My neighbor just crashed his car into my house

[djfriesen]

That dude needs to be in jail. What kind of joke is a $300 bond? He's gonna kill someone. If he's done jail time for DUI, how does a judge let him out?

 

[Olive Drab]

IS it worth it to have an engineer/home inspector look at the structure of the rest of the house? The energy from the impact went somewhere and there may be damage elsewhere where you wouldnt suspect

 

[bottlebomber]

IS it worth it to have an engineer/home inspector look at the structure of the rest of the house? The energy from the impact went somewhere and there may be damage elsewhere where you wouldnt suspect

Absolutely it's worth it, considering you should be having to pay a dime. I had the same though looking at the damaged sheet rock on the inside. You know that corner joist must be hurting.

 

[SharonaZamboni]

I'm glad nobody was hurt. That guy needs serious help; maybe this will be a turning point for him.
Good luck with your insurance stuff. I know a couple of people who have had claims and did the work themselves, the money was paid directly to them. If you can do some or all of the repairs, you may come out a bit ahead. Assuming the laws are the same where you live.

 

[EoinMag]

What a brutal day,the drunk has been by 3 times apologizing,I`m tired.

When you say the drunk, is he sober when he's calling over at least or is he cut now too?

 

[stikks]

Well here is where I stand this morning.It was pain clearing those bushes out but
today I brew.Tomorrow I wait to see what ins. co. does.

 

[stikks]

When you say the drunk, is he sober when he's calling over at least or is he cut now too?

1st time he came over in the morning he was still hammered,but
later in the day he was sobered up and said he`s done drinking- OK -

 

[stikks]

I'm glad nobody was hurt. That guy needs serious help; maybe this will be a turning point for him.
Good luck with your insurance stuff. I know a couple of people who have had claims and did the work themselves, the money was paid directly to them. If you can do some or all of the repairs, you may come out a bit ahead. Assuming the laws are the same where you live.

I`m hoping to do alot of it myself if at all possible.I don`t know how it
works in Illinois.But me and my buddies have been in the trades for 25+
years.

 

[Homercidal]

"I always wanted to quit drinking and driving, but I never REALLY wanted to quit drinking and driving until I ran into someone's house!"

 

[stikks]

IS it worth it to have an engineer/home inspector look at the structure of the rest of the house? The energy from the impact went somewhere and there may be damage elsewhere where you wouldnt suspect

The night of the accident the city building inspector came over and said
there was no structural damage,but by the looks of the corner post it
has shifted off the slab a bit.I`ll be able to see better when I tear the
wall out.The inspector seemed to be in a hurry because it was 9 pm and
the cops probably got him out of bed.-thanks for the advice-

Cheers

 

[stikks]

Wait, was it this guy??

NICE I`ll think my new name for this guy will be Mayhem.

 

[stikks]

You did mention to the adjuster that upon hearing the noise you fell out of bed and now your back hurts...right. Sadly that is the only way you'll come out ahead, I know the same thing happened to me 30 years ago

Now looking to get ahead really,If I can do some work myself I maight come
out ahead a little.My back has hurt for 30 years from being a union roofer,
but it was a nice thought.

 

[Native302]

do yourself a favor and look into a public adjuster . you will get way more money from your home owners insurance .

 

[stikks]

do yourself a favor and look into a public adjuster . you will get way more money from your home owners insurance .

Do they charge a fee?And wouldn`t my ins. co. frown on that.As of now
the adjuster told me I will have no out of pocket money including deductible.

 

[nutty_gnome]

A public adjuster will take a rather large cut, but they can usually get more out of the insurance company than you would if you didn't use one. The public guy will want to replace the flooring/rugs, include painting and the like, and maybe the roof. They will submit a much larger estimate to the insurance company and argue with them for you. In the end it is your call. Public adjusters can be useful if you think you are getting a raw deal, but depending on your own moral code, they can seem to be quite unscrupulous.

 

[the_bird]

The night of the accident the city building inspector came over and said
there was no structural damage,but by the looks of the corner post it
has shifted off the slab a bit.I`ll be able to see better when I tear the
wall out.The inspector seemed to be in a hurry because it was 9 pm and
the cops probably got him out of bed.-thanks for the advice-

Cheers

Presumably, he was just there to see if part of the building was in imminent danger of collapse, whether he needed to condemn it or not. I wouldn't take his quick 9:00 PM assessment as absolute, someone else will have to take a look once drywall and stuff is removed to see if there's anything structural that needs to be repaired.

 

[Native302]

Do they charge a fee?And wouldn`t my ins. co. frown on that.As of now
the adjuster told me I will have no out of pocket money including deductible.

yes the public adjuster takes a percentage depending on the amount they get from the insurance company. of course you always replace or repair what you want .

 

[JeepDiver]

Do they charge a fee?And wouldn`t my ins. co. frown on that.As of now
the adjuster told me I will have no out of pocket money including deductible.

I've found the insurance companies are usually fairly agreeable if you know what you are doing, and aren't trying to screw them. If you have been in the construction business for 25 years, you should have a good idea what needs to be done. Make your list and compare it to the insurance company. If they don't match up, bring it up to the adjuster. If your list is reasonable, and you have one of the major insurance companies, they will probalby agree with you.

If your list has the prices twice as high as normal, and has things that don't need to be done to get you back to where you were before the accident (i.e. All new hardwood floor when you had pine and only a section needs to be replaced), then they will play hardball with you.

That being said, they will probably leave things off the original apprisal and try to cut a few corners. While it sucks, they are in the business to make money and do what they can to do it, but if they deal with someone reasonable they will usually increase their first quote.

 

[Hang Glider]

I've found the insurance companies are usually fairly agreeable if you know what you are doing, and aren't trying to screw them.

that depends on the insurance, I'm sure. I had cheap-o stuff years ago when I bought my first house (a fixer-upper) and had very limited funds. I got broken into, they ripped the back door off the house with a rope and a truck... so I had the expense of repairs and all my belongings gone.

The insurance company wanted to give me $2,000. I called, fought, cried. When I called a lawyer and they called the insurance company, it was more like $15,000

 

[RDWHAHB]

It will buff out.

 

[astronomical]

Good 'ol Crystal Lake..... A few weeks ago I saw a guy hanging outta an open driver side door in a red monte carlo at the corner of my street. I thought he was dead. Nope! Just wasted. How do you "fall asleep" hanging out the door with the car on?

Two months back I had to stop the car and drag a drunk outta the middle of the road so he wouldn't get run over. It was 3am on a saturday night (sunday morning) and he was blacked out on a dark street. Ass clown tried to swing on me too. Lucky for him I was feeling nice and I was rather appreciative that he had tried to walk.

People need to cab/walk or stay home!

Hope everything works out well for you...

I've been hit twice by drunk drivers so I have zero tolerance or patience. People like that need help, but, it doesn't really exist. Locking them up just takes their license away and they continue to **** off and mess things up. Rehab costs countless dollars and doesn;t work for those uninterested in it. Jail is a cakewalk and prison just turns morons into career criminals. I'd like to bring back lashings for drunks (or anyone wrecklessly endangering others). Getting whipped in public, and scarred for life, would be a nice deterrent. BTW, I'm dead serious. FTR, I went to jail for beating a drunk driver within an inch of his life for clipping me. I felt it was justified. Whats better? Scare them to the point that they change their ways or force the less apathetic citizens to lay out wildwest justice?

What if people were walking down the sidewalk? Murphy's law always wins. I see it all the time.

 

[stikks]

What if people were walking down the sidewalk? Murphy's law always wins. I see it all the time.

After thinking about it more you are correct.I`m on the North Shore,and little kids are
always playing on the street along with joggers,cyclist`s and lots of walkers.I`m glad at the time it happened none of the above were in the area.Even though the guy is decent he obviously has a major problem as a repeat offender.Time will tell if I see him driving again and will be reported.

 

[stikks]

Yo, Stikks! I just came home from Crystal Lake [chiropractor and Brew-n-Grow]. If I had known where you lived in C.L., I would have driven by and looked at the damage!

You are doing exactly what you need to do: LET THE INSURANCE COMPANY HANDLE THE ENTIRE THING. But don't sign ANYTHING until all the repairs are completed to YOUR satisfaction.

glenn514

Thanks for the support.I see At the derby you had Take Charge Indy in
the race I put a few bucks on him (for the Hometown) I think he finished
second to last.Great race anyway.Still waiting on call from ins.co. on this
mess over here.

Cheers

 

[glenn514]

The owners are suspecting a possible injury during the race, since the horse just kind of faded into the sunset. Haven't heard anything new lately.

Sure hope that the insurance company and the adjuster get going on repairing the damage to your house. Is the dude that did it behind bars yet?

glenn514

 

[stikks]

No,I dont think so but my buddy saw him at the bar down the street 2 days ago.
Some people will never learn.I dont think he will be around much longer though.
Through the grapevine in the neighborhood this is his 3rd strike with DUI.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Hey get your drinking in BEFORE the conviction. Sounds like he's going to need some of your homebrew advice for on the inside, btw... something involving ketchup and a sweat sock.

/sarcasm. Your neighbor is the very definition of a tool.

 

[weirdboy]

So does he have 12 tickets from the past, or did he rack up 12 in this incident alone.

DWI x 2, I am assuming he was probably over 0.16 which in most states counts as 2 DWIs
Wreckless Endangerment
Driving without Insurance?
Hit and Run
Evading arrest

I am pretty sure there was a wreck.

 

[CreamyGoodness]

Thats right up there with decongestant. Since your nose has been running for 24 hours straight, what you really want is a CONgestant.

 

[motobrewer]

Thats right up there with decongestant. Since your nose has been running for 24 hours straight, what you really want is a CONgestant.

um. no. no you don't.

 

[HawksBrewer]

I`m on the North Shore,and little kids are
always playing on the street along with joggers,cyclist`s and lots of walkers.

Since when is Crystal Lake considered the North Shore? Just sayin'...