So the demo job we were on is about done and the owner wont pay my boss and he is trying to hold my boss responsible for some hazardous mat cleanup, wasnt in the contract, . Anyway I need to know what the court will support as a good shop rate for damage repairs to the equipment and do they allow a parts markup? As I have to do a damage claim/costing, for repairs. Thanks Russ
Primary question: How good is your documentation? If you have good documentation, you will recover your money and all associated costs that go with a claim. Provided the other side have the money... Rule of thumb; when you go to claims, there is a scale outside of the courtroom. If your paper trail weighs more than your opponent, you win. In my line of work, there are several corporate contractors that I do not even say good morning to unless it is documented in an e-mail. One General Foreman to build the job, one to get ready for the lawsuit. I am currently involved with a large US contractor (they do 500 million a year in work.) I did not want the job, but it was assigned to me. I have a working crew in the field of 125 people and an office crew of 15. My labor rates are off the scale due to paper pushers I need to help with the documentation. 30 years ago, all I needed was to spell the crews name right, make sure the time was correct and the material ordered. A handshake unfortunately is from a long lost planet now. Even today a signed contract is worthless with some general contractors. Oh for the old days! Nevertheless, always remember; document, document, and document some more!!!! Felt good to get that off my chest….:Banghead
This is going to court july 17th, the guy defied a court order for the return of our equipment and hauled off the damaged 400 hitachi, cat shear and an okata hammer. so if you could all keep your eyes peeled in the Pacific NW for a stickless 400 and no right side sheet metal. id be interested, Im guessing its either scrapped or in eastern WA. somewhere near Zillah WA. thanks Russ
I hate to hear this. Hopefully you get yours in the end.
Keep us up to date on the progress of your case, I'm curious as to how you turn out on this. I hope you turn out well and the courts side with you and you win, how much documenatation do you have to back up your case like jumbo has already stated, where the machines reported stolen or are there bank loans on them, where there is a paperwork trail of ownership. It sounds like you've been to court already to have a declaration the machines were to be given back to you, which hasn't happened yet or probably will ever happen anyhow. As for what courts will allow, it depends on how to present your case, they won't pay you a markup in most cases, but if you have estimates for repairs from another shop or several shops for the proposed damage that was done, you don't have to hire them to do the work in the end, just get estimates from them, they are allowed whatever markup they esimate, you are not in most cases, only your costs, talk to several attorney's who have experience in these areas. With courts, it about presentation and how the evidence is presented, just for an example, lets say for disussion you have 40k in damages on a machine, if you and your shop give that for an estimate, it means little in court, if you find three other shops that give similar estimates, that holds far more value in court, those are independent estimates, not yours, if that makes sense, those are business's that do this for a living and are not involved directly with the case as far as a loss. Do you have estimates from an insurance company on values or damages, they are great to use in court as evidence of value or damage, any photo's of the damage, photo's before the damage, pictures are great in court. Are the courts going after them for theft, or selling stolen property, or collateralled property, or the already court ordered verdict they violated? Also how much are they trying to stiff you out of and not pay, and are they claiming the machines were used to cover their damages they claimed you didn't pay for, or what was their reason for stealing your equipment?