wwj12d- f/u to grant

[abseptember]

So after returning to the home we are renting, I found out more about what happened. The dishwasher was not properly secured within its opening and shifts forward and back when you open/close it. Whoever used it last, pushed the door back and thought it had closed but really the whole machine moved back and the door didn't latch and it later fell back open without my mom knowing and she tripped on it and fell whIle holding Grant. Grant was in the hospital for 24 hrs and has a skull fracture. I informed the rental company of the issue and what happened and they fixed it right away. My dad thinks we should "give them hell." I don't know what we should do and even if we should do anything. So WWJ12D?

[britbratjf]

I honestly don't know. You could likely bring a civil action against the company but something like that could take a while & since you don't live in the state could be a huge hassle for you. Big hugs. It sucks you are going through this

[abseptember]

Apr 29, 2015 18:59:04 GMT -5 britbratjf said:

I honestly don't know. You could likely bring a civil action against the company but something like that could take a while & since you don't live in the state could be a huge hassle for you. Big hugs. It sucks you are going through this

I honestly don't want to have this drag on and be in the background of our lives for a long period of time which as you said, would likely happen if any legal action were taken. I'm not really sure what my dad meant by give them hell. When he brought it up, it wasn't the time or place to discuss the situation. We've been so busy that H and I haven't had time to discuss. I don't know what we are looking at in terms of medical bills. I didn't check for in network hospitals.... literally drove him to the first hospital that treats infants. Obviously a trip in an ambulance and overnight stay in the ICU is expensive but I don't know what our actual out of pocket cost will be. Part of me wants to move on and do nothing and just be incredibly thankful that my sweet little man is ok. Another part of me wants them to understand how serious this is. Blah.... I hate this....

[britbratjf]

While you are there I would talk to an attorney & see what your options are.

[somethingcleverer]

It might be awhile before you get all of your hospital bills straightened out but I would think they should be responsible for them if they were at fault. I'm sure you don't want to sue for millions but it might be a good idea to figure out your options now while everything is still in the fresh with the rental company.

[aimeefarrahfowler]

If all you want are your bills paid, wait and see what the hospital bills are, then get an attorney to send them a demand letter and see if you can get them to pay up that way. Lawsuits are very expensive.

[paddyb]

As aimeefarrahfowler said lawsuits (and lawyers) are expensive. Since we have a pay your b
Own way system i the US, unless the bill ends up being really high for you personally i wouldn't file suit because any money received will just go to the lawyers. however, i would consider telling your insurance company. They may decide to go after him for the money they have to pay.

[bantyrooster]

This is hard. paddyb has a good lawyer point of view, but I think many would be surprised what is paid by 3rd parties in an accident. We had a visitor trip on a curb outside the hospital and broke a hip. We legally have to have curbs so we did nothjng "wrong". We paid 100% of everything for that patient without them even asking. The patient was surprised. We also have 3rd parties pay a lot for falls due to ice, pot holes they break an ankle in, you get the idea. It wouldn't hurt to call and ask a lawyer or your insurance. I get your point of not wanting to deal with it though.

[cookiesandwine]

I would suggest telling your insurance company everything and asking them how they'll proceed. They'll likely go after the rental company's insurance.

[pegleg715]

I would wait and see what the cost is out of pocket. If it's extraordinary I would do as previosly suggested by some and see if they'll cover that. I would also imagine there is some sort if liability insurance that the landlord/company has to cover these things and that they would also rather just pay than deal with anything.
I would guess you could call your insurance company and get an idea of what kind of costs you're looking at without waiting too long.

[aylafsu1881]

I agree with Peg. I would wait and see what the bills are. I mean, accidents happen. It is not like the company intentionally did something that caused the issue. In all reality they may not even know the dishwasher was an issue. Most of the times the company just handles the renting, while the owners (depending on how it is set up) are responsible for property, items in the house etc. It may be possible that the company never knew the dishwasher was an issue since no other renter and the cleaner never reported it to them.

[jodielyn10]

The owner of the property should have insurance to cover an injury on the property. Like PP said, whether it makes financial sense to take the effort to make them pay will depend on how much the bills are. Did you happen to take a picture of the dishwasher before they repaired it? Or have any receipt of repair to verify that it was damaged?

[abseptember]

Apr 30, 2015 11:00:47 GMT -5 jodielyn10 said:

The owner of the property should have insurance to cover an injury on the property. Like PP said, whether it makes financial sense to take the effort to make them pay will depend on how much the bills are. Did you happen to take a picture of the dishwasher before they repaired it? Or have any receipt of repair to verify that it was damaged?

We disn't take a photo. I have an email from the manager saying they would fix it. I agree with others that accidents do hapPen. I think unless the bills are crazy I won't pursue it. I'm guessing my insurance will acruelly ask me if anyone else is to blame. They did 7 yrs ago when H got hurt on vaca.... although his injury required surgery.