C ar damaged in storm, neighbour wants us to pay for it

[lochlanfaidesmummy]

After a very long six months with our neighbours we finally came to an agreement.
Two nights ago during a wild storm our carport broke and flew away damaging his car. We had taken precautions to prevent storm damage ie more ground pegs and rope to tie it down. He came up this morning and asked us to pay for the damage. I dont think that is completley fair as his cats have damaged our car aswell and he refuses to acknowlegde this. We also cant help that it was the storm and that it wasnt entirley our fault.
I tried to meet half way by saying we will pay 2/3s of the costs but he refused to accept this, he wants us to pay it all.
My husband doesnt want to pay any of it because of the abuse and the fact that i have to have counselling now and i am on sleeping pills because i cant sleep when neighbour is home.
Should i cough up and pay for all damages or should i stick with my offer of 2/3 or not pay any at all

Doesn't he have third party insurance . Seriously it's an act of God and I don't see why you are responsible. Ring CAB and ask them for advice before you hand over any money.

What is the car port made of? It may be covered on your buildings insurance public liability cover. If it was a tile from your roof that had damaged your neighbours car you could claim on the buildings insurance.

carport is not attacthed to house and not covered in insurance. Not sure what its called but its made out of metal poles and tarp on top. Our old nieghbours gave it to us when they moved out.
Was advised over the phone to not speak to him again regarding this issue. And to write to him stating that we revoke our offer to pay any amounts till i get legal advise. Have put that in his mailbox so am waiting for repocussions.

Have made an appointmnet with legal services for tuesday to get advice on what to do if things go in our favour and he makes life more of a living hell for us.

I called the police to alert them of what i have done and they suggested that i get a good nieghbour bond on him and if that fails to work then a AVO.If i did would we have to move out or would he?

he should claim accidental damage on his car and you should perhaps offer to pay his excess?

I think if a neighbours property damaged my car then yes, I would expect them, or their insurance, to pay for it. However, I would also be prepared to pay for damage that had been caused by my property/animals etc. so it would work both ways.

There is clearly a lot of history here, and if your neighbour has not been reasonable for his part, then I can fully see why you are unwilling to pay for this.

so its not actually a carport, more a marquee type thing?

i would fully expect damages to be paid had something damamged a car from someones garden.

So its fair that i pay for damages done although it was not at all my fault. I would intend to pay if My carlessness caused it. but we took all precautions we could to prevent it happening. Also was told because his car was on common grounds so it wasnt in his part of the property that i shouldnt pay. i like the idea of paying his excess for insurance, will look into that.

I just want to pay the man, i really dont want anymore hassels from him, i just want to say to him here take my money and leave me alone. But i cant afford to do that i literally have no money left at end of each week after paying bills.

I worked on a claim similar to his recently. Insurance companies dont pay out in these cases as its classed as an act of god and their insured was not negligent.

Whether or not you pay his excess and he claims off his own policy is up to you.

Message withdrawn

It's possible that if it went to court, the fact that you put extra ropes on it meant that you realised it could be blown away & were negligent in not securing it even more - or getting rid of it.
Just noticed you live in Australia - don't know what the law would be there.

I would expect you to pay it, sorry.
Infact when our neighbours tree blew through our fence he paid for a new fence as we would have expected him to, luckily it wasn't an issue.

Just to add, and I haven't worked in insurance claims for a couple of years so this might not be 100% reliable! If his car was parked on common ground then I am sure that he would have to prove negligence against you ie that there is something you should have done but didn't or something that you didn't do but should have done to prevent the damage occurring. Negligence is dependent on foreseeability of the incident occurring. It sounds to me like he should take some responsibility for parking where he did. (If the car was on his land then strict liability may apply in which case negligence doesn't have to proven). It really depends on the circumstances and the distance he parked from your 'carport'. As has been said before he would be better claiming off his car insurance and the insurance company could then claim off you/your insurance company if you are negligent. At least he would have his car repaired. Be warned though if you offer to pay his excess you may be admitting liability and if you are insured your insurance company won't be too happy if they aren't aware of the case. You must inform your insurance company asap for advice and in case a claim comes their way. Good luck.