Auto Insurance Claims: Car damaged in runoff in parking lot., vw beetle, hazardous situation

Question
Hi,
My daughter was driving in a local ski resort parking lot at night and she drove over an area of the lot that water was running down from the melting snow.(This is was the normal path out of the parking lot.)  She couldn't see the runoff and it damaged my VW Beetle.  It cracked the front end and damaged the cooling system.  Is the resort at fault.  After I told them about it, they had to rope off the area and relocate traffic.

Thanks

Answer
Hi Wendi,

Based on your story I would say that the resort is not liable.

They can not be liable for somthing they are not aware of. When you reported the situation to them they took steps to correct the situation by roping off the area and redirecting traffic. If after you report the situation they did nothing and another car was damaged then they woud be responsible for that damage since they were aware of a hazardous situation and did nothing to correct it.

In your case however, unless you can prove that they were aware of the situation and did nothing to correct it, they are not responsible for the damage to your vehicle.

I hope this helps
Richard Hixenbaugh