stone broke my neighbour's window while I was cutting my grass

walim

Hi All,
While I was cutting my grass a stone hit my neighbour's window and broke it. My neighours lives a cross the road, about 20 meters away from me. The stone broke the outside pane of his downstairs window.
I was cutting the grass and didn't know anything happened till he came out and told me what happend.
He's saying that he'll check his insurance and wants me to pay half of his inusrance excess. He's going to tell me how much that is.
What would you do if it was you?
I don't know if me cutting the grass caused but it's very likely it did.
Thanks.

Mankysteve

Not sure how likely is that a stone from a lawn mower can travel that far. But if it was then half the excess seems reasonable.

KillerWatt

I'd find it hard to believe that your lawnmower propelled a stone that sort of distance to be honest, let alone at the trajectory required to make it across the road and hit your neighbours window.

googler

You should probably consult your own insurance policy or company.

If I were in his shoes, I'd see no reason to claim under my insurance, and would expect you to make good the damage, either directly or through your insurance.

walim

It's a freak accident but I'd say that it's very very likely that it was my lawn mower that smashed their window. They were genuinley shocked.
I was delaying replacing my own window that lost it's seal due to money problem but now this happens!

1984ReturnsForReal_2

20 meters?

Thats a long way

ormus

if you really have to replace the glass, id pay for that, and not half the excess.

but i would dispute my guilt over that distance. let him prove it.

real1314

1984ReturnsForReal wrote: »

20 meters?

Thats a long way

A hell of a long way for it to travel and then have enough force/energy left in it to break a window. I would suggest that the window would already have had some sort of defect for this improbable scenario to occur. Or that you were mowing the lawn with a strimmer attached to a Harrier Jump Jet.

walim

Maybe not as much as 20 metres but separates us; my front garden, then the road then his front garden.
Very often windows have two vertical panels; 1 large and 1 small, it's the outside glass of the small panel which got broken. At this moment I don't know how much it would to replace the glass and I don't how much his insurance excess either. I'll wait and see.

sillygoose

I broke the window in my new conservatory with the 1st cut of the season, gutted! quite a large double glazed pane. Cost £120 to have it removed and replaced. Problem is now any lower glass that someone could fall through has to be safety glass which is tensioned like a loaded gun, one ping and it goes big time. Mine was in a million fragments from one tiny stone.

I would find the money, and get the pane fixed for him, you could be living opposite for a long time, its not worth falling out over.

I now have some sheets of cardboard joined together that I hang over the conservatory windows when mowing as its a lot cheaper!

1984ReturnsForReal_2

walim wrote: »

Maybe not as much as 20 metres but separates us; my front garden, then the road then his front garden.
Very often windows have two vertical panels; 1 large and 1 small, it's the outside glass of the small panel which got broken. At this moment I don't know how much it would to replace the glass and I don't how much his insurance excess either. I'll wait and see.

Unless the distance from your garden to his window is no more than about 8-10 metres I would say you can't rule out that he is taking you for a ride.