OT - What should I do?

If there were no witnesses, and it is the word of your son versus the word of the tow truck driver, then you might just as well forget it. Besides, it is not at all unusual for some damage to occur to a vehicle when it is pulled out of a ditch, and such damage is often unavoidable.

Uhhh.....insurance?

Uhhh.....insurance?

"Ted" wrote

You are not saying which panel was damaged. If it were a panel like in the front bottom and the car was on an angle - the only way to pull it out without further damage would be a freight helicopter to pull it upward - one minute use of it would cost more than the car I say as hyperbole.

If the damage was unrelated to the task of removal then you would have a problem to deal with. Like he towed it up but then hit the side of the car against a tree as it slid sideway carelessly..

With turnovers, (not saying yours was turned over) towers get or charge like

Incidental damage . . unavoidable . to the task that was absolutely necessary like your car in the ditch.. law requires that the car be removed . with such a serious breach as to drive off the road to require a tow truck to pull you out . . you better get a jury . . as the judge will have no sympathy with such careless driving . . Though, I am not saying this not knowing the parties, I would not be surprised the son for 'playing up' the 'damage' by the tower to take him off the hook a bit.

Having said all the above, far weaker lawsuits have given results or the party will just pay rather than being dragged into court. The question is: is it right to you?

Harry

How'd he end up in the ditch in the first place? Accidents happen. Sure, it'd be great if the tow operator found a way to magically extract it without causing harm. It might likewise be great if the tow operator gave some sort of step-by-step explanation of the risks involved. If the vehicle's insured then bring up the source of the additional damage to the insurance adjuster. If they want to go hunt down the tow operator to extract their pound of flesh then let 'em. But I'm guessing they'll chalk it up to the side-effect of having been DRIVEN INTO A DITCH and affix blame on that.

Wellll...

First, you would have to prove that the damage really was avoidable. It's not a strict-liability situation, you'd have to prove that he was negligent -- in other words, in the exercise of reasonable care, foreseeable damage could have been avoided.

Second, I'd hate to take that case before a court, imagine it -- "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, yes, it's true that my son is a reckless driver, was speeding and had no control of the vehicle, and drove that sucker right into a ditch. But that doesn't matter! What matters is that this tow-truck driver agreed to come out and help us out, when he could just as easily have stayed home and left us there, and in the process of getting the car out of the ditch -- did I mention that my son drove it in there, recklessly? -- put an itty-bitty little dent in the fender. It's an outrage! And we want him to pay for it!"

You want to talk about legally-untenable positions?

I think you'd better put your focus on your son, not the tow-truck driver. Make him pay for the repair, and he might learn a valuable little lesson from this.

It was right behind the front wheel. I didn't see it, but presume there was some angle involved.

Sorry, I mispoke; it was right ahead of the front wheel. It makes sense that a cable had to go there. I will forget about it; thanks.