How To Defend Yourself Against Property Damage Claims

Have you received a summons to appear before court? Is someone alleging that you are responsible for their property damage and now must pay up?

If you’ve found yourself being sued, here’s how to defend yourself against property damage claims.

These are the steps to take to defend yourself against property damage claims:

1. If the value of the property damage is more than $5,000 (above the threshold for small claims court), hiring an attorney is a key to success. If you are heading to small claims court, however, many states that you represent yourself before the court. And in that case, it’s imperative that you due your due diligence and follow these steps.

2. You will receive a complaint and summons. Go over it with your attorney and draft a response. Your attorney will know the deadlines for responding, but if you represent yourself, you will have to find out the deadlines. Small claims courts may have pre-formatted forms individuals can use as a template for responding to complaints..

3. One way to get a lawsuit dismissed is if it was filed past the deadline. Check to see if the statute of limitations for property damage suits has elapsed.

4. When responding to the complaints, deny the allegations, as it will be the plaintiff’s burden to prove each allegation. If they cannot prove their points, then the defendant will win against those allegations.

5. If you believe the complaints are valid, contacting the plaintiff to settle outside of court may allow you to negotiate a lower settlement and avoid timely court appearances.

6. Submit your answers to the complaint and begin working with your attorney to collect relevant evidence.

7. One way to effectively collect evidence is to review state laws and find out what the plaintiff has to prove and then build your case around those points. The plaintiff generally has to prove that their property was more likely than not damaged as a result of the defendant’s actions or carelessness. Were you acting negligently? Sometimes the cases are clear cut, but most are subjective.

8. At the time of the property damage were there witness who could back up your account of the events? Are there professionals you can call upon and request documents from to show you acted reasonably?

9. Your attorney may be able to obtain more information at the discovery phase of the process, where evidence and depositions are revealed to the other party’s counsel.

10. Is your case strong enough to hold up in trial? If not mediation can be a great and cost-effective alternative to trial.

11. If you go to court, your attorney can represent you before the judge and prepare the evidence to present. If you represent yourself (pro se), you will have to be organized. If you do not show up on the correct date the other party may win by default. You’lll need to know when to appear in court, how to act and dress in court, how many copies of your evidence you will need, and you’ll want to talk to any witnesses prior to trial to go over questions. If this is your first time in court, you may want to sit in other court cases to see what the process is like.

12. Both side will present their case. You will want to dedicate your presentation to one defense. Are you denying that your actions caused the plaintiff’s property damage? Or are you arguing that you were justified in taking the actions you did in order to attend to a more important matter? After both sides have presented, a judge will issue their ruling on the matter.

For more information about defending yourself against property damage claims, send us a message.