Boat dent/hole?

[Rhonda@99]

I let my son drive my 99 pathfinder (Nissan) a couple of streets down. He was parked at a boat dock. As he was getting ready to leave he accidentally backed into a boat (flat bottom aluminum) - It broke my tail light assembly. He said it dented the boat a little. The boat owner's son took a hatchet trying to get the dent out and made a hole in the boat. The boat owner is now trying to get me to pay for the cost of repair of his boat. There was not a police report filed. My question is.....am I liable for the cost of his boat? Any or all of it since his son was trying to fix it and made a hole? Please advise. Thanks

 

[Tracey]

You are liable for the cost of removing the dent. You'll have to get estimates based on your son's description of the dent's size and location and the boat type. You are only liable for the hatchet hole if it is "reasonably forseeable" that a boat owner would try to use a hatchet to pound out a dent and create a hole. This is the doctrine of proximate cause.

Get some estimates about removing the dent and offer the owner that much, with an explanation that your son's actions were not the proximate cause of his son's idiocy. OTOH, the owner might just file a claim with your insurance company and let them handle it.

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This is not legal advice and you are not my client. Double check everything with your own attorney and your state's laws.