daughter fell on ice - advice

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13

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  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    File a complaint and take the pictures and take her to doc to have them look at her and take that information with u also



    Do I need to take her to the doctor for some scrapes and bumps? That would mean I would need to take off of work too.
    If she's not seriously hurt, why would you need to take her to the doctors?
    Tell the HOA to do a better job. Tell them she fell. Be stern. The end.
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
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    I dunno, I just find complaining about accidents that are pretty much "acts of God" a bit silly. Have you or the OP ever slipped on perfectly dry grass? In sand? On a hill? On a rock? Has your car ever hydroplaned on wet road?

    It was an accident. It sucks her daughter was hurt, and thank goodness not badly. But when her post states that she's "mad" and wants to know "what to do?", that pretty much implies that she is laying blame on an entity other than the obvious - Ice / wintertime & her daughter's poor footing. Strangely, the OP managed to walk down the same sidewalk without incident...and I'm going to assume many times.

    I think what you are seeing is that MANY of us are beginning to self-regulate a culture that has gone crazy with the blame game and entitlement mentality. If she was walking down a flight of stairs and the stairs broke, yes, sue. Slipping on ice?? Welcome to every walking creature's issue with wintertime.....


    The snow and ice were acts of God. Had she been in the middle of nowhere where no snow/ice removal can be expected, I would 100% agree with you.

    But she paid for a service to re-mediate the situation. That it was not adequately re-mediated per the terms of the service contract is an act of man. She slipped on a side walk she could reasonably expect to have been gritted and/or cleared of ice. I would be angry also.

    I agree with you that people don't take enough responsibility for their lives. But I think this is justified anger because someone failed to perform a service they were paid to perform, and it resulted directly in an accident.

    A few years ago I fell in the parking lot of a store. The parking lot was on a slope, and the store had a leaking drainpipe which spewed water across the parking lot. The water froze, leaving the parking lot an ice rink. It was dark, and impossible to see the ice. I specifically had business with the store, and was told to back my car into their loading bay. I was not warned of this hazard. Needless to say, I fell flat on my back. Thankfully I was not seriously injured, but you can bet that had I been, and had my insurance for whatever reason not covered it, I would have sued for damages. A spinal injury from a fall can cost literally tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of dollars, and it would have been the direct result of failure to properly maintain the property.
  • amybg1
    amybg1 Posts: 631 Member
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    We also live in a condo and they don't clear out ice from the side of the house/the short walk to the front step and don't salt the driveway. They clear the driveway of snow however along with the street and provide the tenants with 2 huge containers you can grab salt from (one at each end of our crescent) if you don't have any. I'm in Canada mind you so not sure if laws are the same in the States or whatever...But look at the contract/the reminders/letters they deliver to your door before the predicted first snowfall. It will state what the condo DOES and DOES NOT do
  • karl39x
    karl39x Posts: 586 Member
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    I'd be mad at the girl dropping the groceries and teacher her to stop falling.

    Damn kids need to learn!
  • Howdoyoufeeltoday
    Howdoyoufeeltoday Posts: 481 Member
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    Call Saul?

    This needs a gif...

    78884-better-call-saul-gif-9y8F.gif
  • DancesWithBirds
    DancesWithBirds Posts: 25 Member
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    I'd write a letter explaining the incident and itemizing your damages and costs and explaining that you will be taking the costs out of your HOA fees until you recouped your money. I'd take it straight to the HOA office or representative and ask them to agree to it and sign it. If they refused, I would go to a lawyer and ask the lawyer to write a similar letter. Sometimes just having a letter can scare people into compliance, especially if it comes from a lawyer. We had to do something like this once and it was much cheaper than filing a claim and it got us the results we wanted.

    I would also consider taking your family's safety out of the hands of the HOA. If they are not doing a good job of clearing snow and ice, then get a shovel and some ice melt and take care of it yourself. I understand completely that this kind of blows given that you pay a fee. If it really bothers you, you could include in your letter some kind of compensation to yourself for this, too (like a winter discount on your HOA for doing this yourself).

    You are not likely to get them to agree to actually dole out money to you without a full lawsuit (people hate to be parted with their money), so I think that taking it out of your HOA fees might be the best way to settle it quickly and quietly. I'm a renter, and in the past if we have had to fix things around the house on our own we simply provided our landlord with a receipt and deducted the amount from our rent the next month. It would have been ideal for the landlord to fix it, yes, but when you get stuck with a crappy one you can't just sit around with a broken toilet for a week and wish that things were different.
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    This is a wierd thread. I feel like it never should have been started. I feel like the person just wanted a bunch of people to come in and say "sue them" or something. It confused me right away when she was "mad" that her daughter fell. Most people feel concerned or upset when their kids get hurt. It really confused me when it was stated how the jar of pickles and milk jug fared in this "incident". I'm wondering why 911 wasn't dialed? I mean pickles mean the world to me. Almost as much as my kids.

    spilledmilk.jpg
    cry-over-spilled-milk.jpg
  • MyChocolateDiet
    MyChocolateDiet Posts: 22,281 Member
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    I'd write a letter explaining the incident and itemizing your damages and costs and explaining that you will be taking the costs out of your HOA fees until you recouped your money. I'd take it straight to the HOA office or representative and ask them to agree to it and sign it. If they refused, I would go to a lawyer and ask the lawyer to write a similar letter. Sometimes just having a letter can scare people into compliance, especially if it comes from a lawyer. We had to do something like this once and it was much cheaper than filing a claim and it got us the results we wanted.

    I would also consider taking your family's safety out of the hands of the HOA. If they are not doing a good job of clearing snow and ice, then get a shovel and some ice melt and take care of it yourself. I understand completely that this kind of blows given that you pay a fee. If it really bothers you, you could include in your letter some kind of compensation to yourself for this, too (like a winter discount on your HOA for doing this yourself).

    You are not likely to get them to agree to actually dole out money to you without a full lawsuit (people hate to be parted with their money), so I think that taking it out of your HOA fees might be the best way to settle it quickly and quietly. I'm a renter, and in the past if we have had to fix things around the house on our own we simply provided our landlord with a receipt and deducted the amount from our rent the next month. It would have been ideal for the landlord to fix it, yes, but when you get stuck with a crappy one you can't just sit around with a broken toilet for a week and wish that things were different.

    LOL

    1) pickles
    2) milk gallon
    3) torn jeans (which may or may not have been torn already b/c the style)
    4) unnecessary ER visit
    5) phone call to hip break lady to debrief her
    6) the pain and suffering incurred from first writing and then reading this thread.

    Does someone wanna follow up and do the math on this?
  • BrainyBurro
    BrainyBurro Posts: 6,129 Member
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    I hate this compensation culture. Look where you're walking.

    ^ this.
  • Lifelink
    Lifelink Posts: 193 Member
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    Her knees, you should tell her to apply some... ice.

    *puts on shades* yeah~~~~
  • mndavid
    mndavid Posts: 20
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    Don't take pictures of the injuries.

    The HOA will turn you in...after all, one scrape is on her butt, and she is under 18.
  • Mr_Starr
    Mr_Starr Posts: 139 Member
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    Take your daughter to her doctor. Regardless what you choose to do, she needs to be checked. If you decide to proceed with legal action you will also need.

    I am assuming you want you association to start doing the maintanance you are paying for. I think you have a few paths to choose. In addition to what others have mentioned ....

    Get involved with your association. As an owner YOU are responsible. Are you attending the meetings? Why not run for office and make a difference? This is probably your best action to make a difference and get things done. If your condo association manages the contractors themselves it may be they are overwhelmed, the contracts are not being met (time to get new contractors?), or the contracts are insufficient. If your condo is paying a management agency, it might be time to understand the contract you owners have with the agency. It might also be time for you association board to audit the books or contract with ( at least get some bids in) from different management agencies.
  • Mr_Starr
    Mr_Starr Posts: 139 Member
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    I hate this compensation culture. Look where you're walking.

    ^ this.


    Interesting...

    So her dues are paying for a service... a service she is NOT getting. She is being cheated. Yet you recommend she do nothing?

    And what if because of the neglected service she does have substantial medical bills?
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    Don't sue. I'm a litigation lawyer, and I'm saying do not even think about suing. She has a scraped knee, needs new pants and you need to go to the shop again. That is NOT something that ought to end up in a Court.

    Use it as a way to complain to the association, make calls, write letters, go nuts at some people. But for christsake, don't become someone who sues over a scraped knee, some pants and a jar of pickles.
  • MsJulielicious
    MsJulielicious Posts: 708 Member
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    The wind gets out of control in my city.
    Often it blows sand into my eyeballs.
    It hurts a little.
    I would also like to sue, but to whom?
    Fml


    Edited to add that I have slipped more than once on ice. I knew it was there. It's hard not to know ice is there and that you need to proceed with caution, however I didn't therefore the fall. Nature happens. Use common sense. Use caution. Deal with accidents by tending to wounds of your loved ones with a sense of compassion and a "hey dumb *kitten*, be careful attitude" That leads to less future accidents.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
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    Ah, the MFP forums where the obvious answer of see a doctor then a lawyer (trained experts in their respective fields) just doesn't seem so obvious to many . . .
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 17,959 Member
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    Ah, the MFP forums where the obvious answer of see a doctor then a lawyer (trained experts in their respective fields) just doesn't seem so obvious to many . . .

    When calling a lawyer because you scraped your knee and ripped your pants seems 'obvious', there's something very wrong with your outlook on life and sense of entitlement.
  • bd0027
    bd0027 Posts: 1,053 Member
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    Why are y'all arguing over someone else's problem? lol.
  • Nicolee_2014
    Nicolee_2014 Posts: 1,572 Member
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    I'd be concerned about my daughter's health not about how much money you pay & could possibly get out of her misfortunes.
  • SunofaBeach14
    SunofaBeach14 Posts: 4,899 Member
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    Ah, the MFP forums where the obvious answer of see a doctor then a lawyer (trained experts in their respective fields) just doesn't seem so obvious to many . . .

    When calling a lawyer because you scraped your knee and ripped your pants seems 'obvious', there's something very wrong with your outlook on life and sense of entitlement.

    This is exactly why she should speak to a lawyer rather than asking the general public. One will help analyze the law and the other will provide opinions about things that do not matter

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