appraiser. You should require the same.

That's a lot of damage to be caused by contact with a chicken. I'd be looking at that damage real close to see if you can find blood, feathers, anything to indicate your bird did that much damage. Look for rust, paint scrapes, mud or dirt, to see if the damage was done PRIOR to the contact with your bird. Would be real convenient for him to have prior damage and blame it on your chicken so he could get his bumper fixed.

Not to sound jaded but I worked 35 years in the personal insurance industry. Sadly, yes, people do that type stuff.

 

[chickenneighbor]

Even the biggest of chickens wouldn't do that much damage to a metal or plastic bumper. Sounds like a scam.

 

[Granny Hatchet]

Deductibles don't apply to claims paid under the liability portion of the homeowners policy.

He needs to present you with TWO estimates and you pay him the lower of the two. The insurance company will require two estimates if they don't have an in-house company auto damage appraiser. You should require the same.

That's a lot of damage to be caused by contact with a chicken. I'd be looking at that damage real close to see if you can find blood, feathers, anything to indicate your bird did that much damage. Look for rust, paint scrapes, mud or dirt, to see if the damage was done PRIOR to the contact with your bird. Would be real convenient for him to have prior damage and blame it on your chicken so he could get his bumper fixed.

Not to sound jaded but I worked 35 years in the personal insurance industry. Sadly, yes, people do that type stuff.

there you go, you did come to the right place to ask your questions