Oh boy...shame on storage...tree? Ice? snow?

[Minno]

Ouch! Seems to me for that size a dent, there must have been something that the campground owners cleaned away from your trailer at some point. Did they mention any tree branches that they cleaned up over the winter? And if it was an act of God sometime over the winter, why didn't they call you when they discovered it? Are there any trees over the trailer that look like they have a recent branch break?

I'm with other people here - work with your insurance company to get it repaired, and let them help you determine if the campground owners are liable at all. And maybe look for another place to park your Airstream.

Chris

[gypsychris]

The campground denies any wrong doing and any cleaning up of anything...I don't believe them whatsoever...i think they cut a tree down and it landed on our moho...

[CanoeStream]

Horsepucky... Next thing they'll do is blame it on your preexisting condition.

It looks like much more than a kid with a basketball. Any fresh scars on nearby trees or sawed off stumps? Stump been ground out already?

Acts of God are things like meteors, hailstorms, war. A black ice chunk falling from a passing airliner is nothing more than an urban legend.

[gypsychris]

So now the big questions;
how do I fix this myself? is that doable? Can I take one of those rubber hammers and try to knock out the fold from the inside? am assuming I have to remove the rear inside cap? how do we do that?

[gypsychris]

I wish i could just vent out our total frustration ......

[CanoeStream]

It had to be a tree. I can just see it in the indentation.


There may be a few members here at AIR who could take on that repair. But it is nothing to be attempted without prior experience. This is not an oil-can dent. Aluminum stretches when it is impacted like this. It would be a severe blemish even if you could pop it back reasonably well. That will be unsatisfactory. It needs the segment replaced.

Is your Airstream still there? I'd certainly document pictures of the surrounding grounds. Only an attorney will shake anything out of the campground for this. One segment? Somewhere around $2000. Call up Chris Burch at the J.C. Service Center for an estimate. 1-937-596-6111 Ext. 7413.

[Gene]

Liz and Chris, I think you need, as Bob suggests, to document the area around the area where the trailer was parked. Those white-looking scrapes on the dented area must be the residue of whatever hit it, or maybe light reflections. If they are scrapes, it may tell you what hit it.

This is an expensive repair and that's what insurance is for. Contact your insurance company and see if they will go after the storage facility. Your policy may explain their duties, or may be mumbo jumbo. They may simply write you a check, but you still have a claim against the storage facility for your deductible. If you get nowhere with your insurer, then talk to a lawyer. Many give a free half hour initial consultation. A lawyer's letter to the storage facility may get some action. Once a claim is formally made, generally someone must inform their insurer promptly or they risk losing their coverage.

Whether it is an act of God or not can be almost impossible to prove from either side of the dispute. How that is handled is dependent on state law and every state is a bit different. If it went to trial, a lot would depend on who had the burden of proof and some arcane evidentiary rules.

Another way you can go is to sue in small claims court—while this is an expensive repair, it is possibly within the jurisdictional limits of that court (check on this first, of course, by calling the local courts). You'll have to have some proof of what caused the damage, perhaps a witness who is a professional, but even with a good case, in some places small claims courts have a reputation for splitting the difference, i.e., awarding you half your claim.

Until you can be reasonably sure of what caused this, do not try to fix it or have it fixed.

You have made the first steps—talking to the storage facility and seeking advice here. Too many people think if they refuse responsibility, the problem will go away—sometimes it does, but often they end up paying more than if they had dealt with it right away. Next you have to talk to some people who can help you figure out the cause and how to deal with it.

Gene

[gypsychris]

Thanks Gene. We took pictures and obviously took it out of storage and do not ever intend on going back there...it's quite far for that matter...wish I had taken more pics of the area etc... what really pissed me off is the guy totally new something had happened and acted as if he didn't -- even via email.

[2airishuman]

this is a moho so the segment, ribs and repair are slightly different.

also matching these 90s PRE clearcoat panels isn't perfect now.

the depth of that bash appears deeper in the latest pics...

so pounding out may not look as nice a laura's did, but hers look pretty darn good.

comp insurance rates do NOT generally go up with 1 claim, especially 1 like this.

of course there is the deductible and time/travel for repair.

we only get 1 side of the story but there are some ?

-was the unit MOVED before u noticed this or notified the park management ?

-can some1 storing a unit outdoors, IN THE TREES reasonably expect nothing to happen tree related?

-IF the park did formal tree work resulting in THIS, well that's different.

-but many/most storage lots and long term rv parks have owners SIGN a release (which may be useless)

and describe HOW these issues are handled in the paperwork...

IF there's no video record, it's possible some OTHER rig/person did this too (the park owner could suggest that's the case)
_________

at some point it just becomes smoooshed metal.

figure out what ya wanna do and get to it.

colaws salvage in MO may just have a period correct moho end cap (and inside segment) for this repair.

coulda been worse, imagine IF a window was broken months ago as part of this, and a winter worth of snow/water was inside....

((do folks really NOT visit a stored unit for months?...))

cheer
2air'