Construction Damage, $2,000 repair

[Cathie123]

What is the name of your state?NJ
Let me 1st apologize for this story being sooo long, but there was no way around it. I need Help! My place of business had recently built a new 6 level parking garage of which I have been instructed to park my vehicle in. Ever since the garage had officially opened (Janaury 1st of this year) there had been several construction crews in and around the garage still doing some last minute repairs and updates. Yesterday morning as I was pulling my car in for the day, I pulled unto the very top level (away from everyone else) and notice that there was a construction person on a ladder working approximately 20-30 feet from the spot I chose. The spot happened to be the same spot I have been parking in since the garage opened. I had noticed him on this level doing some work prior to this date and didn't think anything of it so I left feeling comfortable leaving my vehicle there. Boy, was I wrong. By the time I came out of work and back to my car, I immediately noticed severals large dings on the roof of my car, near the back passenger door, a large embedded scratch on the back passenger door window and the scratch continuing down the side panel of the door. I immediately called the security department of my job to file a report and also called the police department in order to file a police report.
This morning, I spoke again to the security guard in the garage to get the name and phone number of the contractor and he directed me to the foreman of that job, who also happened to be the only construction crew at this site both yesterday and today. The foreman looked at my vehicle and where it was parked yesterday, and right away began making excuses for his employee, who was also present during this inspection and advised that he was not aware of anything falling onto my car while he was there.
After this confrontation, I called the director in charge of my business' security and he told me that the construction worker had stated to him that he called out to me to move my car and I that I just kept walking away (which is a lie) and that there was still construction going on in the upper decks, that no one should be parking there. There was nothing roped off or coned and in fact, I had been parking my vehcile there since the garage opened and no one had ever came to me and advised not to park there. If there was a problem with the location of the car, my plate number is on file with the security department and someone could have easily contacted me to move my car.
There is now approximately $2,000. worth of damage to my car (it's an Infiniti, everything is expensive). So now, I guess my questions are:
1. What do I do now? and 2. There were no actual witness' nor was there a video camera; however, with the facts stated above, do you think I have a leg to stand on if I were to pursue this.
Please someone advise as to whether or not I should take this further. I'm so angry and hurt I feel like crying! Please advise. Thank you for your time.

 

[teflon_jones]

Did the construction foreman admit fault in front of any other witnesses?

You should file this with your insurance company and give them all of the details. Write them down now so you don't forget. Get the foreman's name, and also the name of the worker you believe damaged your vehicle. Give all of this to your insurance company and they'll go after the construction company, or whoever else is appropriate, to get money for this.

 

[Cathie123]

Thank you Teflon for the advise. Basically, the only admission (or what you may call it) is when the laborer embelished his story when speaking to the head honcho of the site and told him that the called out for me to move my car and I supposidly kept on walking. If this was an actual construction site with construction in progress, 1 of 2 things would have actually happened. Either I would never have considered parking my car there in the 1st place, or if I was advised that the laborer needed to work in the exact spot that I chose to park, I would have moved my car. I am by no means an idiot!
Now, if I may, ask you this. If I were to contact my insurance company and fill them in on this incident, does that hold me accountable. Or, what I should say is will this jack up MY premium? Please advise.

 

[teflon_jones]

Now, if I may, ask you this. If I were to contact my insurance company and fill them in on this incident, does that hold me accountable.

No, it doesn't, unless the person assigned to your claim finds you at fault. However, if the insurance company is unable to recover their costs, they'll pass them along to you.

Or, what I should say is will this jack up MY premium?

That's at the insurance company's discretion. If you don't have a history of making claims, and have a clean driving record, then it probably won't. But it's at the insurance company's discretion.

Your other option is to file this as a small claims court case. That will cost you a small amount to file, but then you'll have to take time off work to fight this, plus you'll have to either hire a lawyer or prove the case yourself. I don't think that this relatively small amount in damages warrants that. If you don't have a history of accidents and/or claims, then I would go through your insurance company.

Without seeing the damages, and just evaluating this at a superficial level, I think it may be difficult to prove your case. The damages could have been caused by someone and/or something else. So if you submit it to your insurance company, they may find you liable since they won't have enough evidence to go after someone else. Do you think the damages make it clear what happened? Can you take photos of what construction work they're currenlty doing, or what they were doing at the time?

 

[Cathie123]

Well, if I were to go back to the scene of the crime and paint a vivid pix of the true and actual account of what had occured, then the cause of the damages would be pretty apparent. The large craters on my roof and the skid mark down the side of the vehicle would indicate to me that it was probably a large ladder that had slipped and fallen (the worker was standing on a large ladder when I arrived at the spot) or maybe a long pipe? Plus the fact that there was alot of construction debris scattered all around my car were it was parked, that was not there when I had originally parked in the spot. To add to this, I am and have always been the only vehcile parked on this floor. In fact, it was a little joke with security that I was alittle obsesed with my car. I did have the police officer mention about the debris in the report as well.
I went to the location and I did take pix's of the spot, the debris that is still there and some of the unfinished work in that area. I also noted and took pictures of the fact that the area itself has not been designated as a construction area, nor is it roped or coned off.
I'll need to really weight it out between reporting it to the insurance company or fighting the battle in court. I feel like I am soooo in the right, but who can figure out our legal system?! Thank you.